Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream "Cheese" Frosting

I feel like I've been posting a lot of sweet recipes lately, but it is birthday season in my world, so that's probably why. This carrot cake is made from an original recipe that is easily vegan-ized. It is so moist and tasty that even non-vegans had no idea that they weren't eating animal products. If you put enough sugar on anything, it'll probably taste good and this recipe isn't stingy with the sugar :)

Total Time: 2 hours (including cooling)
Servings: 8-12

Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Egg Replacer equivalent to 4 eggs
1 1/4 cups oil
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups grated carrots (it's easiest to use a food processor, a blender can do it little by little, or hand grating is possible as well)
1 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts) optional
1 cup crushed pineapple (optional)

Frosting:
8 ounces vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened (I use Earth Balance)
2 cups confectioners' sugar (this is "powdered sugar" for those of you that, like me, had no idea what confectioners' sugar is)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare two 9” pans or one 12” cake pan or one 9”x 13” sheet pan by lining with parchment or wax paper.

Mix together in a bowl flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a bigger bowl, whisk together "eggs", oil, sugars, and vanilla for about minute or so.

A little at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer.

Add the grated carrots. Then add nuts and pineapple if desired.

Pour batter in prepared cake pans and bake for approx. 45 to 50 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a skewer, it should be dry when taken out. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the cream cheese frosting: in a bowl beat together cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat for a minute. Add vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another minute.

This recipe was adapted from CHOW.