Category Archives: Asian

Chinese 5 Spice Carrot Crazy Cake

These Chinese 5 Spice Carrot Cupcakes will melt in your mouth. It is so good people will be happy they broke their diet for one. The highest praise for this recipe came when one vegan friend told another vegan she must try it, she said “no thank you” but after some coaxing and trying one her response was “this is so good there must be animal in there!”

Kid Friendly

Piped

Cruising

Another quick garnish idea for people who love crystallized ginger, add a bit to the top.

A few notes about the recipe:

A 6 oz can of crushed pineapple will give you the perfect amount of juice and crushed pineapple. I squeeze off the juice to make sure there is enough, add a bit of water if you need more liquid.

If you can’t find Chinese 5 Spice at your local supermarket, you can probably find the 5 ingredients: Star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel. In a pinch, I’ve substituted black pepper for the Sichuan pepper, not perfect, but still very tasty. Ginger is another option.

Ingredients List

Cake

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cups white sugar
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon baking soda

1/3 Cup vegetable oil

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

½ Cup pineapple juice
¼ Cup crushed pineapple
1 Cup grated carrot
2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice powder

Frosting

1/2 Cup shortening
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 Tablespoons Coconut milk, add more for proper consistency

Instructions

1. Sift flour, sugar, salt, and soda together.
2. Mix in oil and vanilla.
3. Mix in carrot and crushed pineapple.
4. Mix in pineapple juice.
5. Scoop batter into cupcake paper lined pan.
6. Bake immediately at 350 for 20 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
7. When cool, frost cupcakes.

Yield 12 Cupcakes