Gluten-free Vegan Carrot Cake

We celebrated my brother's birthday today (happy birthday, Joey!) with a cookout on the grill.  My dad made some awesome thin, crisp, on-the-verge-of-charred grilled potatoes to go with oven baked tofu, stringbeans, collard and kale.  I had to help myself to two servings of everything.  (sorry there aren't any pictures - I was too hungry to wait)

For dessert my mom made not just one, but two carrot cakes - one gluten-free and vegan for me, and one for everybody else.  And yes, I really could've been a piggie and eaten the whole thing by myself.  The icing was made with silken tofu, which had the look of cream cheese when it was in the fridge, but once it hit the 90 degree kitchen, that icing welled up in a soupy pool.  Delicious, nonetheless, and I kinda like it all gooey anyway. 

Look at that!  Would you look at that??   Mmm... rich, dense, sweet and oh soooo goood!  (thanks, mom!!)

Carrot Cake

1/2 cup soy flour

1/2 cup gluten-free flour

1/2 cup white rice flour

3/4 cup Sucanat

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup vanilla soy milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup canola oil

1 Tbl ground flax seed plus 3 Tbl water

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, stir together the flour, Sucanat, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix the flax seed mixture with oil, soy milk, vanilla, walnuts and carrot.  Stir the liquid into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Pour into oiled 9” cake pan and bake 20-30 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. 

Maple Tofu Crème

12 oz. container of extra firm tofu (Mori Nu)

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup rice syrup

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch

1/4 cup vegan cream cheese

2 Tbl Earth Balance soy margarine

Mix the tofu, maple syrup, rice syrup, soy powder, vanilla and cornstarch in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Heat for about 5 minutes on med-low until sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and whisk in vegan cream cheese and soy margarine until thick.  Store in refrigerator for several hours before frosting.