Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and lightly grease with olive oil or other cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and lightly grease with olive oil or other cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, maple syrup, walnut oil, light brown sugar, and sugar. Add in apple sauce, and gently whisk in baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Next, mix in milk and the shredded carrot. When fully combined, add in your flours and walnuts or pecans. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the cake pans; the cake will rise to about 1 ½ times the initial level in the pan. Bake for 60 minutes. The cake should be golden brown, and a toothpick should come out clean from the center of the cake. It can take anywhere from 60-75 minutes depending on the oven. When the toothpick does come out clean, cool the cake for about 20 minutes. Then, remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment paper, and cool them for another 30 minutes or longer on cooling racks.

Meanwhile, combine the vegan butter and cream cheese in a bowl, and add in the powdered sugar in 1-cup increments. In two smaller bowls, place 3-4 tablespoons of the icing in each, and add a few drops of the green and orange food coloring in separate bowls to your desired color intensity to decorate the cake with icing carrots. Chill the icing while your cakes cool.

When your cake has fully cooled, place the bottom layer of the cake right-side up on a cake stand and evenly spread a layer of icing to taste. Add the second layer of the cake, but this time, stack the cake bottom-side up. The icing will spread more easily and the cake will be more even with the bottom side as the top of your cake. With a flat knife or icing knife, add a layer of icing just thin enough to cover the sides, with a more generous but still thin layer of icing on the top of the cake. This will create a “naked cake” effect while also cutting some of the sugar content.

Now it’s time to decorate the cake. In lieu of the contrived traditional large icing carrots with bold colors, we like to opt for small mini-carrots on top in a more pastel palette, which makes it more elegant. With two separate ziplock bags, cut a small corner off each bag. You’ll need two icing nozzles: one larger to make the carrots with the orange icing and one smaller to make the delicate carrot top with the green icing. Place your icing nozzles to the edge of the cut corners in the bags , and add the orange icing to one bag and the green icing to the other. Take a practice plate and work on your carrots, first using the orange icing with greater pressure at the start and tapering off at the end. With the green, make the carrot leaves; you can do 2 or 3 lines. You’ll need to work quickly so the icing doesn’t get too soft. Gently place the finely chopped walnuts or pecans around, but not on top of, your icing carrots. Immediately refrigerate the cake so that the icing sets, preferably overnight. Take the cake out 15-20 minutes before serving.