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
So the taste of this recipe is amazing but this is the second time I’ve made it and I’m not sure if it’s me but the structural integrity just seems really low, both times the cake has fallen apart when icing. I waited about 5hrs to ice them too to make sure they were completely cooled off. Any suggestions?
Hi Nick, did you make any substitutions on the flour? Because the structural integrity is really strong when we make this. We have even made a gluten-free version (using a gluten-free all purpose blend) that holds together fantastically well. But the flour needs to be all purpose flour or gluten-free all purpose flour, any other flour will not work.
Hi Alison!
Have just tried made the cake with pink icing as an alternative. Was absolutely delish! Thank you very much for sharing your lovely recipe!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Eve! 🙂
I made this recipe and it came out delicious, now it’s one of my favorites, thanks for sharing Alison.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Maria! 🙂
The flavor was perfect, loved it. However, I made it in two square 7” pans because it’s all I had and the layers were definitely more thin but combined were totally fine. I baked one for 25 minutes and the other for 30 as per the directions as trial and error — toothpick test came out clean after about 20~ minutes and change and the layer I baked for 30 minutes was a little dry. I also used Bobs Red Mill egg replacer instead of flax because it’s just what I had on hand…
I was wondering if anyone could make a suggestion on how to make the cake more MOIST? Only complaint I got is that it needed to be a little more moist/dense. I was thinking maybe add a small amount of applesauce? Would using flax egg as is fix this problem?
★★★★★
It could be that the flax eggs would solve this issue as they do provide a lot of moisture, I’ve never used the egg replacer so I’m not sure if it is equivalent in that way. Usually this is a very moist cake. Glad you still enjoyed it though! 🙂
Awesome
★★★★★
I made this recipe as cupcakes for my 38th birthday yesterday and they were delicious. My mom and sister both asked for the recipe! I used ground chia seeds because I was out of flax, and used melted vegan butter instead of olive oil (I don’t like the taste of olive oil). I added 2 tsp ground ginger, doubled the vanilla extract, and added 1/2 cup raisins. I also had to add 3/4 cup almond milk. It made 18 cupcakes and I baked them for 23 minutes. Thank you for such a lovely recipe!
★★★★★
Awesome Amber! Thanks for the fabulous review! 🙂
Hi Alison. I would like to make this recipe for my son’s birthday, but he will be only one year old in January 2020 so I’m thinking about replacing the sugar with something more suitable for babies. Do you have any ideas what would work best?
Hi Cecilia, I actually don’t have any suggestions there, but I think if you read the other comments others have tried different options, like reducing sugar and adding chopped up dates for example. All the best! 🙂
Loved the recipe! Very easy to make and delicious cake.. This was such a hit that I baked the muffin version by the end of the same day as the cake was wiped clean 😄
The only mistake I did with the cake frosting was I used bottled lemon juice and it ended up a bit too tangy to my taste..
★★★★★
Hi Poorna, so glad you liked it! Thanks for the awesome review! Haha, yes the bottled lemon juice can be very tangy. 🙂
Just tried this recipe and we love it! Go easy on the lemon juice in the frosting, ours came out a little too tart– also, add a little more water to the flax egg mixture, otherwise make sure you add the plant milk- the top came out dry and the bottom ends up oily otherwise. If that happens (which it did), I just flipped the individual cakes upside down when stacking them, and gave the oil a chance to soak down the cake. I also chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes after frosting to allow it a chance to really solidify.
★★★★
When baking the cake this morning I packed the brown sugar in my cup measures before adding it to the mixture. The end result was way too sweet. Recommend adding less brown sugar if you’re packing it down…or just don’t pack it down.
Hi Alison, I would like to use this recipe to make mini cupcakes for Christmas 🙂 I can imagine I have to adjust the baking time then? How long would you say?
Hi Simone, if you’re making mini cupcakes that will usually bake for about 15 minutes. Regular size cupcakes bake for around 25 minutes. All the best! 🙂