1.25cupcanolavegetable, or safflower oil (something neutral)
1cupvegan sugar
1cuplightly packed, vegan brown sugar
1tspvanilla
2x 4-oz cups of applesauce
about 3 cups shredded carrots
about 1 cup chopped pecans
Cream-Cheese Frosting
1/2cupwater
2tspnutritional yeast
1/4tspsalt
1/4cuplemon juice
2tbspApple cider vinegar
1.5cupsvegan powdered sugar
1cupcashews
up to 1/4 cup vegan milk
Garnish
A handful shredded carrots
a handful of coarsely chopped pecans
Instructions
Prep
Place the cashews in a jar and pour boiled water over them. Cover and allow to soften for a minimum of 10 minutes.
Oil two round 9-inch cake pans line the bottom of both pans with parchment paper, then oil the parchment paper
Make the Cake Layers
Preheat the oven to 350°
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder salt and cinnamon until well combined
In a larger bowl, mix the oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and applesauce until well combined.
Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined before adding the second 1/3, and repeat for the final 1/3.
Add the shredded carrots and chopped pecans to the batter and stir together.
Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans.
Bake at 350° for 35 - 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake and checking whether it comes out clean. Do not overbake!
When done, remove the cake pans from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before attempting to turn out.
Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Make the "Cream Cheese" Frosting
Add the water, salt, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, powdered sugar, and pre-soaked and drained cashews to a blender.
Blend on high 5-7 minutes very smooth.
If the mixture is too thick for your blender add a little of the vegan milk just a tbsp at a time as needed to keep the blender going. You don't have to use the whole quarter-cup.
At the end of 7-5 minutes, the mixture will begin to stiffen a bit - at this <g class="gr_ gr_123 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="123" data-gr-id="123">point</g> it is done.
Keep the frosting in the refrigerator until the cake layers have been turned out and are completely cool.
Frost and Assemble the cake
Turn one of the cake layers out onto a serving dish.
Use about 1/3-1/2 of the frosting to cover the top of that cake layer
Delicately place the other cake layer on top of the first.
Use the remaining frosting to cover the top of the upper layer.
Decorate the top with shredded carrot and chopped pecan pieces and then serve.