happy one year anniversary to Made On Mott!
Guess what?! Last week, I've officially hit my one year "blogiversary"! It's been such a great year, and I am so excited I was able to share my recipes with so many lovely people. Whether you're reading this or not, or this is just your first time on my page, thank you <3
To celebrate my one year mark cooking & blogging, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to attempt something I've never done before.... A cake! Cakes are definitely not my specialty, and I am trying to improve on my baking every chance that I get. So, what better cake to try than a delicious, vegan carrot cake?! OK. So it didn't come out as pretty as I'd like (hence me only showing you a photo of one slice), but this blog is to show my progress as an aspiring self-taught chef. And that means showing you EVERYTHING I cook- pretty or not.
Carrot cake brings me back to my FIT days, when with every meal, you'd get a slice of cake. And OBVIOUSLY I'd always go for the super moist & UHMAZING Carrot cake. Smothered in creamy, cream cheese frosting. Argh so good. Looking back now, I can definitely see where my 'freshman 15' came from. Whoooops.
Anyway, I was browsing around & looking for a great cake recipe, and I stumbled upon this original recipe for a simple carrot cake. It looked just as good as the one from my college days, AND *bonus*- this one was completely vegan! Topped with a homemade lemon vanilla buttercream, that adds that normally creamy cheese *zing* you need. Anddddd to really improve on my baking skills, I listened to my sister and weighed all my ingredients to get the most accurate results. You'll see the weights next to the actual cups called for, so it's kind of gonna be my new thang when it comes to recipes that require baking skills (which I have none of) (getting there!!).
So chhhheck it out, guys! And if you are working on improving your baking skills, give this cake a try. It's pretty simple, and the results are tasty. :) Thanks as always xx Sam
| Vegan |
I N G R E D I E N T S:
- 2 cups (250 grams) of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of sea salt
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- 9 oz (250 grams) of shredded/grated carrot
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) of brown sugar
- 2 flax eggs (2 Tbs of ground flax seeds + 6 Tbs of warm water)
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar
LEMON VANILLA BUTTERCREAM - 3 3/4 cups (450 grams) of powdered sugar
- 3 Tbs of Vegan butter
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar, divided
- 1 small lemon, divided & juiced
BEGIN: Start by preheating your oven for 350 degrees fahrenheit & generously grease two 8 inch cake tins. It's best to line the bottom with parchment paper to prevent sticking (like mine hehe). Also, prepare your flax eggs by combining your flax seed meal & water, mix and set aside for a few minutes. In a large mixing bowl of your stand mixer (or just a large bowl if using a hand mixer), sift in your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon & nutmeg. Also, add in your salt. Mix to combine. Next add your carrot & brown sugar- mix up! Lastly, pour in your flax egg mixture, oil, vanilla & apple cider vinegar. Mix everything together until your batter is formed. NOW, mine was slightly dry so I did have to add just a bit of water (around 1/4 of a cup), so you may too. If so, just add a tiny bit at a time while it's mixing, until you have a cake batter that will be slightly thicker. It won't be as runny as a box cake mix.
COOK!: Divide the mixture between the 2 cake pans and pop in the oven! Cook for about 30-35 minutes, until you insert a toothpick to test and it comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool just a little before attempting to remove from pan. If it cools completely, it will stick to the pan (again, like mine did!). But no worries if this happens, because we're icing the cake so you won't even tell ;).
ICE & ASSEMBLE: While it's cooling, add your powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and half the lemon juice in a stand mixer with whisk attachment. Mix on low to being (so sugar doesn't go everywhere), and increase to medium. Before adding the rest of lemon & apple cider vinegar, taste & see if you feel it is too bitter. If so, add water instead to thin until desired frosting consistency. If you want it a bit more bitter, add the rest of the lemon & vinegar like I did. You may need a few teaspoons of water to thin it a bit. All to your preference!
Once your cakes are cooled & removed from the pans, frost the top of one, layer the other on top, and frost completely. Sprinkle some crushed nuts or some coconut flakes. Enjoy!
*Notes: Make sure to store this baby in the fridge. Just. so. good.