Who Made the Birthday Cake?

Happy Monday y'all!

I must say that I am truly blessed to have such an amazing family.

They pretty much make my life crazy, exciting, fan-freaking-fantastic, and all-around enjoyable :)

Can you tell I had an amazing birthday weekend?

Yep, yep.

Also...the Grammy's this year...BORING! Can I get an Amen?

It's amazing how many music "stars" have absolutely no musical talent.

I mean, where is your guitar? You piano? But noooooo...let's just jump around on stage singing about boys that have screwed us in relationships like we are in third grade. Oh, and get 1 million plus ditzy fans while we are at it. Okay. Sounds good.

I'm terrible :/

You know I am such a food snob when I take a bite of the tres leches cake they served me for my birthday at the Mexican restaurant and proclaim, "It's good, but it's not my tres leches." Slam!

On Friday I wanted to experiment and start my birthday off a little early.

With cake, of course. :)

Super duper easy one bowl carrot cake. 

With a vegan whipped coconut cream frosting. 

Ummmmmmm yes, please. 

I don't like raisins in my carrot cake unless I am having an "off" day or unless I am extremely hung over and just want the damn piece of cake. 

Carrot cake to me is well, all about the carrots. 

It's definitely one of my top 5 cakes...next to italian cream, hummingbird, red velvet, and german chocolate.

This cake is totally paleo, totally gluten-free, and ummmmm totally vegan. 

Whhhhhaaaaaht? Yep, I said it. 

Oh, and as for the coconut whipped cream...feel free to drop a heaping spoonful of that stuff into your morning coffee. 

Carrot Cake Jars (GF/V/Paleo):

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1/2 c. almond flour

1/2 c. coconut flour

1/4 c. granulated stevia

1/4 c. melted coconut oil

2 T. homemade, unsweetened apple butter or applesauce (or a store bought brand that is unsweetened, no added sugar)

3/4 c. unsweetened, almond milk

1/2 c. shredded carrots

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. chopped walnuts, optional

For the Coconut Whipped Cream:

1 can of full-fat coconut milk

seeds of 1 vanilla bean

1/4 c. granulated stevia

Instructions:

For the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 5 wide-mouthed half pint canning jars with cooking spray (you can also use ramekins).

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients together until smooth and evenly distributed.

3. Spread the cake batter into each canning jar, filling each jar about 3/4 full. 

4. Place the jars on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

5. Let the cakes cool before topping with whipped cream. 

For the Coconut Whipped Cream: 

1. Refrigerate the can of coconut milk overnight.

2. Flip the can of coconut milk upside down. Open the can up and you will see the liquid part of the coconut milk. Pour the liquid into a bowl to discard or use for something else.

3. At the bottom of the can you will see the "cream" of coconut. Scoop the cream out into the bowl of an electric mixer.

4. Add the vanilla bean and beat on high.

5. Then with the mixer still running, slowly beat the sugar in by 1 tablespoon until incorporated. 

6. Top each cake with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

7. Devour!

Makes 5 jars of cake and 1 c. of whipped cream.

MANGIA!!!