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 š
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) Canola 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 350Ā°F (180Ā°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 also use vegetable oil instead of canola oil. We have also used extra virgin olive oil in this cake and loved it, but some brands can leave an aftertaste.
*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
Amazing! At the beginning (even after letting it sit for a while) I thought the batter was way too dry but I still didn’t add any liquids and shaved it in the oven (the whole batter in one pan)
It turned out perfectly moist. I served it with a cashew frosting and it tasted delicious!
Thank you so much!
★★★★★
This recipe is amazing! It is my goto cake recipe. I made this for my boyfriend and he was shocked by how good a vegan cake tasted.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much Hena!
I made this recipe as muffins and they came out great! Super soft and moist without any gummyness. I omitted flax eggs, subbed half the oil for applesauce and baked for 25 mins. But when I baked it in a loaf pan, I baked for 50 minutes and it was quite underdone and gummy, whereas the top was getting burned and deflated. I made the batter the same both times, does anyone know why it didn’t turn out well in a loaf pan? Anyway, thank you very much for this recipe š
★★★★★
Hi Holly, so happy to hear they came out great as muffins. I think the issue with a loaf pan is that it would be a long bake time, and then it can burn on top before the middle is cooked through. I haven’t tested this cake as a loaf cake so I’m not sure what the exact bake time would be, but generally speaking tenting with foil is a good option at around the 40 minute mark. Bring it out, tent with foil and then place it back into the oven for another 30 minutes or so and then see if it’s done.
My favourite vegan carrot cake recipe, have made it 3 times now and comes out perfect each time!
The last time around I only used half the amount of sugar (150g) as we find the 300g too sweet. It did not change the texture at all, and the cake was even yummier.
★★★★★
Do you think you could add pineapple to this recipe?
You could, but it would need to replace something else. I’m thinking you could use 1/3 cup crushed pineapple in place of the two flax eggs.
I absolutely love this recipe!! It’s so delicious and with the lemon frosting I think it’s my favourite cake to make since I went vegan. I was wondering if you use a particular type of sugar? Last time I used soft light brown sugar but I was curious if you prefer to use demerara or something else?
Thank you!
★★★★★
Hi Emily, you can really use any brown sugar, but we usually use light brown sugar. So glad you love the recipe! š
Tasted great but couldnāt get the cake to cook through despite allowing double the time in the oven. Think the batter may need to be drier next time around.
Any tips on getting the right consistency?
★★★
I’m wondering if your oven temp was correct, an oven thermometer can be a good way to check what temperature your oven is actually reaching inside. The batter should not be wet, in fact you have to step away to allow the carrots to release moisture into the batter so that you can mix it.
Forgot the walnuts even after reading the notes…lol.
Hahaha! Happens to me all the time. š
Hi Alison! I want to bake this cake for my daughters first birthday tomorrow, I did it once in the past and loooved it, its delish! Do you think I can cut down a little on sugar? Thanks so much!
You can reduce the sugar a little, I wouldn’t reduce it too much though because it’s important for the texture as well as the taste. But a reduction should be fine.
Thanks for the fast reply! I just had another idea, do you think I can replace the sugar with something else? I saw some recipes with maple sirup per example… also – this recipe is def worth five stars, forgot to rate it š
★★★★★
Hi Alison, my daughter and I wanted to thank you for your fab cake recipes. I used to love baking but when I went vegan I made so many disastrous cakes that I almost gave up,I literally used to rage in the kitchen! Your recipes have restored peace and love to the kitchen.This carrot cake is perfect. Thanks so much! š¤
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment Alison, I’m so pleased to hear that! š
This is amazing! The sponge on the cake is so fluffy and the flavor is so so good! I didnāt need to add milk, the batter was wet enough to mix everything together. Thank you so much for the recipe!
★★★★★
That’s awesome David! Thanks so much!
We absolutely love this cake. It is super simple to put together once you have prepared all the ingredients. The only comment I would make is to prepare your flax eggs first. Thatās what I do anyway. I make this nearly every week. We love cake! Every now and then we swap to a different cake for a change but they never compare to this. I always think itās one of our five a day!! Xx
★★★★★
Thanks so much Diane!
This looks so good! I will try this recipe to make one for my friend’s upcoming birthday. I have a question, do you think I could use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour? Would it still give the same texture?
Thank you in advance for your answer,
Katie.
★★★★★
Hi there, the texture would be different, it would be more coarse. You could use it if you don’t mind a change in texture though. š
Made this cake for my boyfriends birthday for the second year in a row. Wouldnāt change a thing ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø I e absolute love this cake
★★★★★
Thanks so much Taylor!
I used egg replacer because i didn’t have flax meal and the sponge was incredible!! 10/10 would recommend! It’s really light and moist which is good because it gives egg free cakes a good name š
However the same can’t be said for the icing… I only put one tbsp of apple cider vinegar in it and it was such an overwhelming vinegar flavour/very acidic in addition to the lemon juice, I think i’d have to stick to a vinegar free icing recipe next time!
★★★★
This cake was my first attempt at a vegan bake and it was absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
Absolutely delish’! I made it today for my boyfriend’s bday and it was just incredible. Thank you, Alison, for this fab recipe. Was wondering if anyone had ever tried to freeze it? Would it be nice at all once it’s been frozen and then thawed? Any thoughts? š Xx
So glad you enjoyed it! You can absolutely freeze it, it freezes super well. š