harvest carrot cake ~ vegan

outside the trees are damp, they cling to that cold, moldy sheen that is so reminiscent of autumn. you know what i mean. inside, we are doing our various daily tasks: in the kitchen, i'm washing the dishes and dw is at the stove making our breakfast. it's a usual suspect of a day, mundane in its ordinariness, but still special in that we are spending it together. it's october, which means we're folding & putting away our summer garb and we're incorporating the long sleeve shirts, cowls and knee high socks back into our wardrobe. i might even pick up my crochet hooks! (when i find them...)

we're also thinking about stews, baked goods and possibly apple picking. i've been reluctant to do much with these fruits; i started seeing posts about them as early as august! i'm already kinda over them. however, i can't seem to get enough of squash, beets and get this: carrots. i've said it before, i don't like the stuff but again, i found myself with another 5lb bag of it and well, cake + proper icing seemed like a good idea.

in vain i have tried, for days, to come up with the proper words to tell you how good this cake is. it's not possible. it's difficult to convey exactly how one is bland without the other, the other is cloying without one, but. But together, it's indescribably good.

there i said it. twas good. i'm already thinking about making it again, cupcake versions for ease of freezing options. snap. what has this world come to?

before i get to the dairy-free cream cheese frosting, i will tell you that i don't know if squeezing the water from the grated carrots was the way to go or if i should've just let them be. either way, the cakes came out dense and moist and absolutely delicious. i actually made one cupcake from the batter and then divvied it up between the two pans.

cream cheese frosting

1 cup soy margarine, softened

12 oz vegan cream cheese, i used tofutti, softened

5 cups sifted powdered sugar

with a mixer, beat everything together until smooth, going cup by cup.

assemble/decorate cake as desired. i went simple and garnished with fresh figs and pistachios

both recipes adapted from Sticky Fingers' Sweets by Doron Petersan, published by Avery, a member of Penguin Group USA, reprinted with permission.

other carrot concoctions:

arab inspired carrot cake

carrot bread