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.
Heidi says
This recipe came out very tasty!
I had to leave out the nutmeg because I didn’t have any, and I also added whole cloves in with the water for the flaxseed eggs and heated it up. When the eggs were thickened I removed them, and they added a nice smell and flavor.
I halved the frosting recipe, which wasn’t enough to cover the cake in an aesthetically pleasing way, but I thought it was just the right amount for taste and would be too strong if I used more.
Leslie says
So yummy. I didn’t have quite enough carrots for the recipe so I supplemented with some unsweetened shredded coconut and a splash of almond milk. I’ll be making this again!
Rebecca says
Lovely tasting cake and very easy to make, thank you for the recipe. I’ll definitely make it again and my decidedly un-vegan parents also loved it. I had an issue with cooking time & sponge consistency – cake definitely not cooked after 30 mins, and even with an extra 10 it still sank a bit in the middle of each sponge after passing the skewer test and coming out the oven. However, I think I went slightly ‘over’ on time as the edges of the cake were almost like a crust, and it is very crumbly within that crust layer. Still perfectly edible and crunch adds texture, but next time I’ll tweak the cooking time more. The batter consistency seemed right per the instructions so it must just be pretty time sensitive with the oil content (?). After making the icing (I used Flora plant-based butter which worked really well), I tasted it and thought YUCK, sooo vinegary, but it works really well with the cake flavours. Thus ensuring that all the icing went on the cake rather than some ‘accidentally’ being left in the bowl. Thanks again.
Danika Malette says
I’m not much of a baker myself so I was a little nervous at first since it was my first attempt at a carrot cake, but this recipe was super easy to follow and the cake was absolutely delicious in the end! I will definitely be making this carrot cake again! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Danika!
Katie says
Hi!
I’ve not tried this recipe yet but looking at the comments I can’t wait to give it a go!
I was just wondering if the cake would hold if it was made into a tiered cake? I’ve found with a few carrot cake recipes I’ve tried they’ve come out lovely but give way when stacked with another cake on top!
Thanks 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Katie, I think it would hold but I haven’t used it for this purpose so not 100% certain.
Michelle says
I was challenged this year for Christmas dinner as my son recently went vegan and I was trying to build dinner around that. This cake was such a hit, he loved it. Not the first time I have made carrot cake for him, just the first time I did it vegan. The funny thing is, I absolutely do not like carrot cake, never have. Until now, this cake is simply delicious. Moist, earthy and satisfying. I have made it several times since and want to say thank you!!!
Alison Andrews says
That’s awesome Michelle! Thanks so much for the wonderful review.
Dvora Kluwgant says
This looks yummy!
I’d like to try making it as cupcakes- do you think they’d keep nicely in the freezer? If so, for how long and can I freeze them frosted or should I wait until the cupcakes are defrosted to put the frosting on?
Thanks, love your blog and have made many of your delicious recipes!
Alison Andrews says
You can freeze them frosted or unfrosted. Either way is fine. 🙂
Sarah says
I made this beautiful cake last July for my husband birthday & it turned out brilliant. Delicious! !!
Unfortunately I am an inconsistent baker! But I never give up, though tonight I’ve baked it again & when getting it out the tins they have split & crumbled :(. Still tastes amazing! Any ideas what I may have done wrong? Take care Sarah
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sarah, I’m not sure, did you use parchment paper at the bottom? Did you make any ingredient substitutions? It could be a number of things.
Robert Rowe says
I am not a vegan, but my wife is. Honestly, when it comes to vegan foods, I really don’t have a very high opinion of them. They tend to be bland or taste bad. So, I was skeptical that this would work out from the very beginning. However, I wanted to bake my wife a cake for her birthday yesterday and found this recipe with a lot of favorable reviews, so I figured I would give it a try. I figured if it didn’t work out, I could always throw it away before she got home and order something from a local vegan restaurant.
I was concerned when mixing the batter as it was very thick and heavy. But, I followed your advice and waited a few minutes to let the carrots release their water into the mix. I felt it was still a too thick so I added two teaspoons of organic carrot juice to it and it was right where I thought it should be. I have to say, I was beginning to feel optimistic here as it smelled nice. But, I was still expecting failure. Vegan food has never let me down in this before.
In the over it went. My daughter and I cleaned up the kitchen and gathered all the ingredients for the frosting. Again, I was not expecting much here as I was certain the frosting would come out looking like some mutant alien fungus from some planet Captain Kirk had visited.
The timer went off and I checked the cake. It wasn’t quite done, so I let it bake another 10 minutes. Checked it again and it was ready to come out. By now the kitchen smelled so delicious, I briefly contemplated eating the countertop.
I was a bit disappointed when it came out of the oven without having risen in any way. It was heavy and dense. I was not expecting that. A small piece just happened to “fall off” the corner edge so I decided it was a good time to taste the creation and render verdict before I began preparation of the frosting. To my surprise, despite the density, it wasn’t half bad. Ok, it was actually pretty good. At least it made me glad I had not eaten the countertop.
So, we mix up the frosting and, again, I am pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was quite good. (Though I would recommend a bit more vegan butter and a bit less lemon.) I spread it on the cake and waited for wifey to come home from work.
Exhausted from a long day of work, she barely pulls herself into the kitchen through the sliding glass door, ready to engage in her daily ritual of trudging to the bedroom and collapsing on the bed. But, today she noticed something different. There were balloons, and people and gifts and… a cake!
Eventually, after a bit of celebration (and a lot of wonderful kisses for my reward), the group sang her “Happy Birthday” and it was time to… CUT THE CAKE.
I informed my wife that it was a 100% vegan cake. She was surprised that I would make a vegan cake. But, well, some people are worth a bit of sacrifice, right. The moment of truth arrived. I watched with rapt anticipation as time slowed. It seemed as if the fork with that moist morsel of frosted confection would never pass through her lips. I played solitaire while waiting. Then Monopoly(TM). Finally, the moment of truth. The verdict was to be rendered.
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead, her eyes widened and her mouth upturned in a smile. She liked it! Hey, Mikey!
The cake was distributed to the remaining guests and the verdict was unanimous. That was one very good carrot cake. Yes, even the steak and potato loving Neanderthal (that’s me) loved it.
Thank you for making this recipe available to the world. Who knows, maybe next week I will bake a vegan cake for MY birthday. What would you recommend for a cheesecake?
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha, so glad it was a success! I enjoyed your comment it was very funny. I think you may have a lot of nice surprises in store if most of the vegan food you’ve tried has been bland so far! We have a few cheesecake recipes on the site (just use the search bar) it just depends what you’re in the mood for! All the best!
Christie says
This is my families favorite carrot cake recipe. I made this the first time a few years ago on Easter Sunday and it was a big hit. Tomorrow is my little boys 9th birthday and he asked for this cake! Lastly, I just follow your vanilla buttercream recipe for the frosting we were not keen on the apple cider vinegar, but other than that, perfection! Thanks for another great recipe!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed it Christie!
alice says
Would this recipe work with a Bundt cake pan? How do you recommend changing the baking time? Thanks for any help!
Alison Andrews says
I haven’t made it in a bundt pan but other commenters have. It would require a longer baking time, but I can’t advise on the specifics, I would guess around 50 minutes or longer.
Darcy says
This was so good! Made half the batter into cupcakes and the other half into a small cake (maybe 5inch pan) and cooked them for 25-30 min each for my partner’s bday. I recommend adding finely grated zest from a full orange and a little bit of ground ginger to make it extra fragrant! I also used muscovado sugar and swapped some of it our for honey. The icing I didn’t put quite as much icing sugar as recommended and I really recommend using fresh vanilla if you can find it! I’m just doing veganuary I am not vegan all year usually but this will be my new go to regardless! Would love to see a sugar free or fruit based sugar version for my health conscious parents if anyone has suggestions!
Alison Andrews says
Sounds awesome Darcy! Thanks so much for sharing!
Debbie says
Love the look of the recipe! Could I sub in GF flour instead of all purpose flour? Or what would you suggest pls?
Alison Andrews says
We have a gluten-free carrot cake recipe. 🙂
Melissa says
What about pineapples? In my regular non vegan version my recipe adds them. So you think it would still work and then the non-dairy milk is not needed.
Alison Andrews says
There isn’t any non-dairy milk added in our recipe. If you read the other comments though, I’m pretty sure others have added in pineapple successfully but it’s not something we’ve tried so far.
salome says
I am going to make this for my daughters first birthday. Could I use whole wheat flour instead of white flour?
Thank you
Alison Andrews says
I think so, though the texture may change a little.