Vegan Carrot Cake

You can try it with cashew cream cheese frosting or make a more traditional frosting with store-bought vegan cream cheese and both are absolutely delicious!

Whether you do a double layer cake, cupcakes, a sheet cake or triple stack it, this beautiful cake is sure to please a crowd.

Love carrot cake but not in the mood to make a cake? This Carrot Cake Banana Bread, Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Smoothie and No-Bake Carrot Cake Energy Balls will deliver all the carrot cake flavour you’re looking for.

Recipe Highlights

• Perfectly spiced and moist.
• Make it as a layer cake, sheet cake or cupcakes.
• Made with simple, everyday ingredients.
• Two options for frosting: cashew cream cheese or classic cream cheese frosting.
• Completely vegan (dairy-free and egg-free).

Ingredients

• Flax: You’ll need ground flax to act as an egg in this recipe. Make use it’s fairly fresh (less than 6 months if refrigerated) so it works properly. I like to store ground flax in the freezer so it stays fresh longer.
• Milk: You can use oat milk, cashew milk or almond milk.
• Sugar: You can use brown sugar or coconut sugar. I used coconut sugar.
• Oil: The recipe has been tested with olive oil and melted coconut oil and both work well. Other neutral oils like canola oil are also suitable. If you’re using coconut oil be sure your other ingredients are at room temperature so the coconut oil doesn’t harden when you add it to the recipe.
• Walnuts and Coconut: Both are optional ingredients. Walnuts can be added to the cake if you like or just used for a topping. Toasting them both adds more flavour and a pretty effect.

Frosting: You’ll find two options for frosting your carrot cake, a cashew-based frosting and dairy alternative cream cheese frosting. We’ll go over those below.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Before You Start: Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray two 8-inch baking pans with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment. I like to put some cooking spray under the parchment paper to help it stick.

For pans, I like springform pans or pans with removable bottoms but anything works.

Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, milk, vanilla, sugar, oil and the flax egg until fully combined then mix in the grated carrot.

Quick Tip: Make sure you use a fine grate for the carrots. You don’t want big chunks of carrot in the baked cake. Use finely grated carrot so it “melts” into the cake for the perfect flavour and texture.

Step 4: Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the wet to the dry ingredient or vice versa and fold together until “just mixed”. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing. This is key for a fluffy cake!

If you want to add chopped toasted walnuts to the cake, see the recipe below for toasting and mix those in now.

Step 5: Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops into an even layer. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely in the pans.

Make the Frosting: While you’re waiting for the cakes to cool, prepare your choice of frosting. You’ll find two recipes listed, one is made with soaked raw cashews or if you prefer you can use store-bought dairy-free cream cheese and powdered sugar. Both are delicious and work well!

Topping

Have some fun with decorating. You can go for a rustic look or get a little fancier by looking online for carrot cake decoration ideas. I kept mine simple with exposed edges and a sprinkling of coconut and walnuts around the edge of the cake.

To make toasted coconut and/or walnuts, preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the walnuts and/or coconut on a baking pan and bake for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned. Watch them closes because they can burn quickly!

Once the walnuts cool, you can finely chop them and use for topping.

Expert Tips

• Finely grate the carrots. Finely grated carrots combine seamlessly into the batter while larger pieces can be tough and chunky in the cake. Use the finest holes on your box grater.
• Don’t over mix. Since this cake contains gluten, it’s important not to over mix the batter. Mix until everything is “just combined” then stop. If you over mix you’ll risk a dense, heavy cake.
• Cool completely before frosting. It’s important to wait until the cakes are fully cooled before frosting otherwise the frosting will melt.
• Preheat the oven. Be sure to fully preheat the oven to 350 F before baking the cakes. Avoid opening the door until you’re testing for doneness. You can check the cakes after 30 minutes.
• Use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients. This will ensure accuracy and success!

Variations

• Choose either the cashew cream cheese frosting, traditional cream cheese frosting (made with vegan cream cheese) or skip the frosting all together.
• If you’re skipping the frosting you can serve the cake with whipped cream or ice cream, and/or this caramel sauce.
• Add-Ins: The recipe calls for walnuts as an optional add-in. Other ingredients that work well are pecan, coconut and/or raisins.
• For flour you can use all-purpose flour or half all-purpose flour and half oat flour.

Storing Leftovers

• If you frost the cake, it will need to be stored in the fridge.
• Cover and store for up to 1 week.
• The frosting can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
• The unfrosted cake will keep at room temperature for 2-3 days but I’d recommend storing it in the fridge. It will keep well for 1 week and is delicious cold!