Vegan carrot and cranberry gingerbread cakes
This one-bowl cake is a great way to celebrate the flavors of the season with a slightly more wholesome sweet that works as a breakfast, a snack, or a dessert.
Vegan carrot and cranberry gingerbread cakes
Time: 20 minutes prep; baking time varies, see notes in recipe
Yield: 12 mini bundt cakes, 2 5’ x 2’ cakes, or 1 large bundt
½ cup olive oil
½ cup + 2 Tbsp maple syrup
½ cup molasses
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups grated carrots
1 ½ cups whole fresh or frozen cranberries (or 1 cup fresh cranberries and 1/2 cup dried cranberries)
1 cup + ¼ cup spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp sea salt
Preheat the oven to 350.
In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add the shredded carrots and cranberries and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Let sit while you grease your baking tins with olive oil.
If using mini bundt pans, fill all the way to the top. These don’t get a huge amount of rise, so the bundts will stay pretty flat. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
If making mini cakes, fill about ¾ of the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
If using a large bundt pan, fill 3/4 of the way and bake for 45-50 minutes, rotating half way through baking.
Notes:
This recipe bakes up perfectly in two 5' x 2' cake pans, a large bundt, cupcake tins or small bundt pans. If using cupcake tins, follow the cooking time for small bundt pans.
For the topping: I think these are fantastic plain or with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Depending on your needs, I also topped these with a maple cream cheese frosting that was amazing with the cake. I would recommend doing this if you want to bring these to a party and dairy isn't an issue. I haven't personally tried these with the cake, but there are some great coconut whipped toppings on the market and coconut cream whips up into an easy easy dairy-free whipped cream for a vegan option.
Carrots, cranberries, and whole wheat flour make this cake slightly more wholesome than some other seasonal desserts, but no less delicious!
