Another Vegan Carrot + Banana Bread Recipe

Last night, J and i went to the supermarket specifically to get whatever ingredients i still needed to make carrot cake cupcakes with vanilla mascarpone frosting. I had stumbled upon the recipe the other day and felt my life would not be complete if i didn't eat it try to bake it.

I still needed to do work when we got back, so i resisted the urge to get messy in the kitchen post midnight.

Then this morning i was rudely awaken by the phone, by a number that i didn't recognise on the Caller ID. Don't you hate that!? But instead of going back to bed, i made my way to the kitchen because i knew today was the day that i'd start baking.

Well J's at a company's half year-let's-get-drunk party and i needed something to keep me occupied.

I can't decided whether i miss those office parties. Maybe just the company. The friends. I dunno. Oh well, the price i pay for being my own boss and working from home.

Anyway, i followed Pickycook[dot]com's Carrot cake Cupcakes with Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting recipe here.


And replaced the 1 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup brown sugar + 1/2 cup white sugar. But in my height of excitement, i forgot to put the lemon zest in - oops, so i put it in the vanilla mascarpone [minus the vanilla seeds] frosting instead.

I don't own a muffin tray [not yet anyway], so i just tripled the cupcake holders and placed them closer to one another to prevent them from spilling over hence the deformed shapes.


And i don't own a pastry bag, so i just filled a small sandwich bag with the frosting and snipped a corner. I wasn't going for any fancy design but they ended up looking like they were topped with spaghetti ice-cream.


I was able to make 14 cupcakes. Each averaging about 3 bites which probably explains why there's only 4 left.

Feeling unsatisfied with my baking skills, i wanted to make something else.

And ended up finding a Vegan Banana Bread recipe [no eggs or butter - that should be interesting] from About[dot]com. And so with the leftover grated carrots, i made a few adjustments and added some extras.

Another Vegan Carrot + Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar + 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 4 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla

Extras:

• 1/2 cup roasted & chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 2 tsps lemon juice

Preparation:
1.) Pre-heat oven to 180˚C and roast the walnuts for 10 minutes.
2.) Lightly grease a bread pan.
3.) Mix sugar and oil, then add mashed bananas.
4.) Add water and vanilla + extras, stirring to combine.
5.) Sift dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir until combined.
6.) Then bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

I'm still waiting for it to cool, so in the meantime for the non-vegan and non-weight-conscious people out there, i'll make a small batch of Vanilla Mascarpone frosting [1 tbsp Mascarpone + 1 tbsp cream cheese + 1tsp butter + 1tsp honey + few vanilla drops + a sprinkle of lemon zest].

I'll come back later with an update to tell you how it tastes.

=)

UPDATE

I'm slightly disappointed that it didn't turn out as i had expected.


Maybe the measurements were wrong. Maybe i needed to add more flour. I'm not sure. I mean the taste was there except that it didn't have that light, sponge-like texture that cakes should have. I dunno. Do you know?

Oh well... at least the Vanilla cream cheese mascarpone with lemon zest frosting turned out pretty yummy.