Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Wheat or Gluten-Free)

Back from Spring Break!  We were away the last two weeks of March and spent the most glorious Spring Break ever as a family of 5.  I am still trying to get back into our family routine now that we are home.  

We spent 7 days in Cancun, Mexico at the very family friendly all-inclusive resort, Crown Paradise Club Cancun.  We read some mixed reviews from Tripadvisor.ca before leaving and made the decision to have fun, no matter what.  We lowered our expectations of the resort and raised our expectations to have the best time as a family.  With this new outlook, we had an AMAZING time!

We had our belated Easter over the weekend.  For dessert, I thought it would be nice to have a Spring/Easter themed carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. 

Since I am still gluten-free, dairy and egg-free, I turned to my trusty Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook.  Previously, I was able to make gluten-free vanilla cupcakes from this book as well.  



To fit our allergies and "less sweet" palate, I made a few changes:

• Used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-purpose Baking Mix + 1/4 tsp xanthan gum in place of all-purpose flour
• Replaced and reduced the white granulated sugar with organic coconut sugar
• Used a combination of soy milk and lemon juice (didn't have soy yogurt)
• Reduced the liquid amounts to reflect the decrease in sugar content  
• Reduced the confectioner's sugar in the cream cheese frosting

For the vegan "Cream Cheese" Frosting, I used Tofutti brand soy cream cheese.  I didn't like the frosting at all when freshly made.  It was way too sweet for my liking.  I gave it another chance by letting the cupcakes sit in the fridge overnight for the flavours to develop. Because I cut down the icing sugar (confectioner's sugar), the frosting was very soft.  Too soft to pipe, so I simply spooned it on each cupcake.  

This batch yielded 12 medium-sized cupcakes. 

Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Wheat or Gluten-Free
makes 12 medium cupcakes

2/3 cup all-purpose flour or your favourite gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free All-purpose Mix + 1/4 tsp xanthan gum)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2/3 cup sugar (I used a heaping 1/2 cup organic coconut sugar)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/4 cup canola oil)
1/3 cup soy yogurt (plain or vanilla) (I used 1/4 cup soy milk + 1 tsp lemon juice= "buttermilk")
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated carrots
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine, softened
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar (1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, will further decrease to taste next time)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 1/8 tsp Mexican vanilla, really strong stuff)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt and vanilla.  Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices) and mix until smooth.  Fold in carrots, walnuts and raisins.

Fill the liners two-thirds full.  Bake for 26-28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean. Note:  I usually check my baked goods about 5-10 minutes before the estimated time done, since every oven is different.  I thought mine were done around 20 minutes.  My toothpick came out clean, but I could have baked them a few minutes longer.  

While cupcakes are baking, cream together vegan margarine and cream cheese until just combined.  Add the confectioners' sugar in 1/2 cup batches and whip with a handheld or stand mixer.  Mix until smooth and creamy, then mix in vanilla extract.  Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use.  

Once fully cooled, top generously with cream cheese frosting.  

- Adapted from PopSugar: Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe



They turned out very moist, dense and soft.  When I sat down to finish this plate, I had 3 "little vultures" hovering me for every last crumb!  These are "kid-tested" and "approved"!   

Now that we are back home, my mind wanders back to Cancun periodically... Can you imagine why?  

Enjoy!

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