Our Family's Favorite Carrot Cake Veganized!!

Our favorite carrot cake for years has been our modified version of "Sam's Famous Carrot Cake" from allrecipes dot com. I've managed to veganize it by eliminating the eggs and buttermilk, and it is fantastic!! Double the recipe for a layered cake. Next time I'll use oat flour to make the cake gluten-free. This uses a sifter; it may be fine without one. Click HERE for frosting recipe.

9" cake pan lined with parchment paper
Pre-heat oven 350 degrees F

Ingredients in sections this time according to steps of preparation:

In medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used white wheat this time)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp salt

For egg substitute, mix together:
1. 5 T ground flax seed
3 T water

For buttermilk substitute:
5 T soy milk
2 tsp lemon juice
(can sub white or apple cider vinegar)
Stir together and let sit for 5-10 min to curdle






In large bowl, beat together:

the egg and buttermilk substitutes above
6 T light olive oil
3/4 cup of sugar (ideally natural, unbleached sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract


THEN add the dry ingredients from the medium bowl to the large bowl and mix well.









In medium bowl, stir together:

1 cup shredded carrots (about 2), lightly coated with lemon juice
1/2 cup organic shredded coconut*
1/2 cup raisins*soaked in 2 T of warmed orange juice
1/2 cup pecan pieces
4 oz crushed pineapple, drained

✓ Fold the fruit/veggie/nut mixture into batter

*Warm about 2 T of orange juice and soak raisins in it for a few minutes. You can do this at the beginning of the recipe, too, for plumper raisins.

If your coconut is dried out too much, add 1-2 more T of oj and soak the coconut in that, too. Start with the raisins, first, though.

Fruit, veggie, nut mixture.
The colors are beautiful!
The photo doesn't do it justice :(

✓Pour the batter into lined cake pan
✓Bake in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes
✓Check doneness by testing with toothpick poked in center of cake comes out clean
✓Remove from oven (turn oven off *cough*)
✓✓Let it cool completely before removing cake from pan

Line pan with parchment paper
(this helps to remove cake easily)

✓Get a cutie to sing Happy Birthday to you

Mashed Yams with Pineapple

Easy. Can do ahead. Great as left-overs. So healthy! No oil, no processed sugar, no salt. 

I originally wrote about this dish nearly 9 years ago, and the original recipe contained butter, brown sugar, honey, and salt (click here to see original). Since then, I've removed those ingredients because our tastebuds have changed, and we enjoy the natural flavors so much more. And removing those makes the recipe that much simpler and easier to clean up after. It's a nice holiday dish, too.

I should try sprinkling hemp seeds on top
for added omegas

Ingredients:
4-5 yams or sweet potatoes
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple (in own juices), drained
cinnamon
pecans (or walnuts)

Directions:
-Boil a pot of water, enough water to cover yams
-Add yams and gently boil for about 30-40 minutes until inserted knife goes in smoothly
-Remove yams and drain
-Cut skins and remove (I have a great yam-skin recipe I still need to enter)
-Mash naked yams in large bowl
-Stir in whatever amount of pineapple, cinnamon, and pecans you want (I use the whole can)

Something else I didn't know:
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. In the diet and diabetes industry, a carb-phobia has been created, and unfortunately the good-carbs have been dragged down along with the bad carbs. This has resulted in a lot of confusion and messed-up metabolisms and eating habits.
Good "whole" carbs have natural fiber and include all vegetables, whole fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, tubers (potatoes).
Bad "refined" carbs include processed foods like sugar, white flour, sugary drinks, fried potatoes, white rice.
The good news:
We need good carbs and can enjoy them knowing they help us thrive! And, T1 diabetes insulin resistance can be greatly helped on a plant-based diet with good carbs while T2 diabetes can be reversed!! No one used to think T2 could be reversed and that those suffering from it would be on meds the rest of their lives. There is actual hope to get off the meds...tangible, doable, life-saving hope and results! Click here to find out more at MasteringDiabetes.org It's the animal protein and fats that interfere with insulin resistance...not fruit!