Coconut Orange Carrot Cake

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”
-Jim Davis

I love this quote...and I thought it would be just the thing to start off my post on carrot cake!  Carrot cake makes me think of spring.  Which is exactly why I thought this weekend was the perfect time to make it, since the temperatures are warming and the tulips are just poking their greens above the ground to say hello.  I have always enjoyed carrot cake, even if it was mainly because of the creamy slightly tangy cream cheese frosting when I was 5.  Now that I am an adult however, I appriciate the moist, lightly spiced cake flecked with orange in addition to the frosting.  I am not one to use recipes, and make things the traditional way however, so I made my cake a little different than other people's carrot cake. 

First off I made mine vegan.  Second, this was to be a coconut orange carrot cake with a delicious filling besides just more frosting! I sort of based the recipe off of my spice cake base, but wasn't sure what to expect since I was adding in extras such as carrots and coconut which might affect the texture and moisture levels. I also used a bit of orange juice in addition to my usual coconut milk to give the cake more of an orange fragrance.  The cake turned out perfect! 

Nice and light textured but also moist enough to be a carrot cake.  It was lightly spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg, my favorite blend of spices for baking. There were light flavors of coconut and orange, which was exactly what I was looking for.  Next I had to decide what sort of delicious filling I wanted in between the cake layers.  I wanted something lightly orange flavored, and almost mousse like in texture, but since this cake was vegan whipping cream was out of the equation.  What I came up with a whipped tofutti cream cheese filling with orange curd folded in. 

It was perfect!  Slightly tart, and silky as well as light much like a mousse.  I finished the cake off with a vanilla tofutti cream cheese frosting, and toasted coconut.  It was heavenly as a whole, and not something that you want to eat a small piece of.  The best carrot cake I have enjoyed in a while, but with my own twist!  Here is  the recipe if you wish to enjoy some for yourself!

Vegan Coconut Orange Carrot Cake

Makes 1 6 inch 4 layer cake

2 6 inch cake pans

Cake:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup maple sugar or granulated sugar

1/2 cup orange  juice

2 Tbsp organic orange zest
3/4 cup lite coconut milk
2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups shredded organic carrots

1 cup finely shredded unsweetened toasted coconut

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

 

Filling:

3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp organic orange zest
1 tsp organic lemon zest
1/4 cup agave nectar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

pinch of sea salt

2 Tbsp full fat coconut milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 Tbsp coconut oil

8 oz tofutti cream cheese

Frosting:

2 8 oz pkgs tofutti cream cheese

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp agave nectar

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

a pinch of sea salt

1/2 cup large flake toasted coconut
plant based food coloring

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Line two six-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper and pan sides with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, sea salt, and spices together in a large bowl to blend well. Whisk oil, sugar, orange juice and zest, coconut milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, carrots, finely shredded  coconut, and pecans together in small bowl to blend well, then whisk into the flour mixture until well blended. Transfer cake batter to prepared pan and bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack, about 1 hour. Cut around sides of pan to loosen. Turn cake out onto platter; peel off parchment paper. Let cool completely, then place in the fridge to chill until very cold to make slicing easier. When chilled, slice cakes horizontally in half so that you have 4 layers.

To make the filling, combine maple sugar, cornstarch, and sea salt in a medium pot, and whisk until combined. Add the juice and zest and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium high heat whisking constantly until thickened to a curd or pudding like consistency, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in coconut milk, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour into a bowl, and let chill in the fridge until very cold, at least an hour.  In a medium bowl, whip 8 oz cream cheese until light and fluffy, then beat in orange curd mixture until smooth.  Set aside in the fridge.
To make frosting, whip cream cheese until smooth, then add agave nectar, vanilla, and sea salt and beat until smooth.

To assemble cake, place one layer on a plate, and top with about about 1/3 of the filling, spread to about 1/2 inch from the edge of the cake, but not all the way to the edge, because you don't want it to ooze. Top with another layer and repeat, then the next 2 layers ending with a top layer of cake. Place in the fridge for about an hour to allow the filling to set up before frosting.  To frost cake, spread frosting over top and sides, smothing out as you go. Cover the top of the cake with the large flake toasted coconut.  Tint any leftover frosting orange or whatever color you desire, and pipe remaining frosting decoratively around top and bottom of the cake using a pastry bag or plastic ziplock with a hole in the corner.

*if you would like a 4 layer 9 inch cake, double this entire recipe and bake in two 9 inch cake pans.