Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting

Categories: Vegan, cake, dessert

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup Florida Crystals sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or use fresh nutmeg)
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup unsalted vegetable margerine cut into small pieces (1 stick at room temperature)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce mixed with 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup minced crytallized ginger (really need this for the extra flavor!)
• 3 large apples, cored and cut into 1/4" pieces (you don't have to peel them)
• 1/2 cup pecans, diced
• 1/2 cup raisins (either golden or regular)
• 2 teaspoons ground flax seed mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water
• Caramel Frosting
• 1/2 cup unsalted vegetable margerine
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons soy milk (or more, depending on the consistency you'd like)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 or more cups powdered sugar (depending upon the consistency you'd like)
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans (*optional--for sprinkling over the top)

Directions

1. eheat oven to 325. Lightly spray a 9 × 13″ cake pan. In a large bowl whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda and dried spice. In the bowl of a mixer, add the butter and apples, ginger, nuts and raisins and flax seed mixture and mix on low speed for about a minute. This will appear to be nothing more than a clump of a mess. That’s okay, just hang on a second. Now, add the flour to this mixture in thirds along with the applesauce/water mix. The mixture will begin to come together, but still appear lumpy. After the last addition of the flour, mix one more time for about 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 minutes. The cake will just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan—but not too much. Insert a toothpick in the middle to test for doneness. It’s a dense cake, thus the longer baking time. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

2. In the bowl of a mixer, add the margerine and brown sugar and mix until smooth. Next, add the salt, extract and soy milk, blend well. Next, begin to add the powdered sugar to the mixture one half cup at a time. Mix well after each addition. Continue to add the powdered sugar and mixing until the frosting is at the consistency you’d like. I like a fairly fluffy, but thick kind. Frost the cake, sprinkle with chopped pecans and store in a covered container in the fridge!

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