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Vegan Carrot Cake?


Mirandar

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I had the most delicious Carrot Cake ever yesterday, and apparently it was Vegan! Double Yum! It was dense, and moist and almost fugdy in a way (texture wise). Does anyone have a good vegan carrot cake recipe they'd be willing to share? Thanks!

~Miranda

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I wonder how they got sugar into a vegan cake. There's a vegan bakery a couple of blocks from me. Their sweet potato pie is OK because sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, but their pumpkin pie is horrible. I'm wondering if carrots are sweet enough to be good in cake without added sugar from somewhere. Maybe they are.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Maybe they use unbleached cane sugar which I have definitely seen in our local health food store, or pure beet sugar from a reputable source, since I don't believe you can tell the difference by eye or taste. I don't think there is anything that would prohibit a vegan from using a pure cane sugar that has not been processed.

Edited by Taboni (log)

Get your bitch ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!!!

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I wonder how they got sugar into a vegan cake. There's a vegan bakery a couple of blocks from me. Their sweet potato pie is OK because sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, but their pumpkin pie is horrible. I'm wondering if carrots are sweet enough to be good in cake without added sugar from somewhere. Maybe they are.

I thought vegan just meant no meat or animal products? Sugar may be bad for you in excess, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't contain meat. So a good tasting cake can be vegan. Are people using the word vegan to mean "healthy" or "natural"?

It's not the destination, but the journey!
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I thought vegan just meant no meat or animal products? Sugar may be bad for you in excess, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't contain meat. So a good tasting cake can be vegan. Are people using the word vegan to mean "healthy" or "natural"?

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I thought vegan just meant no meat or animal products?  Sugar may be bad for you in excess, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't contain meat.  So a good tasting cake can be vegan.  Are people using the word vegan to mean "healthy" or "natural"?

I don't know, but the vegan bakery near here sure doesn't use any sugar.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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i have been vegan at various points in my life...i've never quite been satisfied as to the issue of whether sugar is vegan or not. i have heard conflicting things, which may not mean either side of the issue is incorrect, it may have to do with individual production practices of sugar. i think turbinado sugar is considered acceptable by all vegans (not that i want to vouch for all vegans).

btw...if you need a vegan "butter," i would highly recommend the brand earth balance. i actually prefer it to butter for taste, as i find butter heavy and interfering with other (especially subtle) flavors.

cheers :)

hc

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funny you should have mentioned this. I had a piece of vegan carrot cake in a vegan/vegetarian restaurant a few weeks ago expecting something pretty horrid - but it turned out to be some of the best carrot cake I've ever had! Maybe it's something about carrot cake that lends itself well to veganism? I wonder how you would make a good cream cheese icing without dairy though. The icing on the cake I had was pretty good (although it did not have the usual cream cheese texture). Any ideas?

To add: as far as I know, vegans eat sugar, just not honey (animal product)

Cutting the lemon/the knife/leaves a little cathedral:/alcoves unguessed by the eye/that open acidulous glass/to the light; topazes/riding the droplets,/altars,/aromatic facades. - Ode to a Lemon, Pablo Neruda

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My husband is practically vegan (I know, not a real definition, but it's as close as I can get), and his sister is a hard-core, strict vegan, so I have some experience here.

First of all, there are plenty of sweeteners for vegans. Vegans that aren't too strict will use granulated sugar and honey - though some won't. As someone else already posted, sugar oftentimes is processed with (animal) bone char, which is a no-no for many vegans. And honey, well, it comes from bees, so some vegans won't touch it.

Strict vegans still use maple syrup and turbinado sugar, though - both of which are readily available in super markets.

Actually, I would say - when it comes to baking - finding an acceptable sweetener isn't a problem. It's finding a replacement for the eggs that is the main problem. Powdered egg replacer works well in many instances, but not so well in others.

That said, I've tried my hand at making MANY vegan baked goods for my husband and his sister, and many of them are excellent. It's all about finding out which ingredients work as substitutions in various circumstances. Many cookies, muffins and cakes can be made vegan with alterations. Some of them hold up to their dairy-filled counterparts, others don't.

Anyway, all this and I don't have a recipe to share. I remember making one from the Compassionat Cookbook (put out by PETA) that was good. I'll hunt it down this weekend and post it next week.

Bryan

Bryan Ochalla, a.k.a. "Techno Foodie"

http://technofoodie.blogspot.com/

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people."

Orson Welles (1915 - 1985)

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