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 buttercream 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’.
The sad thing is I can’t get vegan cream cheese here, so a cream cheese frosting was out, at least until I figure out how to make a cream cheese frosting without cream cheese, and without using tofu, because I haven’t got my head around using tofu in a dessert quite yet.
But lemon buttercream works fabulously as well. Especially if you like your frostings very sweet.
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.
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?
Definitely check out some of our other awesome cakes, like:
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
There’s something for everyone I reckon!
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 with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
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Prep Time: 30 mins - Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10
- Category: Cake, Dessert, Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan
Prep Time:
Yield:
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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 Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 9 oz (250g) Grated Carrot
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) Brown Sugar
- 2 Flax Eggs
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil*
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup 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 tins 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.
*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.
*Inspired by Gimme Some Oven
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 loveee this recipe! I have made these carrot cakes 4 times in the past two months for different groups of friends. ALL my non-vegan friends loved it so much. My food processor makes life 10x easier as I can grate carrots in 30 seconds. I made some adjustments to the recipe and it has worked wonderfully: I reduced the sugar from 300g to 140g, and oil to 100ml and added 20ml of water to replenish the fluid. Thanks for the amazing recipe 🙂
I have made your double chocolate chip cookies many times as well! Your blog is my go-to when i search for more dessert ideas. I post some of my creations on my instagram @_plantbased_pharmacist.
Hi Ruth, so happy to hear you love the recipe and thanks for sharing your adjustments! So glad as well that you’re finding other dessert ideas here, those chocolate cookies are also a personal favorite! 🙂
Best carrot cake everrrr! I have made this recipe multiple times and it always turns out amazing! I am not vegan myself but I make this for my dairy free and vegan friends and we all love it! Better than any other non vegan carrot cake I have tried. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
That is amazing to hear Maia! Thank you so much! 🙂
I made this today and it came out great! I baked all of the batter in one pan and only put a layer of frosting on top, which is fine as the cake is so good as is. I did add a splash of soy milk to make the batter abit more runny. I liked this one better than carrot cakes I’ve made in the past (which were made with applesauce) and will be making it again and again!
Cake tasted amazing, though I only used 1/2 C of coconut sugar and 1/2 C of turbinado sugar and it was plenty sweet. Not a huge fan of the icing… it was insanely sweet and I only used 3 C of icing sugar. Any less and it would’ve been too runny. I did LOVE the lemon flavor though. Overall awesome recipe I just don’t think it needs to be so sweet (and I do have a sweet tooth haha).
★★★★
Delicious!! So soft and moist. Icing tastes amazing.
I halved the recipe and baked for 20 mins, came out perfect. ❤️
★★★★★
Can you advise me on what to use if I have no flax egg? I need to make this cake lol. Xx
Hi Lynsey, you can try it with applesauce instead – 3 Tbsp applesauce to replace 1 flax egg. 🙂
Very helpful thank you!! I presume this doesn’t change the flavour of the carrot cake??
Have you ever tried this with 8inch pan? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 7 inch pan. I have 6, 8, 9, and 10! Lol
Hi Gina, I think this would work great with 6″ as well, the layers would just be taller. All the best. 🙂
Has this recipe been tested a couple of times to make sure that the cake doesn’t turn out in a different way? It is a simply darling little recipe and I can’t wait to try it
Yes it has! It has been tested numerous times and also has received hundreds of comments and 5* reviews, it definitely is a winner! Hope you try it and enjoy it. 🙂
WOW! I just made this yesterday for my dad’s birthday – it turned out so perfect! I was reluctant about adding the olive oil, especially because the entire batter tasted like olive oil. When I baked it, it turned out perfectly. No strong olive oil taste.
I used a vegan buttercream (bought it from Bulk Barn). Would love to share pictures of how it turned out but I don’t think I can post here.
Thank you!!!! I love this recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Sara! So happy it came out well! I would love to see pics, but unfortunately the comments don’t allow for it, if you’re on instagram would love to see it there, just tag us @lovingitvegan and #lovingitvegan. Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Awesome cake Alison, I used spelt flour and it’s so deliciously light and fluffy. Thank you, this recipe will certainly be made again and again.
★★★★★
Wonderful! So glad you liked it and that it worked well with spelt flour. Thanks for the great review. 🙂
Hi Alison,
Sorry but I am slightly confused … 2 Cups Flour = 500g All Purpose Flour?
Thanks
Hi Susan, no a cup of flour is 125g, so two cups is 250g. 🙂
Have made this twice now. Use apple sauce instead of flax seed. Tastes beautiful. Thanks!
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks so much Emma. 🙂
Hi!
Great recipe! Can you please suggest an alternative to Apple cider vinegar?
You can try lemon juice. 🙂
It’s an excellent, very tasty cake but my lemon cream separated a bit ….I followed the recipe exactly …..and I let the two cake halves cool ….we still ate it though!
★★★★★
Hi David! I’m not sure what might’ve caused that, but I’m so happy it tasted good! Thanks for the great review. 🙂
I made the cake again but left out the apple cider vinegar ( although I’m a big fan of this stuff!) …..the lemon butter cream did not separate this time …..I also used a different ( better) brand of vegan butter . Gorgeous cake ….yet again . I also forgot the walnuts , agsin !
★★★★★
Haha, those darn walnuts! So happy to hear it worked well thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Hi
What vegan butter you are using
Hello! Could I use chia eggs instead of flax?
Sure, that should be fine! 🙂
Hi there,
I’m wondering what type of “stand mixer” you are using in one of the photos? Also, I looooove carrot cake!!!
Hi Melanie, it’s a Philips, nothing fancy at all! I am planning on upgrading to a KitchenAid one of these days! 🙂
Hello! I only have one (deep) baking tin that’s 7inches. Should I a) make 2 cakes and bake separately, or b) can I bake the batter together and slice down the middle? Recipe looks great and can’t wait to try but haven’t made a proper cake in a while (usually cookies!) so not sure what to do.
Hi Amelia, if the cake is too thick it will take a lot longer to cook and might still end up wet in the middle, I would be more inclined to bake one half and then bake the other half. It’s not a perfect solution either, but I think it might work better. All the best!