Vegan Carrot Cake with Lemon Buttercream and Fresh Figs

Fall vibes people!! I used to be a spring person but now fall is my favorite. I think because I love baking and baking in fall is pretty much THE. BEST. Apples and pears and pumpkins and all the warm cozy spices. I know you’re with me on this!

The garden has not faired so well this fall because of all the wet weather we’ve had from tropical storms headed up the Atlantic coast. The whole island seemed to be under a thick fog bank for 2 weeks straight which caused lots of rot. That said, the root veggies have survived. We dug up a row of carrots from the garden last week so the obvious priority was to bake a maple-ly spicey carrot cake.

We normally don’t eat frosting because… white sugar and fat, but it just looks so good on a cake. A little is not going to kill you so go for it every once in a while, especially if you want to wow your people with presentation. I topped it with fresh figs because they are sexy AF and are in season right now. I’ve probably spent a small fortune on them in the last few weeks because there is nothing like a ripe fig, so get them and enjoy them as much as you can while you can.

There’s not many edible flowers left in the garden, thank you fog, so I snipped a few cosmos and coreopsis for looks only and gorgeous sage leaves which are perfect for the season, but might be a little strong tasting if you try to eat them with this cake, hehehe. It’s the little things in life, right?! So bake yourself a pretty fall cake this week!

xx Kaity

Recipe after the jump…

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Vegan Carrot Cake with Lemon Buttercream and Fresh Figs

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• Yield: 1 two-layer 6" cake 1x

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Description

This carrot cake is super moist and rich thanks to coconut milk. Coconut milk is a dream for vegan baking. So creamy and rich and it really make a difference in taste and texture compared to other plant-based milks. I used maple sugar in this recipe because I just love the flavor of maple especially in fall season recipes. It is a bit pricey but you can sub it for whole cane sugar (rapadura/panela) or coconut palm sugar.

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Ingredients

• 1–1/2 cup all purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
• 3/4 cups maple sugar or whole cane sugar/coconut palm sugar
• 1–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup canola oil or olive oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange, finely grated
• 2 cups shredded carrots

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Grease two 6″ cake tins with vegan shortening or oil and line the bottoms with cut-out parchment paper rounds.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.
4. Whisk together milk, oil, maple syrup, vinegar, vanilla, and orange zest in a large measuring cup or another mixing bowl. Stir shredded carrots into wet mixture.
5. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not over-mix.
6. Spread batter evenly into the cake pans and bake at 350˚F for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cakes come out clean.
7. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife along edge of cake to loosen sides if needed. Invert pans onto a cooling rack. Cakes should come right out. Peel away the parchment and allow cakes to cool to room temperature before frosting.
8. Frost cakes with lemon buttercream, (recipe below) and top with fresh figs and flowers.
9. Serve at room temperature and enjoy!

Notes

Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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Vegan Lemon Buttercream

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegan shortening or softened butter
• 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
• 1 lb powdered sugar
• zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (omit if butter is salted)

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Instructions

Cream shortening or butter in a stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment or with a hand held beater.

Add 1/2 of sugar, salt, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla. Beat on low gradually increasing the speed. Add all of coconut milk and continue beating. Then add remainder of sugar and whip until smooth and creamy.

If mixture seems too dry add a splash more milk, if it seems to wet add a bit more sugar until you reach the desired consistency.

Use an offset spatula to spread buttercream onto bottom layer of cake. then place second cake on top. Spread more buttercream on top and sides of cake. Use edge of offset spatula to scrape away frosting from the sides for the “naked cake” look. Enjoy!

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Prop Love: Pecan wood serving board by Sweet Gum Co. Cactus dishtowel by Amelie Mancini. Wood offset spatula and ceramic cake server by Facture Goods.