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
Description
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
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday, being that carrot cake is his favourite. I only had whole wheat flour plus serious nut allergy in our family so couldn’t use those. I used 9″ pans and followed your directions (something I’m not good at!) to increase batter .. it was perfect! I’d say it’s my first really successful vegan cake. Next time I’ll try your icing recipe, already had some icing on hand. Oh, and it even improved in the few short days it lasted!!
★★★★★
So happy to hear it was a success Joan! Thanks for the wonderful review.
Also , can I add dates to this ? If so how much
I haven’t tried that but I think you could.
Tried the recipe as it is without any changes .it turned out so moist, soft and awesome in tatse . Loved it
★★★★★
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Lisha!
Absolutely the best ever carrot cake I have made. I made the two sponge tins and a few muffin size
Thanks so much Margaret!
Superb recipe, thank you Alison!
I’ve made this twice, and both have been a great success!
The amount of icing is nice, but perhaps a tad on a sweet side for some.
I’m looking forward to using your cream cheese icing next time instead, how do you feel it compares for sweetness?
★★★★★
Hi Tim, so glad you enjoyed it! The cream cheese frosting is definitely less sweet so that’s a good option if you prefer the sweetness to be toned down a bit. Thanks for the great review. 🙂
I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it was perfect 🙂 i’m making a batch for muffins. Is this recipe freezable? if so for how long do you recommend it would freeze for?
Thanks
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it Helen! It is freezer friendly for up to 3 months. 🙂
Is the bake time the same if I’m making them as cupcakes?!
I would check them at 25 minutes.
Hi! If I were to use two 9 inch pans, how would my measurements change?
Hi Dolly, rather use this carrot cake recipe that can be made in 9-inch cake pans. You can make it with regular all purpose flour as well.
Looks delicious! Do you have any suggestions for making this gluten-free?
Thanks!
Hi Doris, yes, we have made a gluten-free version of this cake. 🙂
This recipe looks amazing, it’s my partners birthday coming up and I want to make this cake but only have one cake tin, am I able to just make it in one tin and cut it in half? Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Chloe, what size is your cake pan? Is it 7-inches? If so I would rather just halve the recipe and do a single layer cake.
This cake was very easy to bake using everyday ingredients. I had no flax seed so had substituted using phsyllium husk. I used one 21cm silicon square pan and it came out most and fluffy and no crusty edges.
My issue with cakes is generally they are too sweet. This one was sweet for my taste and I had already reduced sugar by 50g.
For the icing, I only made 1/3 batch and it was too sweet and so I whipped in another 3 Tablespoons of vegan butter. The texture was so beautiful but everything was too sweet.
I had a piece but gave the rest away.
If I want to reduce the sugar by half, how much liquid and flour should I reduce?
★★★★
Hi Sandy, you can just experiment with reducing the sugar without any other changes.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times. Wondering I could sub the brown sugar for something like honey or agave? Thoughts?
★★★★★
Hi Jessica, coconut sugar would likely work fine as it’s also a granulated sugar, but honey or agave wouldn’t work with the proportions of this recipe.