Birthday Cake

Happy Swiss National Day!

...and now to another birthday;

When we were little we could always count on mom to make us 'our' birthday cake. I think each one of us kids had a different favorite.

Last year I made a carrot cake for Selina, in a bear form, decorated to look like Winnie the Pooh. Needless to say, it had to be the same one again this year. And she wanted to help make it. The first thing that came out of her mouth when she got up in the morning was; 'Mom, can we do the cake now? what ingredients do we need?'

It so happened that the cake was baked by 9am!!!

Here I share the recipe with you and also how you can have a fun colorful cake WITHOUT Chemical Food Dye's!

The carrot cake recipe is from the ridiculously awesome '1000 VEGAN RECIPES' Cookbook by Robin Robertson 

Check her out here!

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

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1 cup sugar (I left that out and added 3/4 cups of Maple syrup)

1/2 cup plain or vanilla soy milk (rice milk works too)

1/2 cup canola or other neutral oil (I used olive oil, if you use canola oil remember to only use the organic kind)

1/4 cup Maple Syrup (only if you haven't use it yet instead of the sugar)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups finely shredded carrots

1/2 raisins

preheat oven to 350degrees Fahrenheit

mix dry and wet ingredients together (sugar goes with the wet ones) in separate bowls. Add the wet to the dry ingredients, mix well.

Stir in the carrots and raisins until just mixed.

Bake about 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Now for the fun part!

For the frosting I just mixed vegan creme cheese and organic sugar in my little food processor. 

Add Cherries for a kind of purple-ish color.

Add turmeric for yellow. 

(it is almost tasteless if used in minimal amounts and mixed with sugar) 

Experiment with different fruits and veggies, like Beet Juice, Blackberries, Raspberries.

Here is our masterpiece. (-;

Last but certainly not least, the sprinkles! According to our 4 year old girly girl, NOTHING goes without sprinkles!!! Sprouts Farmers Market has vegan chocolate sprinkles as well as the colored ones but without the chemical food colorings or high fructose corn syrup.

YAY! That makes Mamma happy! (-;

Enjoy! and thanks for stopping by!

Happy August!