January Was Just a Trial Month

The start of the year, of course, always has a fresh feel of optimism to it. Whether or not you are for or against resolutions, there is always that sense of a second chance, an opportunity to reset, to become something different to what you were before.

For me, I decided to live life more consciously. To stop, or at least reduce, the theorising, researching and planning. To let go of things that were making me zombie like. The endless hours of social media, absorbing the latest headlines ravenously. To not block it out altogether, but to be more aware of the time spent, the way it makes me feel, the amount I procrastinate.

I truly believe that life is about more than that. It's about sitting awkwardly and waiting without reaching for the comfort of my phone. It's about facing the unknown and saying hello to a stranger. It's about really caring when you stop to ask how someone's day is going. It's about getting out from under the warm covers and getting ready for the day even if you have nothing planned. Even if your boyfriend has gone for a long bike ride and doesn't expect you to have left the safety of the sheets before his return.

This year is about doing all those things I planned to do but never did. And doing those unplanned things as well. Because it is in doing that I hope to find satisfaction and to enrich my life and the lives of others.

The carrot cake above was made for my Auntie's birthday. It's not a large leap from the traditional carrot cake, as recipes usually use oil instead of butter as the fat component. They are getting used to the idea of me living without eggs and dairy so hopefully they like this cake.

Yours sincerely,

Jen

I used a recipe from Crazy Vegan Kitchen, find how to make the carrot cake here.
And an excellent tutorial by Oh She Glows on how to make coconut whipped cream here.

Recipe Notes:

For this cake, the recipe was doubled and placed into two 22cm round baking tins to make the layers. 2 cans of coconut cream made plenty of whipped cream for the icing and extra to spare (dangerous territory, will probably be eaten straight out of the container). 8 ounces of carrot is approximately 225 grams. The cake is super lovely and moist, exactly as promised, and a few people were amazed it was made without the use of any eggs. It is definitely a go to recipe - can't wait to make it into cupcakes or even in a square slice form. The coconut whipped cream was a first attempt - and heaven. Garnished with a sprinkling of grated carrot.