Vegan carrot cake with delicate frosting

Vegan carrot cake with delicate frosting Recipe

 Yield : 2 lb cake
  Prep t : 30 min
  Cooking : 60 min

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

Wet Ingredients

•     0.25 lb / 120 g carrots, coarsely grated (1½ cup grated)
•     ½ + 1/8 cup / 120 g brown sugar
•     ½ cup + 1 tbsp applesauce*
•     ¼ + 1/8 cup / 90 ml olive oil

Dry Ingredients

•     1½ cup / 185 g wholemeal flour, sifted
•     1 level tsp baking soda
•     1 level tsp baking powder
•     pinch of salt
•     1 tsp cinnamon
•     ½ tsp ground cloves
•     ½ tsp ground nutmeg
•     ½ tsp ground ginger

Vanilla Orange Frosting

•     75 g cashews, soaked overnight
•     6 tbsp silken tofu
•     1 orange (you’ll need 5 tbsp juice + zest of ½ orange)
•     4 tsp coconut oil, melted
•     1½ tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
•     ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped
•     chopped pistachios, for decoration

Directions

Cake

1. Set the oven to 180° C. Line a 2lb cake tin (dimensions: 18,5cm x 8cm x 6cm) with a piece of baking parchment or grease it.
2. In a bowl mix together all wet ingredients. In another bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
3. Slowly tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and incorporate everything together but, like with all batters, be careful not to over mix.
4. Spoon the batter (yes, it’s meant to be that thick) into a baking tin. Bake for 50-60 mins depending on your oven. It’s done when a toothpick comes out fairly clean.

Icing

1. Drain and rinse soaked cashews. Put them into a food processor to grind into a smooth paste.
2. Add in silken tofu and all other ingredients. Process some more.
3. Put the icing into the fridge for a few hours so that it thickens. It won’t be as thick as an icing made with margarine and icing sugar, but it will stay on the cake

Vegan black forest chocolate mousse

Vegan black forest chocolate mousse Recipe

 Yield : 4
 Prep Time : 20 min
 Cooking : 10 min

Ingredients

Mousse:

•     170 g / 6 oz dark (70 % cacao) chocolate
•     135 ml / ½ cup + 1 tbsp gelatinous aquafaba*, homemade or from a tin
•     135 ml / ½ cup + 1 tbsp coconut cream
•     2 tbsp caster sugar (optional)*

Cherries:

• 
  
•     400 g / 14 oz sour or sweet cherries**, halved and pitted
•     4 tbsp Kirsch (subtly sweet cherry brandy)

Coconut Whiped Cream:

•     240 ml / 1 cup coconut cream***, chilled in the fridge for min 48 hrs
•     1-2 tbsp icing sugar, to taste
•     chocolate shavings, to decorate (optional)

Directions

1. Chop your chocolate very finely and place into a glass bowl.
2. Heat up coconut cream and once it reaches boiling point pour it over chopped chocolate pieces. Set aside for 5 minutes – do not stir. After 5 minutes stir the mixture well to achieve a smooth ganache. If the chocolate seizes (which it is notorious for) bring it back by adding a few drops of warm water and stirring it in.
3. Place cool aquafaba in a clean (that’s very important as any grease residue will prevent aquafaba from foaming) glass or metal bowl. Whip it until you achieve stiff peaks – you should be able to invert the bowl and whipped aquafaba should not budge an inch, if it does it means that it hasn’t been whipped enough. After you achieve stiff peaks incorporate sugar (if using) very gradually, whisking well after each addition.
4. Fold whipped aquafaba into chocolate ganache gradually – 2 tablespoons of aquafaba at a time. Divide the mixture between 4 glasses and place in the fridge for several hours (or overnight) for the mousse to set.