This vegan carrot cake is the best ever! It’s moist and rich and topped with a tangy 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!
Okay okay, 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 even make a gluten-free version (update: it’s here!) 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.
Topped with a tangy lemon buttercream frosting and crushed walnuts, this cake is ideal for any special occasion. Or just for Sunday afternoon tea.
How To Make Vegan Carrot Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together.
- Add light brown sugar and grated carrot to the mixing bowl.
- Prepare your flax eggs by adding 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed meal to a bowl with 6 tablespoons of hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax eggs, oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and chopped walnuts to the mixing bowl.
- Mix everything together. If it seems like it won’t come together and the mix is too dry then step away from the bowl for a couple of minutes and then come back to it. The carrot will have released more moisture into the batter allowing it to come together into a thick batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between two cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper along the bottoms).
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- When the cakes are cool, frost and decorate with crushed walnuts.
The Frosting
Two things: firstly, I frosted it with a lemon frosting and 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!
Secondly, I have since made 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.
Chef’s Tips
Measure your flour correctly. If you have a food scale then measure the flour out on a food scale for total accuracy. If you don’t have a food scale then use the ‘spoon and level’ method to measure your flour. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into your cup.
Carrots must be freshly grated. If you buy pre-grated carrots then they will have dried out a lot by the time you use them. You need freshly grated carrots so that they are packed with moisture.
The walnuts. Walnuts are entirely optional but they are really delicious both in the cake itself and sprinkled on top for decoration. Another great option is chopped pecan nuts.
Be patient mixing the batter. When you’re mixing this batter you may start to wonder if I’ve missed out some important ingredients in the form of liquids! You may start thinking it will never come together! Don’t worry, so long as you used freshly grated carrots, it will definitely come together. Just step away from the bowl for a couple of minutes, the carrots will release more moisture into the batter. When you come back and mix again, it will form into a thick batter.
Adapting For Different Cake Pans
- 7-inch. This cake makes two thick 7-inch cake layers.
- 8-inch. 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.
- 6-inch. If you want to make this cake in 6-inch cake pans then I would suggest making it as a 3 layer cake. Baking time will be around 25 minutes.
- 9×9 sheet cake. You can also make it as a 9×9 square sheet cake. Baking time is 35 minutes.
- 9×13 sheet cake. It also works as a 9×13 sheet cake though it is a fairly thin cake so 9×9 is preferred. Baking time for 9×13 is 25 minutes.
Vegan Carrot Cake Q&A
You can make this cake gluten-free by simply switching the regular flour for a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. You can also check out our recipe for vegan gluten free carrot cake. It’s totally divine.
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.
Storing and Freezing
Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay good for 3-4 days, or keep it covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week.
It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups Light Brown Sugar (300g)
- 2 ⅓ cups Grated Carrot (255g)
- 2 Flax Eggs (2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water)
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup Walnuts (100g) Chopped, Optional
For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2-3 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
Decoration:
- Walnuts Chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 7-inch cake pans or two 8-inch cake pans (see notes*) with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together.
- Add the light brown sugar and grated carrot to the mixing bowl.
- Prepare your flax eggs by adding 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed meal to a bowl with 6 tablespoons of hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax eggs, oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and chopped walnuts to the mixing bowl.
- Mix everything together. If it seems like it won't come together and the mix is too dry then step away from the bowl for a couple of minutes and then come back to it. The carrots will have released more moisture into the batter allowing it to come together into a thick batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare your frosting.
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Start mixing on low speed gradually increasing speed until your frosting is thick and smooth.
- If your frosting is too thick then add in the extra tablespoon of lemon juice, a drop at a time and only as much as needed to get to a spreadable consistency.
- Frost the cake and decorate the top with chopped walnuts.
Video
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly. If you have a food scale then measure the flour out on a food scale for total accuracy. If you don’t have a food scale then use the ‘spoon and level’ method to measure your flour. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into your cup.
- Carrots must be freshly grated. If you buy pre-grated carrots then they will have dried out a lot by the time you use them. You need freshly grated carrots so that they are packed with moisture.
- The walnuts. Walnuts are entirely optional but they are really delicious both in the cake itself and sprinkled on top for decoration. Another great option is chopped pecan nuts.
- Be patient mixing the batter. When you’re mixing this batter you may start to wonder if I’ve missed out some important ingredients in the form of liquids! You may start thinking it will never come together! Don’t worry, so long as you used freshly grated carrots, it will definitely come together. Just step away from the bowl for a couple of minutes, the carrots will release more moisture into the batter. When you come back and mix again, it will form into a thick batter.
- Adapting for different size cake pans:
- 7-inch. This cake makes two thick 7-inch cake layers.
- 8-inch. 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.
- 6-inch. If you want to make this cake in 6-inch cake pans then I would suggest making it as a 3 layer cake. Baking time will be around 25 minutes.
- 9×9 sheet cake. You can also make it as a 9×9 square sheet cake. Baking time is 35 minutes.
- 9×13 sheet cake. It also works as a 9×13 sheet cake though it is a fairly thin cake so 9×9 is preferred. Baking time for 9×13 is 25 minutes.
- Gluten-free: You can make this cake gluten-free by simply switching the regular flour for a gluten-free all purpose flour blend.
- Cupcakes: This recipe adapts to 12-18 cupcakes depending on how full you make the cupcake liners.
- Storing: Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay good for 3-4 days, or keep it covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week.
- Freezing: It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- This recipe has been updated with new photos but the recipe itself is unchanged.
Fran says
Hi I made this cake today but the butter icing is runny how can I thicken it ?
Alison Andrews says
Just add more powdered sugar to thicken it up.
Dawn says
Thanks for the recipe! Is there any alteration you would recommend if I use organic sprouted whole wheat flour?
Thanks again!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Dawn, I haven’t tried it like that so I don’t know. From what I read online you can swap up to 50% of the all purpose flour with sprouted whole wheat flour but not all of it or you won’t get the same results.
Dillon says
Hi Alison! If I were to use one baking tin instead of two, does that mean I have to bake for an hour? Thanks.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Dillon, no definitely not. The time would be longer but not double. I’m not sure how much longer, but maybe 10 minutes or so? You’d have to play it by ear and just check it at about 40 minutes or so and see if it’s done. If not, back in it goes!
DonD says
I made this a couple of days ago and it’s a fantastic recipe—thanks Alison! For the egg substitute I used ground flax seed (coffee grinder) and instead of mixing it with water used aquafaba. As a binding it worked very well and the cakes rose to the tops of the pans—moist and firm! Yum!
Alison Andrews says
Oh cool! Awesome substitution there! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Mel says
Hey, Thanks for the recipe! I made this today for me and my partners birthday (as it’s three days apart from each other). I followed exactly and carefully and the mixture was doughy! I added in a little rice milk and water to thin it out and poured it into two tins. I thought my tins were 7″ but think they might have been 8, as it didn’t rise so much! I think when sandwiched together with buttercream it will be fine though! And like you I forgot to put the damn walnuts in! haha.
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha, those walnuts! If your tins were 8″ then you would likely have needed to increase the recipe a bit to make the layers thicker. However, just to let you know that there isn’t a big rise anyway, but it’s enough of a rise since there are two layers. Hope it was lovely once you put them together and frosted them!
Michi says
Love this! Baked once before with grams and it worked fine. Today I used cups and when it comes to the flour: my cup holds 250g so when I use 2 I end up with 500g and not 250g. I popped it in the oven anyway to see what happens.
Do I have to use 2 cups (500g) or 250g (1 cup) flour?
Thank you so much 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Wow, that is a big cup! The cup I’m talking about in the recipe is a measuring cup, but yes, even a proper measuring cup is a complicated measure because you’re supposed to fluff the flour up and then spoon and level, so you never shake it (which makes the flour settle) or push down the flour as this will result in way too much flour. And because of this I always recommend to weigh the flour. It’s just too easy to accidentally use too much. If you use a little too much sugar – that’s no problem. But too much flour and generally your cake is not going to come out too well. I definitely recommend weighing the flour, and if your cup holds this much then I think it’s not a standard measuring cup, so rather use grams for everything. All the best!
Ann says
Delicious!
I made this cake for my daughter’s 15th birthday party, and everyone loved it.
A few changes:
I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour.
I replaced half the olive oil with plain unsweetened applesauce.
I used 3 cups grated carrot (probably more than the 9 oz. called for).
I baked it in two 8 inch round pans.
Lesley says
This sounds fantastic and totally do-able! Making it on Sunday so I’ll let you know how it goes!
Alison Andrews says
Hey Lesley – awesome! Hope it went well! 🙂
Aditi says
Hi, what are flax eggs? I’m in Philippines n haven’t seen it around… Is there any replacement ingredient I can probably use? TIA
☺️
Alison Andrews says
It’s a mix of flaxseed meal with water. If you click the links in the recipe it takes you to a step by step tutorial (including a video) of how to make a flax egg. A flax egg can be replaced with a chia egg, same concept, but using chia seeds instead of flaxseed meal.
Sharron says
Wow! I hate carrot cakes but this one I could eat forever!! unbelievable!
Just instead of the flax eggs I used chia seeds and it added up some crunchiness along with the wallnuts
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sharron, thanks for letting us know how it works out with the chia eggs! Glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Pia Warden says
Hi, this carrot cake looks delicious and I really want to try it for an upcoming birthday. I was just wondering if I can use chia “eggs” instead of flax eggs. Happy Holidays!
Alison Andrews says
I don’t see why not. Chia eggs are a straight 1:1 swap for a flax egg so it should be fine, though I haven’t tried it like this myself. If you do try it, let us know how it works out!
Terrie Lane says
Hi having been invited to a family holiday dinner that was to be attended by a few vegan and a few diabetic family members I decided to try this recipe. I made my two flax “eggs”. I will be using those again. It worked out brilliantly. I also just used 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a cup of coconut sugar. I had to add 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple with the juice. Just so it was wet enough to spread in the pan.I tasted the batter before I put it in the pan. It’s safe to do that with the flax egg. It looks delicious. I can’t wait to wow our family. I can’t wait to try it tomorrow!! Thank you. Happy Holidays!!!
Bansi says
Hi,
The recipe looks wonderful. I can’t wait to try it. I was just wondering if I could omit the apple cider vinegar. Also, would vegetable oil work as well as olive oil?
Thanks
Alison Andrews says
The apple cider vinegar is important as it interacts with the baking soda. The olive oil can absolutely be switched out for any vegetable oil of your choice. 🙂
Bansi says
Hi, thanks for your reply and sorry for the late reply back! I did add the apple cider vinegar and ended up sticking with the olive oil. I also added some ground ginger and mixed spice and replaced the icing with cream cheese frosting. Silly me squeezed out all of the water from the shredded carrot before adding it to the mix so I had to add some extra water to the mix before putting it in the oven as it was too doughy! Everyone loved it! Some found the cake too dense but I think that’s how it’s meant to be. Any advice on making it a little less dense? I also thought the flax eggs are a brilliant idea! Thank you so much. I am going to make it again tomorrow ready for my family gathering for Christmas! Can’t wait! x
Alison Andrews says
Hi Bansi, I didn’t find the cake to be dense. Just be careful with the flour measurement, it’s so easy to use a little too much flour, so best to weigh it first. That’s usually what causes it to be dense. So glad you enjoyed it though and hope you have a great Christmas! All the best! 🙂
Sabrina Hall says
Hi,
The cake was crumbly so not sure what happened there?! would you know what went wrong?
Also I found the cake and frosting way too sweet so will try to put less sugar next time as it is nearly 1KG of sugar for the whole cake 🙁
Overall, I loved the flavours! really moist cake! Thanks for sharing
Rachel says
Hey! Definitely try adding 1/2cup almond milk (120mL) per batch of cake mix.. trust me!
Flavia says
Hi Alison!
I’m Flavia and I’m from Italy, I try to make your recipe, and this is so good, I never taste a cake like this, I have to change vegan butter because here in my country there isn’t, I substitute with soy butter, and also the olive oil I change with Mais Oil because here in Italy we use the olive oil only for savory recipes never in dessert because it’s too much heavy.
And I have a question, can i use a rice flour? For this time I use a flour type ‘0’, it’s also ok?
Sorry for this long message and for my grammatical errors 😀
And again thank you so much for the recipe
Alison Andrews says
Hi Flavia! So glad you liked the cake and thanks for posting about your substitutions. Regarding rice flour, I have not found it to bind properly in a cake, if you want to make this cake gluten-free, then I would use an all purpose gluten-free blend, like Bob’s Red Mill. I have made this recipe gluten-free when I made these cupcakes so you can see the other adjustments that were made: https://lovingitvegan.com/gluten-free-carrot-cake-cupcakes-with-cashew-cream-frosting/
All the best! 🙂