This carrot cake is based on a trusted recipe from a friend’s cousin, a recipe that was veganized 10 years ago, and has been served to many party guests over these years. To make it more suitable for a weekday tv-night with friends, I cut the oil by more than a half, substituting a part of it with soy yogurt. I also cut the sugar in almost half of the original amount, and the “mmmm”s I got from my friends confirmed that the taste of this semi-healthified cake doesn’t pale in comparison with the heavier version!

I love lemons and the combination of tangy and sweet in this cake, but a vegan cream cheese frosting goes extremely well with this as well. I make it by just mixing a package of soy cream cheese with lemon juice and grated zest, and then add some confectioner’s sugar in the mix.

The Wet Mix:

• 1 and 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 dl canola oil
• 2 dl muscovado sugar
• 4 dl finely grated carrots
• 2 tablespoons finely ground flaxseed
• 1 dl soy milk

The Dry Mix:

• 2 dl spelt flour
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 dl walnuts, coarsely ground

I mixed the wet and the dry mixes in separate bowls, and then combined the two. Then I covered a rectangular baking dish, about 30 cm x 20cm, with baking parchment, poured the batter in the dish, evened the surface, and baked the cake in 225 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

NOTE: The cake might need to bake a little longer, up to 30 minutes - some bloggers have found the cake too moist with 20 minutes’ baking time.

The Icing:

• 2 tablespoons plain soy yogurt
• juice and grated zest of 1/2 lemon
• 3 to 4 dl confectioner’s sugar

I whisked together the yogurt, lemon juice, and zest, and then added enough sugar to create a relatively runny icing. The I waited until the cake had completely cooled, and poured the icing over the cake, leveling it with a butter knife. I let the icing dry up in the room temperature for a few hours before serving.