Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Did you watch the final of the Great British Bake Off on Wednesday night? I did, of course! (Well done Nadiya!) And it made me crave carrot cake...but not carrot cake with raisins and nuts and flipping chunks of orange in it (why Ian, why!?) but a simple, spiced carrot cake, with a creamy frosting and plenty of cinnamon.

I decided to create a recipe rather than veganizing a non-vegan one, and I used Rebecca August's Aquafaba Vanilla Cake recipe as a base (you can find lots of amazing recipes on the Vegan Meringue Hits-And-Misses Page on Facebook!) And I'm really happy with the result. A light, moist sponge with just the right amount of spice and lots of finely grated carrot, sandwiched together with a tangy, sweet cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Heavenly.

Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe by Charis Mitchell

Serves 8-12

For the carrot cake

2 1/2C plain flour

2tsp baking powder

3/4C granulated sugar

1/4C light soft brown sugar

1/2tsp mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice)

1 1/2tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp salt

1 1/4C almond milk

1/2C vegan butter spread, melted

3Tbsp aquafaba (water from a can of chickpeas)

1tsp apple cider vinegar

1C finely grated carrots (3 small/medium carrots)

For the frosting

2Tbsp vegan butter spread (I use Vitalite)

2Tbsp vegan shortening (I use Stork Margarine)

6Tbsp vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti)

1tsp vanilla extract

2Tbsp almond milk

7-8C powdered sugar

1tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon to finish

Preheat the oven to 170/340 and line and grease two round cake tins.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients together in a jug or small bowl and add to the dry mix. Mix well until there are no lumps left before folding in the grated carrots and pouring into the cake tins. Bang each cake tin on the counter a couple of times to burst any air bubbles forming and bake for 20-25mins, or until the cakes are risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean.

Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 20mins and then turn out onto wire cooling racks to go completely cold while you make the frosting.

Cream together the butter spread, shortening and cream cheese until very smooth. Add the vanilla and half the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the almond milk and the rest of the powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy. (Add more milk or powdered sugar as needed!) Finally add the cinnamon and mix until well incorporated.

Spoon 1/4 of the frosting mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and set aside. Put 1/3 of the remaining frosting on top of the base cake and spread out evenly. Sandwich together with the second cake and top with another third of the frosting and then cover the sides with the final third. Pipe around the bottom and the top edges and dust the cake with cinnamon.

Cake lasts one week in the refrigerator.