Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups apple sauce
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots (Note: my aunt swears that hand-grating makes a better end-product than using a food processor.)
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger

Frosting
10 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, room temperature
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (Grade A maple syrup makes a whiter frosting; Grade B maple syrup makes a slightly darker frosting, but a stronger maple flavor)

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend.

In separate bowl, whisk sugar and apple sauce until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time.

Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and ginger. (Note: Don't over mix the batter as the cake will come out dense and heavy. The first time I made this I mixed the batter by hand and it turned out great. The second time I used a mixer and it came out dense and heavy.)

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely.


For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and shortening in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed until well blended. Beat in maple syrup. Chill until just firm enough to spread, 30 minutes.

(Note: The first time I made this for a party I used real cream cheese and butter, and the frosting turned out great, if a little soft at room temperature. The next time I tried substituting a tablespoon of vegetable shortening and 4-5 melted marshmallows for the butter, which worked great in other recipes, but the frosting never "set-up." I'm still looking for a great dairy-free cream cheese frosting recipe.)

Frost cake and serve. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.)

Adapted from original recipe at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102155