Easy Vegan Carrot Cake

This easy vegan carrot cake is everything you’d want. It’s moist, super tasty, simple to make, and will undoubtedly be a crowd-pleaser!

This recipe is unique not only because it’s a plant-based carrot cake but also because it’s free of vegan butter, refined sugar, and vegan cream cheese.

Since becoming vegan over six years ago, I don’t believe that I’ve had the opportunity to eat a carrot cake in a cafe. It’s not often that you see it on the menu! Since I’m doing cake month this month, I knew that a vegan carrot cake had to be a part of the line-up.

If you need the treat to impress for afternoon tea, make this cake the day before and take it along. It’ll be devoured, I promise you!

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The cream cheese frosting

The cream cheese frosting in this recipe is free from many of the ingredients that you’d find in a dairy-free creamy frosting. You’ll love it just as much, but like the cake itself, it doesn’t have vegan butter, powdered sugar, and vegan cream cheese. 

Instead, what I chose to make for this carrot cake was a buttercream that was just as delicious but healthier. The ingredients in this frosting are:

• Raw cashews
• Coconut cream
• Good-quality maple syrup
• Vanilla extract
• Lemon juice
• Apple cider vinegar
• Coconut oil
• Salt

The acidity, sweetness, and salty flavours create a beautifully rich cream cheese-like frosting that goes perfectly with this carrot cake. All you have to do is pop all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and whizz away!

Kitchen tools needed to make this vegan carrot cake

• 8inch cake tin
• Baking tray (for toasting walnuts)
• Unbleached parchment paper
• Scales
• Measuring spoons
• Fine mesh strainer (for sifting dry ingredients)
• Grater or grating function on a food processor
• Large bowl
• Small bowl
• Mixing spoon
• Whisk
• Wire rack (for cooling the cake)
• Silicone spatula or palette knife/offset spatula (for spreading cream cheese frosting)
• Blender (for making the cream cheese)

Tips for making this cake

This carrot cake recipe is easy to put together, but certain things need to be timed right to get it perfect. 

• I use both white spelt flour and plain unbleached flour in this recipe. I wanted to add some texture and nutrients to the carrot cake. You can substitute the spelt flour for more plain unbleached flour, specifically 135g of it. 
• To save time, grate the carrots in your food processor instead of by hand.
• Have the carrots grated before you start making the cake. This way, you’ll have them ready to toss in when the wet and dry ingredients have been combined. 
• It’s best to make this cake at least half a day ahead of time. It will have enough time to cool and for the cream cheese frosting to firm up in the fridge.
• The walnuts don’t need to be toasted before used, it does, however, add a richer, deeper flavour. 
• If you don’t have an 8-inch cake tin, you can use a standard 9-inch tin instead. The cake won’t be as tall, and the baking time will vary. 

Topped with crushed walnuts, this carrot cake is perfect for any celebration or simply just because you feel like cake! If there’s any cake that won’t give you a guilt trip, it’s this one. 

This vegan carrot cake recipe is:

• Refined-sugar free
• Dairy-free
• Egg-free
• Vegan-friendly
• Moist
• Perfectly spiced
• Delicious
• Wholesome

Other cake recipes you’ll love:

1. Baked Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake
2. Vegan Lumberjack Cake (Gluten-Free)
3. Vegan Banana Cake with a Chocolate Ganache
4. Vegan Vanilla Cake with Coconut Cream and Berries
5. Vegan Chocolate and Pear Loaf Cake
6. Easy Vegan Apple Almond Cake

If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest. 

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