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.

Morning Glory Muffins

 A.K.A. banana-carrot-apple/pear-coconut-raisin muffins

It seems that every time I talk with my dad, he complains that he wants my mom to bake him something. He was a bit jealous when I told him I made these muffins. They've got pretty much everything he loves in them: carrots, raisins, coconut, banana and nuts. Can you ask for a more tasty way to start off your morning? 

Serves: 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 large banana, mashed
3/4 cup soy milk or other non dairy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar

2 cups flour, half whole wheat, half white
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt

1 large pear or apple, pealed and chopped
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened up to you, I've used both)
1/2 cup raisins

1/2 chopped pecans for topping

Preparations

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin, or line with muffin liners (Do not need to grease if using a silicon muffin tray).
2. In a large mixing bowl, mash banana and mix with all wet ingredients and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine.
5. To the batter, add the chopped fruit, grated carrot, raisins and coconut and mix well.
6. Distribute the batter evenly, top the muffins with the chopped pecans and place in your preheated oven at 350°F.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes in the muffin tray before transferring the muffins to a wire rack and cooling for an additional 5-10 minutes before chowing down.

Veggie Pot Pie

Veggie pot pie is one of my favourite go-to recipes for every holiday: christmas, thanksgiving, easter, So I thought it was about time to share with the world my delicious pie recipe. It's a veggie pot pie, stuffed with all the classics: potatoes, carrots, tofu, mushrooms, greens... Delicious.
I've featured this pie at at many holidays and everyone enjoys it, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• 2 1/2 cups white flour (you can use a bit of whole wheat if you like)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup cold margarine, cut into cubes
• 1/4-1/2 cup ice water

Pie

• 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu*, rinsed, patted dry and cubed
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, diluted with 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp olive oil to pan fry
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp thyme

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup, or 2 medium-small onions, diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup, or 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 cup, or 2 medium-large carrots, diced
• 1 cup, or 3 medium potatoes, diced
• 8-10 sliced crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped kale, spinach, green cabbage or napa cabbage
• 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/8-1/4 cup water
• 1 cup frozen or fresh green peas

*To get a more "chicken-like" texture, try cutting the tofu the night before, then thawing it in the morning

Gravy

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp oregano and/or thyme
• 1/4 freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Preparation

Pie Crust

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt.
2. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture then add the cubed margarine and mix until you get a crumbly mixture, like a coarse corn meal.
3. Slowly incorporate the ice water, until the mixture comes together as a dough. Start with a quarter cup and only add more if the dough is too dry.
4. Form the dough into a ball, then cut into two halves, one roughly larger than the other.
5. With plastic wrap, cover each ball and refrigerate until you are prepared to start filling the pie, at least 20 minutes.

Pie

1. In a vary large pan or wok, coat with the olive oil and heat on medium.
2. Drizzle the soy sauce mixture over the cut tofu, then add it to the pan.
3. Fry the tofu, rotating it to so that most sides of the cubes are golden brown.
4. In a medium bowl, mix nutritional yeast, flour, garlic powder and thyme.
5. When the tofu is cooked, coat it in the mixture and set aside. Whatever doesn't stick to the tofu can be added the gravy later.
6. In the same pan you used for the tofu, sauté onions, garlic and celery in the olive oil until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
7. Add the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes before adding the cabbage or greens.
8. Add the soy sauce and water to the mixture, cover and steam until all the veggies are al dente, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile you can start the gravy (see below).
9. Add the tofu and peas to the veggie mix and combine, then remove it from the heat.

Gravy

1. In a small pot or sauce pan, toast the nutritional yeast and flour until aromatic.
2. Add the olive oil and whisk until smooth.
3. Slowly incorporate the water into the gravy, stirring until thickened.
4. Stir in the soy sauce and seasoning.
5. Remove from heat

1. Roll out the larger portion of the dough onto a floured surface to about an 1/8". Place the dough in a 9" pie plate, leaving edges uncut.
2. Mix the gravy in with the vegetable-tofu mixture, then pour onto the bottom pie dough, it will be heaping.
3. Roll out the rest of the dough large enough to cover your pie.
4. Roll the pastry onto the pie, and curl up the edges, crimping them with a fork or your fingers, removing any excess dough.
5. Prick the top with a fork or knife.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, uncovered, until the top is golden.
7. Let the pot pie cool 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Serve with your favourite fall or winter side dishes and enjoy!