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.
Michael Siddall says
Hi. Watched the video clip. It shows soya milk being added. Has this been missed off the ingredient list for frosting. Yes, electric mixer was used.
Alison Andrews says
No – lemon juice is used instead of soy milk in this frosting.
Sarah says
Hi will it work if I make a Chia egg instead of a flax egg.
Alison Andrews says
Yes, this works fine as a swap.
Shreya says
Hey Alison!!! I am planning to make this cake for my birthday…..but I will have to make a few tweaks…..The thing is that I can only use coconut milk…..so will the cake be too “coconutty” if I add both coconut milk and coconut oil??? What other oils do you suggest (other than olive???) Can I use sunflower oil….I always use it for cupcakes??!!!
Also can I use AQUAFABA as frosting….????(I am kinda new to baking)
THANKS A TON!!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Shreya, you can use any vegetable oil you prefer. If you use coconut oil and coconut milk, it would be fine, it won’t be overpowering as a flavor. I haven’t used aquafaba in a frosting as yet, so I can’t advise there. All the best!
Shreya says
Thanks
Shreya says
Can you suggest some other frosting recipe???….not made of cashew and almonds and also something simple???
Thanks
Shreya says
Also I cannot get any vegan butter where I live……..
Courtney says
Hi,
Made the cakes using bigger pans so they are very thin. I also used the recipe for the lemon buttercream it’s very thick. I was able to roll it into a ball. I’m not sure how to make it spreadable. I don’t have any non dairy milk. I’m making this for family that is coming from out of town. Please help!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Courtney, the layers will be thin if you used bigger pans, I usually advise to go bigger with the recipe if using bigger pans, but hopefully when you stack them it will still be okay. Regarding the frosting, if you have more lemon juice then add that, a tiny bit at a time until you reach the right consistency. If you don’t have any lemon juice left then just use water. All the best!
Courtney says
I used water before seeing this comment and it came out great! Will share a photo.
Michael says
I made the cake today. Looks good, textures good and taste is delicious. Frosting is another matter. The 3 TBS of vegan margarine can’t be right. It doesn’t bind together. I must be missing something
Alison Andrews says
Hi Michael, the lemon juice is also super important! And you do need to use an electric mixer for this. I have a video of a similar frosting on this page: Vegan Vanilla Frosting, it uses the same amount of vegan butter, and the same amount of liquid and it might help you to see it happen visually.
Emma says
Amazing!!!!! Sooooo nice. Definitely needed the almond milk for mine and I used coconut oil too! But its delicious. Thank you x
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Emma! Thanks for sharing!
veronika g says
It’s definitely missing some more liquid, which I added and it’s delicious, please fix the recipe, I’m measuring everything and half cup of oil and flax egg wont make runny 2 cups of flour 🙂
Alison Andrews says
I’m not going to fix the recipe (though I have added a note) because it works exactly this way when I make it and it also has for a lot of others who have made the cake. 🙂 This is down to how wet your carrots are, as discussed above. Flexibility in baking is always required, as different ingredients will have different results, so you need to have a flexible approach, which you did, and this is great.
Maddie says
Just made this for a mother’s day lunch. Turned out fantastic. I made a few changes, I’m gluten free so i used gluten free flour and just increased the olive oil until the mixture was soft enough. I also used a silicone loaf pan rather than 2 cake tins as I didn’t have 2 and it looked too flat in the one larger cake tin.
It went down a treat, and I didn’t tell anyone it was vegan and GF until afterwards… we polished the whole thing off!
PS this was my first time baking with flax eggs instead of real eggs and you can’t tell the difference! This has changed my life!!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic Maddie! So great to hear you were able to adapt it for gluten-free so successfully!
heather Bruce says
Just made this and it came out wonderfully, except that the frosting was way too sweet. Instead of starting over, I added arrowroot flour, almond milk, and salt. It worked pretty well!
Alison Andrews says
Cool Heather! Thanks for posting!
Ariana says
Hi,
Just wondering about the amount of frosting this is actually meant to make. It seems impossible that only 3tbsp of butter would be enough to frost a cake as beautifully and fully as you’ve frosted yours in the photos! Did you double, triple, or even quadruple that recipe? I have made frosting just like this before and it takes about 1/2 cup of vegan butter for me to make enough frosting for 12 cupcakes, frosted about as thin as your middle layer of cake here.
Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
It’s the amount of powdered sugar, not the vegan butter, that creates the volume here. I used the recipe exactly as written.
Ariana says
Ah, I see, that makes sense. Thank you for your reply!
ExpatinGermany says
I haven’t made this cake yet, but I’ve made other recipes of yours so I know it will be delicious! Thank you for adding to the growing number of vegan recipes online. I’m not yet vegan (getting closer all the time), but my daughter is.
Keep up the great blog.
P.S. I have a minor quibble about your site, which I have about other food blogs too, so it isn’t personal, and I hope you don’t mind my feedback. I wonder how other readers feel about this: I find it annoying to have to scroll through so many full-size photos before getting to the recipe I want. Is it really necessary to see 9 photos of the same (delicious-looking, granted) cake? Some food blogs include photos of cracked eggs, bowls of flour, etc. I really don’t get the point of all that.
Alison Andrews says
Hi there! Glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes! Regarding your feedback, in order for a recipe page to be indexed by search engines and actually reach people, it needs to be a certain length and preferably contain many images as well as video where possible. It also needs to be a certain number of words (and the recipe itself does not count towards this). This is how our recipes are actually getting an audience. If we were to just post a recipe and just one photo and not much else, it would not be indexed and would not appear in search engines. This would mean no audience or a very small audience. In addition a page has value to advertisers due to its content and its length. If it was just the recipe card – no advertisers would buy space on the page, meaning no bloggers would earn any income from their hard work. Hope this answers your question!
Laura French says
This cake was so delicious!!! I’m vegan because I’m breastfeeding my son who has numerous allergies. My family just couldn’t believe I was able to eat something like this for Easter. Thank you! Can I just ask, what’s the storage advice for this? Does the icing keep it fresh enough to store out of the fridge??
Alison Andrews says
Hi Laura, so glad to hear it came out so well! It will keep at room temperature for a few days but if you wanted to keep it longer than this you should keep it covered in the fridge. If it’s in the fridge, it’s good for up to a week.
Julia says
Would I need to alter the recipe if my cake tins were 2 9inch tins?? Thank you in advance! So excited to have a vegan dessert at Easter tomorrow.
Alison Andrews says
I definitely would in this case, else your layers will be too thin. I would increase the recipe by half in this case. All the best! Happy Easter!
Julia says
1/2 like half of that ingredient need? 2 tsp = 1 extra teaspoon??? And 2 flax eggs so 3 flax eggs to make it an extra half? Sorry just want to clarify before I start baking!
Alison Andrews says
Yes, exactly like this. So if it was 1 tsp then you would use 1 and a 1/2 tsp. Etc. If it is confusing or you’re worried about it, you could also leave it as it is and do it as a single layer cake. That would also work.
Anne says
Dear Alison,
thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I made the cake for a meet-up yesterday and got really good feedback.
I was freestyling a little bit since I didnt have icing sugar. I made the coconut filling you have in the chocolate cake recipe instead of the lemon buttercream frosting and it turned out tasty.
I definitly want to make this cake again but for my personal taste I would love to make it less sweet and a bit more carroty next time. Can I just use less sugar and more carrots in that case or will I have to adjust other ingredients? Looking forward to your suggestions
greetings from Cascais, Portugal
Alison Andrews says
Hi Anne! Glad you liked it and got good feedback! I actually think that might work fine without any other adjustments, that is what I would try first off and then see if any other tweaking needed to be done. If it’s a little too moist, then add a little more flour. I don’t think the sugar adjustment would make a big difference to the end result as sugar is usually quite an easily variable ingredient. But let us know how it goes if you try it that way! All the best!
Katy says
Hi, Alison! Thank you for all your great recipes. All my family adores the carrot cake 🙂 I was just wondering: have you ever tried to make it without sugar? I tried it with black treacle/molasses made out of dates – it was very sweet and tasty, but a bit more moist. I would be your biggest fan, if you start cooking your lovely desserts with natural sugar replacements. You would definitely take it to the next level 😉 And yeah, everything else that you do is great and healthy, only the sugar is bothering me.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Katy, glad you liked the carrot cake, and that sounds great as a substitution! I definitely have no plans to replace the sugar in my recipes, I try to go with the easiest/most accessible ingredients and also what I see as being the most tasty for that particular recipe. Our blog is also not focused on any style of eating within veganism; it’s vegan, and that’s it! 🙂 Everything goes for us within the vegan paradigm. That is the essence of our brand. That being said our raw recipes of course lean this way, so you might like those more! And there are more of those coming too! 🙂
Antonia Stasi says
I’ve reduced the sugar to 1 cup (half brown half sweetner) and added a glass of milk as my carrots were quite dry. The sponge is beautiful. Smells amazing.I’ve made several vegan cakes in the past and Alison’s ones always come out fantastic! Saved in my recipe book.
Alison Andrews says
Brilliant! Thanks so much for posting Antonia!