Moist, rich vegan carrot cake with a wholesome flavor and gorgeous color. Topped with lemon buttercream frosting and crushed walnuts.
Carrot cake is pretty awesome! It gives you the feeling that you’re eating something pretty darn healthy. I mean you’re getting your veggies in!
And when it’s vegan carrot cake, well….. then you can feel pretty saintly about it!
Ok Ok, I’ve said I’m never going to mention guilt and food in the same sentence on this blog, and I’m going to stick to it, but you know, there’s indulgence and then there’s feeling saintly about indulgence, which is not like indulgence at all really.
So go on, have your vegan carrot cake and eat it too, while feeling saintly about your good choices 🙂
And you know one of these days I’ll make a gluten-free version and THEN, well then, you know, you can just about ascend to heaven on a cloud while you eat it!
Jokes aside, this carrot cake is super good, it has a wholesome hearty vibe, while being moist, rich, and delicious.
The Frosting!
Two things: firstly, I frosted it with a slightly altered version of my lemon frosting recipe. In this one I added apple cider vinegar, this was to try and get a slightly more ‘cheesy’ flavor to it.
Well, it didn’t really work, it was really good, but I would not say it was in any way ‘cheesy’. It was still really good though, with a perfect amount of tang, so I went with it!
I have since figured out how to make a fabulous vegan cream cheese frosting using a homemade vegan cream cheese! It is seriously delicious, so if you want to give that a try instead, then go for it. The lemon buttercream frosting recipe from our vegan lemon cake is also a winner if you want to use that instead.
The Walnuts
Second thing: Every single time I’ve made this I’ve intended to put walnuts in to it. And every single time I’ve forgotten. It’s been in the oven already when I’ve remembered the walnuts.
So as you can see, I decorated the top of the cake with crushed walnuts but I just KNOW that walnuts IN the cake itself would be fab too.
If I could only just remember!
Anyway, if you remember to do it, adding some walnuts in as a final step before transferring the batter to the cake tins would be a great addition to this cake.
You will love this cake for its moist, rich, wholesome flavor and gorgeous color.
Topped with lemon buttercream frosting and crushed walnuts, this cake is ideal for any special occasion. Or just for Sunday afternoon tea.
Vegan Carrot Cake Q&A
What about gluten-free? We’ve got you covered! Check out our recipe for vegan gluten free carrot cake! It’s totally divine.
How can I adapt this cake for different cake pan sizes? This cake makes two thick 7-inch cake layers. It also works perfectly for 8-inch cake pans. The layers are slightly thinner, but still perfect, and 8-inch cake pans work great with the recipe exactly as is, no other changes at all.
If you want to make this cake in 6-inch cake pans then I would suggest making 3 layers because the layers would be very thick if you use the recipe exactly as is for 6-inch pans.
If you want to make this cake for 9-inch cake pans then I would suggest increasing the recipe by half.
Can I make cupcakes? Sure! This recipe adapts to 12-18 cupcakes depending on how full you make the cupcake liners. You can also check out our vegan carrot cake cupcakes with orange and walnut and our gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes with cashew cream frosting.
So just to reiterate, you’ll love this cake for so many reasons, but mostly because it’s:
- Rich
- Moist
- Wholesome
- Vibrant
- Topped with lemon buttercream frosting!
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay good for a couple of days, or keep it covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week!
Want more vegan cakes?
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
So what do you think of this gorgeous vegan carrot cake? Let me know in the comments and please rate the recipe too, thanks!
And while you’re here – sign up for our email list! You’ll get a (free) recipe ebook in the deal and you’ll stay updated with all our latest recipes too! Too tempting am I right? 
Vegan Carrot Cake
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Moist, rich vegan carrot cake with a wholesome flavor and gorgeous color. Topped with lemon buttercream frosting and crushed walnuts. Ideal for any special occasion.
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake:
- 2 cups (250g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 2 and 1/3 cups (255g) Grated Carrot
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) Brown Sugar
- 2 Flax Eggs (2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil*
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup (100g) Chopped Walnuts (Optional)
For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 3 and 3/4 cups (450g) Powdered (Confectioners) Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Vegan Butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3–4 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Grease two 7-inch cake pans (See Notes*) and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixing bowl.
- Add the grated carrot and the brown sugar.
- Prepare the flax eggs, by mixing 2 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water and allowing to sit for a minute.
- In the meantime, add the oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar to the mixing bowl.
- Add the flax eggs.
- Mix everything together in the mixing bowl. Have a little patience and let the batter sit for a minute or two so that the carrots can release more water into the batter to enable you to mix it all together.
- *If your batter is still too dry to mix after letting it sit for a couple of minutes (and only if it’s too dry to mix after sitting for a few minutes) then add in a little non-dairy milk, only as much as you need to get the batter to a wet enough consistency so that it can mix properly.
- Lastly add the chopped walnuts if you want to add them.
- Divide the mixture between the two 7-inch cake tins.
- Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare your frosting.
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and 3 Tbsp of lemon juice to an electric mixer bowl.
- Start mixing on low speed.
- If your frosting is too thick then add in more lemon juice a drop at a time as needed to get your frosting mix to the perfect consistency. If your frosting ends up too thin, add more powdered sugar.
- Add frosting to the top of one of the layers.
- Add the other layer on top and complete the frosting of the top and sides of the cake.
- Sprinkle crushed walnuts on top of the cake and serve.
Notes
*You can switch the extra virgin olive oil for a different oil such as canola oil.
*This cake also works perfectly in 8-inch cake pans. The layers are slightly thinner but still perfect. Baking time and everything are exactly the same.
*Some commenters have noted that they needed to use a little non-dairy milk to get their batter wet enough. This would depend on how wet your carrots are. Usually if you just let your batter sit for a few minutes, the carrots will release more water into the batter allowing you to mix it properly. If you did this and it is still too dry to mix then just use as little non-dairy milk as you need to get the batter wet enough to mix properly.
*Another frosting that is awesome on this cake is our vegan cream cheese frosting or our vegan lemon buttercream frosting.
*Inspired by Gimme Some Oven
- Category: Cake, Dessert, Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 10)
- Calories: 517
- Sugar: 74.6g
- Sodium: 347mg
- Fat: 13.6g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9g
- Carbohydrates: 97.7g
- Fiber: 2.2g
- Protein: 3.2g
Keywords: vegan carrot cake
Made this cake for my mother-in law for her birthday and it was a total hit. It was the best carrot cake we’ve ever had.
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing and the awesome review. 🙂
LOVE this recipe! I used Applesauce insead of the flax eggs and reduced the sugar by 50g but otherwise followed the recipe and this cake is SO delicious! I did remember to put the walnuts in and it gives it a lovely crunch! My boyfriend is obsessed with this cake <3
★★★★★
Yay! So happy to hear Louise, thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
What a fantastic carrot cake. I reduced the sugar by 50g and remembered to add the walnuts. It was the best carrot cake I’ve ever made and tasted. Everyone loved it.
Thank you for sharing your recipes.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much for the great review! 🙂
This turned out amazing! I made a few modifications: I reduced the sugar by 30g and added 3 tablespoons of applesauce for extra moistness, and I made these into cupcakes. I also made a vegan cream cheese frosting using store bought cream cheese. They were perfect! Next time I will reduce the sugar by an extra 15g as I found them plenty sweet as is, especially once you add the frosting. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it Melissa! Thanks for sharing and the great review! 🙂
This cake had people gushing over it at a recent celebration. It was really delicious and this will now be my go to carrot cake recipe. Thank you Alison for the time you put into perfecting it.
★★★★★
So happy to hear Yvette! Thanks for the amazing review. 🙂
My husband thought this was the best carrot cake ever, and loved the frosting. I followed the recipe to a t, except used vegan lactic acid in the frosting recipe instead of lemon juice just because I had it on hand. Oh and I forgot to put the vinegar in the cake batter but it still rose and tasted moist and delicious.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the great review Christina! 🙂
This was by far the best carrot cake, vegan or not I have ever made or eaten!
I was afraid it was too dry, even when I took it out of pan. I wrapped them tightly in foil and put in fridge overnight.
Moist, dense, perfectly seasoned. I made vegan cream cheese frosting and my non vegan co workers requested for her birthday tomorrow!
★★★★★
Wonderful! So happy to hear that Elise. Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Hi, I need to make this in advance, so I’m wondering if it freezes ok? How about with the vegan cream cheese frosting on?
Hi Kate, yes this cake will freeze well, and the cream cheese frosting too. This article from The Kitchn has some great tips about how to freeze a frosted cake. 🙂
This recipe is amazing, the cake was so tasty and the vegan cream cheese icing was so authentic! It froze and defrosted perfectly. Hubby has asked for one every week from now on haha!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it Kate! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Hi Alison,
This will be my first vegan bake, I’d also like to add a bit of dried fruit/sultana and dry coconut, is this possible?
Hi Jay, yes you can definitely do that! All the best! 🙂
I made your carrot cake and it was hands down the best cake I’ve ever made🥰
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks so much for the awesome review Brenda! xo
Hello Alison-
I bake muffins for our Club’s monthly suppers; the ‘trial’ vegan batch that I made one supper were all eaten with enthusiasm so I decided to include a vegan batch each month. Many of the recipes I have found on the Web list “flax eggs” among the ingredients. I haven’t tried those recipes yet but recently I found a site which gave the recipe and instructions for making “flax gel” – the flax seeds are boiled in water and then the seeds discarded and only the gel retained. The author recommended 3 (three) Tablespoons of the flax gel to replace 1 (one) egg. Have you ever tried this?
Hi Val, I haven’t tried this, but it sounds interesting! I wonder if it’s more of an effort though then just making flax eggs the usual way, which is really easy! 🙂
Hi! Can you substitute the flax eggs with applesauce in this recipe?
Hi there, it should be fine to do this, use 6 Tbsp applesauce and see how you do with that. All the best! 🙂
I’m
Struggling to find a vegan powdered sugar? I’m baking for some vegan friends. Any help?
★★★★★
Hi Natasha, it depends where you are. In most countries other than the USA, it is already vegan. If you’re in the USA then just choose one that is marked organic as that will definitely be processed the right way to avoid any non-vegan contamination. All the best! 🙂