Vegan Carrot Pumpkin Cake with Orange Zest Frosting (Vegan MoFo Reason Number 12)

Vegan MoFo

Reason Number 12

I love cake, but I love it even more without the eggs and butter.

I had a yen for pumpkin this weekend. It really had me, I should say. This cake is as decadent and tasty as it looks, and it is the kind of cake, that when covered and placed in the fridge seems to get better with time! The best part of any cake, for me, is the frosting. I think that it is really a shame when you find a great recipe for cake, only to discover it is "frosting-free"--what is the point? When I had my first job scooping ice cream for a well-known 31 flavor place, I can remember making those frozen cakes. They'd come in already stacked and filled with a layer of ice cream and usually white frosting, then we'd be able to decorate them with well-wishing thoughts (if you had good penmanship--cursive writing, especially). But the most favorite past time for me was "practicing" the making of the flowers! And. . . eating my mistakes! Oops! Maybe that is where my love of cake began. I remember only one cake my mother made often, banana. So. when my husband and I were married, what cake did we have: banana--nothing fancy. I was eating the box variety then. I can't eat that kind any longer. And, sadly, that takes one of my favorite cake making books out of circulation: The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn. I was lucky enough to stumble across a beautiful cook book titled quite simply, Pumpkin by DeeDee Stovel. It is just a perfect fall cookbook! She inspired me to make a vegan version of one of her cakes and to spice it up a bit as well. So, as I "go it alone" in creating vegan cakes (sans the pre-mixes)--I find that being vegan and creating cake from scratch is not hard at all. This cake, takes the cake.

Vegan Carrot Pumpkin Cake with Orange Zest Frosting

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar (you could use 1/2 Florida Crytals)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup canola oil (you could use applesauce)

4 eggs using Ener-G Egg Replacer (mixed well with water)

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 carrots peeled and shredded

Orange Zest Frosting

1/2 cup Tofutti Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Earth Balance Butter

1/2 orange, zested and juice added to bowl

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325. Spray two 9" cake pans with oil and flour them. Then cut out two pieces of parchment paper and cover the bottoms of the pans with this, then lightly spray these.

Sift all dry ingredients together and set aside. Mix oil, Egg Replacer mixture, pumpkin and carrots in a bowl until fully blended. By hand, stir wet ingredients into dry until combined. Pour into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick stuck in middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

For Orange Zest Frosting

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix well--until little peaks begin to form. I find that dependent upon the juice amount your orange gives you, you might need more powdered sugar. Just watch it, my frosting was a bit creamy, I was fine with that!