Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake

Slice of double layered carrot cake topped with walnuts.

This delicious, soft and moist carrot cake is perfect spiced and tastes incredible with your choice of vegan cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Author: Deryn Macey

Ingredients

1 tbsp ground flax 7 g
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 340 g
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
¾ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup unsweetened applesauce 120 g
1 cup almond milk 240 ml
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ¼ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar 188 g
½ cup melted coconut oil or other neutral oil such as olive or canola
2 cups packed grated carrots (245 g, about 3 medium carrots)
1 cup walnuts toasted, optional
Toasted coconut flakes for decorating, optional

Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups cashews soaked overnight (300 g, before soaking)
¼ cup + 3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup oat milk
2 tbsp lemon juice (30 ml_
Pinch of salt

Or Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces vegan cream cheese 1 container
3 tablespoons vegan butter at room temperature (35 g)
2 ½ cups powdered sugar 330 g
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and line the bottoms of two 7 or 8-inch round baking pans with parchment paper.
To a small bowl, add ground flax and 3 tbsp water. Stir to combine, then set aside for 5-10 min, to thicken.
If adding walnuts, place the walnuts on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. If you'd like to use some for topping the cake, when the walnuts are cool, finely chop half and roughly chop the remaining half; keep separate.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour(s), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together the applesauce, milk, vanilla, sugar, oil and flax mixture until combined. Stir in carrots. Note that if you're using melted coconut oil, to make sure the other ingredients are at room temperature. If they're cold, they will cause the coconut oil to solidify.
Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined, you don't want to over mix. Fold in half of the finely chopped walnuts, if using.
Divide batter between prepared baking pans, smoothing the tops into an even layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely in the baking pans.
To make cashew frosting, combine all frosting ingredients into a high speed blender. Blend until very smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides if needed. Chill frosting for at least 30 minutes before spreading. It will firm up a bit.
To make vegan cream cheese frosting, beat all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
Remove cooled cakes from baking pans. Transfer one cake to a serving plate. Spread half the frosting over top, then top with the other cake. Spread remaining frosting over the top half, leaving the sides exposed.
Sprinkle remaining walnuts, or toasted coconut flakes around the outer edge or decorate to your preference.

Notes

If you want to use pans that are smaller than 7-inches, such as 4 to 6-inch pans, I'd recommend making 3 layers. Baking time will be 25-30 minutes. For a single layer cake, you can use a 9x9-inch or 9x13-inch baking dish and baking will be 35-40 minutes.

Nutrition facts is for the cake only without the frosting.

Store leftover cake in a sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. If you're freezing it, I'd recommend freezing without the frosting.

Nutrition