Vegan Carrot Cake with a Cream Cheese Icing or Lemon Glaze

       There is something very satisfying about eating carrot cake. Could be the taste, could be the fact that I feel better about eating a carrot-based cake than other less nutritious desserts. Ryan actually thinks that my carrot cake might be too healthy, but he's happy because he gets to eat cake for breakfast.

       If you know my dad, you probably know that he LOVES carrot cake. I remember when I was around ten or so, my mother was had broken her arm during March break. But it being my dad's birthday, he wouldn't settle for anything less than homemade carrot cake. So my mother, with only one good arm grated my father carrots for his carrot cake. She always reminds us of how that was the best cake she ever made (this recipe is based off of her recipe, minus the sweat and tears that went into that particular recipe), and she never lets us forget it. 

       This carrot cake has pretty much everything in it, many of the ingredients personally requested by my father (he tasted it yesterday and was quite pleased) including shredded coconut and raisins. I grew up loving a good cream cheese icing on my carrot cakes, but recently have been opting for a tangy lemon glaze. Both toppings pare excellently with this recipe, and their recipes and instructions can be found below.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups finely grated carrot, unpacked (approx. 2 medium-large carrots)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 cup soy milk or other varieties
• 1/2 cup light oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp apple vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat or mixed flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2/3 cup raisins, soaked and drained
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, I like unsweetened
• 1/2 cup walnuts, pecans or mix

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan, bunt pan or 9x9 square pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all wet ingredients, and mix together.
3. Soak raisins in water while you prepare the dry ingredients.
4. In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients.
5. Pour wet ingredients into the dry bowl and mix until combined. Drain the raisins, then fold into wet batter with the nuts and coconut.
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake 350°F for 45-60 minutes. Depending on your cooking wear the times will vary, the square pan and the bunt pan will take less time to cook than the loaf pan.
7. Before removing loaf from oven, check done-ness with a tooth pick or a cake tester.
8. Let cool completely before icing or slicing.

Vegan Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 oz/125g Tofutti cream cheese
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups icing sugar

1. Beat cream cheese, margarine and vanilla, and gradually add sugar until fluffy.

Vegan Lemon Glaze

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh is better)

1. Whisk icing sugar with lemon juice until smooth.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Beetroot Cake

     February sixth has come again, which means that Ryan's another year older. I was thinking of making Ryan a lemon poppy seed cake, but he decided that he wanted a chocolate beetroot cake. So here is my recipe! It's light and fudgy and absolutely delicious.

     I tried to look up a vegan recipe online but there weren't really any that suited our needs. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple out there, but there where a couple things I needed to have in this cake, like espresso (Ryan's request), boiled beetroot rather than roasted so that I could use the water for the liquid in the recipe, and a light but fudgy product. So, I used my favourite chocolate cake recipe, and umphed it up with some luscious beet purée and a long shot of espresso... as well as a couple other changes to try and get the right texture and moisture content. 

     This cake turned out wonderfully! Ryan couldn't believe how moist but fluffy this cake was. Moist chocolaty goodness, why not? I've also paired the cake with a poppy seed butter cream, a fun spin off of the usual, but nothing to flavourful so that it doesn't outshine the cake.

Serves: 6-10
Time: 30 minutes prep, 30-45 minutes cook

Ingredients

• 4 medium beets, about 400 g, trimmed, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
• 1 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups all-purpose-flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1 cup beet water, or water
• 1 long espresso (2-4 Tbsp)
• 1/2 canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Poppy Seed Butter Cream

• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered/confectioners sugar
• 2 Tbsp soy milk
• 2 - 3 Tbsp poppy seeds

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Wash, trim and peel beetroot (you might want to wear some gloves). Cut into 2" pieces. Place in a medium pot, rinse once, and then cover with about 2" of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender (they should be easily pierced with a fork), about 30 minutes. Check water level every ten minutes, and top up with a bit of water if too much boils off.
3. Poor beet water into a glass measuring cup, keep one (1) cup, and discard the rest, or of there is less than a cup, top it up with warm water.
4. Purée beetroots with a food processor or an immersion blender. As much as I love my food processor, beets are a bit messy so I tend to choose the stick blender for this task.
5. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa, leavening agents and salt.
6. While whisking, slowly add in the wet ingredients: beet purée, beet water, espresso, canola oil and vanilla extract. Mix well until smooth.
7. Lightly grease your baking pans, either two 9" round baking pans or a bunt pan, and if possible, also line with parchment paper.
8. If using the two round pans, equally distribute the batter between them. On a flat surface, bang the pans a couple of times, and then swirl or spin so that there is more batter around the edges of the cake pan than the center. This will help you get flatter cakes rather than really rounded cakes.
9. Bake in the oven at 350°F for 30-35 minutes (two pans) or 40-45 minutes (bunt pan).
10. Lick spoon (it's tasty. Seriously).
11. When done baking, you should be able to pierce the center of the cake with a tooth pick or a knife and have it come out clean. 
12. Let cool on a wire rack in the cake pans for 30 minutes, then delicately remove from the cake pans, and let cool an additional 30 minutes, still on wire rack, before icing or glazing.
13. To make the poppy seed butter cream, whisk together the margarine with the vanilla extract, then slowly whisk in the powdered sugar. Then whisk in the soy milk and the poppy seeds, you can use a little or less soy milk to achieve your desired texture. This can be done by hand, or using an electric mixer, your preference.
14. Ice and enjoy.

Vegan Oreo Cheesecake

It was Ryan's birthday last week and we wanted to try out making something new. After I was done my exam, I ran to the grocery store, picked up some tofutti, some Oreos and all the other necessities to make one tasty Oreo cheesecake. I love using tofu in cheesecakes, mostly because it makes me feel like I am way healthier than I am. The cake is much lighter than one would expect and because it has all that heart-healthy protein, I don't feel bad about eating cheese cake for breakfast 2 days in a row.  

My oven is not the greatest. It's old and has a stupid knob to choose between using the top or bottom element.
A normal person would remember to put the oven on bake....but I forgot. So the top is bit darker than expected,
but still ridiculously delicious! 

I've used classic Oreos, but you could use any chocolate sandwich cookie. I've made this recipe so that it uses an entire bag of cookies, about 26, but if you only have 24 cookies its not the end of the world, just take away one or two from the crust or filling.
I've also used coconut oil in this recipe. It is not an ingredient that I use that often, mostly because it is easier and cheaper to use margarine, but coconut oil works great here. Because coconut oil solidifies around room temperature, you get a solid crust. Coconut oil, although it is a saturated fat, is one of the healthiest sat-fats because it is composed of short chain saturated fatty acids, which our body doesn't digest the same way as lard or butter. But, if you don't have coconut oil*, you can substitute the coconut oil with margarine and add 2 Tbsp of flour to help bind the crust. 

Ingredients

Crust
18 Oreos, crushed into crumbs or crumbled 
3 tbsp melted coconut oil (*See note above if you don't have coconut oil)

Filling

Last time I made cheesecake I broke my spingform pan, so
this time I ended up using a cake pan. To avoid scratching up
my pan, I lines it with parchment. The little pieces of paper
sticking out were just there to help us hold down the
parchment paper when we were spreading out the crust.
Looks pretty good though, doesn't it?

1 package firm (or extra firm) tofu, rinsed and squeezed out
2 tubs tofutti cream cheese 
2 tbsp soy milk (or other varieties)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Scant 1/2 cup white sugar
4 tbsp flour

4 Oreos, chopped or crushed into medium pieces

Topping
4 Oreos, chopped or crushed into medium pieces

Preparation

Crust
In a  food processor, pulse Oreos, or alternatively, seal Oreos in a freezer bag and crush finely with a rolling pin.
In a medium bowl, stir together melted coconut oil and Oreo crumbs with a fork until well mixed.
Poor mixture into a 9" spring form pan (or pie plate) and press down firmly with a fork or spatula, distributing the mixture evenly to about 1/4 inch thick. 

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Filling
In a medium mixing bowl, crumble tofu, and add all other ingredients for the filling, other than the Oreos.
Mix together roughly, then use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to the food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.
Spread the filling evenly onto the crust.


Topping
Sprinkle the chopped or crushed Oreos evenly on the top of the filling. Lightly push the Oreo peices into the filling, just slightly so they don't fall off while serving.
Bake at 325°F for 70 minutes.
After 70 minutes, turn the oven off, leaving the cheesecake in the oven for an additional hour.
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature on a wire rack before cooling in the fridge.
Let chill for at least an hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Vegan Cheesecake

I've made this dessert for my mom's birthday for the past two years. She loves cheesecake and loves this vegan version too. Unlike regular cheesecakes that can weigh you down, this version in light and protein rich. You can feel good about yourself after eating it, so go ahead and have an extra piece. Really, this cake is a complete source of protein, using pecans as a crust with a tofu/tofutti cream cheese filling. You don't need to worry about missing out on your meat substitute food group if you're having this baby for dessert!
I've made this recipe a total of three times, and every time I make it, I play with the toppings. I've used apples in the fall, raspberries and strawberries and my latest was blackberries and strawberries.

How delicious does this look? Untouched and ready to be eaten.

 Ingredients

2 Cups strawberries (1/2 quart) to 1 Cup blackberries (1/2 pint)
I only cooked the berries for a few minutes (the strawberries for
 ~5 minutes and the blackberries for ~3 additional minutes on
medium low heat) to keep them fresh 

Crust
3 cups pecans (2.5 if chopped)
4 tbsp white sugar
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
6 tbsp melted margarine

Filling
1 package firm (or extra firm) tofu, rinsed
2 tubs tofutti cream cheese
2 tbsp soy milk (or other varieties)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
5 tbsp whole wheat flour

Topping
2 tbsp margarine
3 cups fruit, such as mixed berries (see photos for more information)

2 Cups raspberries (1 pint) to 1 Cup strawberries
I made this this cheese cake last year and travelled on the bus
with it from Toronto to North Bay to surprise my mom for her
birthday. It was refrigerated for at least 24 hours, which is why
the topping is clearly firmer than the previous, which only had
time to chill for about 4 hours.

1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water

Preparation

Crust
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a blender or food processor, pulse pecans, sugar and flour until crumbly (this can be challenging if using a blender, and may take some patience and frequent stirring).
Stir in melted margarine with a fork until well mixed.
Poor mixture into a 9" spring form pan and press down firmly with a fork or spatula, distributing the mixture evenly to about 1/4 inch thick. 
If you are using a smaller spring form pan, you may want to consider continuing the crust up the sides of the pan.
Bake crust at 400°F for 13 minutes.
Let crust cool at room temperature for 5-15 minutes.
Reduce oven heat to 325°F.

McIntosh apples (3 sliced)! I didn't
have a spring form pan at the time, 
so I used a large pie plate instead.

Filling
In a medium mixing bowl, crumble tofu, and add all other ingredients.
Mix together roughly, then transfer to the food processor or blender, or use an immersion blender, and blend until smooth.
Spread the filling evenly onto the crust.
Bake at 325°F for 70 minutes.
After 70 minutes, turn the oven off, leaving the cheesecake in the oven for an additional hour.
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature on a wire rack before cooling in the fridge.
Let chill for at least an hour before making the topping.




Topping
Wash fruit and slice to desired thickness or leave smaller berries whole.
On medium low heat, melt margarine and toss with firmer fruit. Sauté for a few minutes, until tender, before adding any additional softer fruit. 
When the fruit are at the desired tenderness, and they have produced a good amount of liquid, stir in the brown sugar and cook on medium low until bubbly, stirring lightly when needed.
Add the corn starch-water mixture and stir constantly until thickened.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Top cheesecake with topping and let chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. The longer it chills, the firmer it will become.

And if ever short on time, you can always switch between the fridge and the freezer when chilling this delicious cheese cake...I've never been a very patient person when it comes to cake.

Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Cake

     Its chocolate cake! need I say more? Well, Grandma passed this recipe down to us. Apparently, this is an old war time recipe, frequently used for its lack of expensive and perishable goods, such as butter, milk and eggs. Who needs animal products anyway? ("Not I!" said the vegan!) 

This recipe is very simple and very chocolaty. Delicious with Vegan butter cream, this recipe makes excellent birthday cakes or even cupcakes. 

Please note how the majority of the cake was
eaten before we could take the picture :)
Shown here with a chocolate frosting
(melted chocolate with a bit of margarine,
soy milk and sugar)

Serves: 6-10 (or 20-24 cupcakes)
Time: 5 minutes prep, cook for 40-45 minutes (or 20 minutes for cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup light vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Preparations

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease bunt pan or muffin pan with oil or margarine, or use muffin cups.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a separate container.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry bowl and mix well.
5. Pour into pan. (if using a muffin pan, fill each compartment 3/4 of the way.)
6. Place in preheated oven and bake cake for 40-45 minutes, or cupcakes for about 20 minutes.
7. When you can smell the cake, its normally done. 
8. Remove from oven and test with a tooth pick or chopstick.
9. Let cool slightly before removing completely from pan to let cool entirely.
10. If icing the cake, the cake must be at room temperature.

Kinda wishing I had some cake left now...

Superbly Fluffy Pancakes

Oh, the sweet joys of fluffy pancakes! A weekend staple in our apartment.  This is a great recipe and doesn't require any egg substitutions , not to mention It's super simple. In the past I've premixed the dry ingredients at home and made pancakes while camping with friends and family. This recipe calls for soy milk, however, in the fall we enjoy using pumpkin beer or even apple cider for a portion of the liquid. So good.

Serves 2 people, or ~8 pancakes (3")

Ingredients

1 cup flour, white or whole weat
  * optional, replace 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup quick oats
2 tsp baking powder
Splash of light oil
1 cup soy milk
   ( optional: chocolate chips, blueberries, rasberries, etc.)

Preparation

Preheat skillet or pan on medium heat.
Mix all dry ingredients. Add liquid and oil.
Mix well until combined (may appear somewhat clumpy if using oats).
If you are using liquid other than soy milk, you may need to adjust for consistency differences between the liquids, if the batter is two wet, just add a bit more flour.
Add a small amount of margarine to the pan, let melt.
Ladle batter onto the pan and let the pancake brown. When bubbles have formed around the pancake's edges and have began to pop, flip the pancake and let the other side get golden brown.
Remove from heat when reached the desired colour, say around 5 minutes.
Dress with margarine, maple syrup and or anything else your tummy desires.
Enjoy!