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.
Elon Hawkins says
Great idea..Wonderful cake..Thanks for sharing!
Kelly says
I just made this cake for my sister’s birthday and it is AMAZING!! I’m lucky enough to be able to buy vegan cream cheese for the icing, which complimented the cake beautifully. Will definitely make this again!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So pleased to hear that! Thanks for sharing Kelly! 🙂
Patricia Giannelia says
Hi;
Haven’t made the cake yet, but intend to give it a try soon – probably for Thanksgiving (Oct 8 here…). Also, two tips that others might find helpful – try using oat flour instead of whole wheat, for a whole grain that is lighter and moister. Also, for many it is gluten free (some non-gluten people also have trouble with oat flour). Second tip – if you want a super easy and low-cal icing, try the ones made with yam – white Japanese (also called Asian) yam, maple syrup and vanilla, pureed, or orange yam with cocoa powder, maple syrup and vanilla for chocolate…..
crystal tolbert says
One of the best vegan desserts I’ve had.
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So happy to hear that! Thanks Crystal! 🙂
Angie says
I’m trying this! So, I’m not vegan but I’m a pretty decent cook & Baker! My dad is completely vegan, coming to visit for a week! Best tips, advice! We accidentally starved him last time he came for a couple days, so I’m definitely not doing that again, nor will I watch him eat lettuce salads at restaurants because their vegan options suck! Your carrot cake looks very possible, but how to I know I have it right? I’m used to using eggs, butter, etc! I know vegan substitutes don’t act the same way as leavening ingredients, so what should I look for to know it’s right or wrong? Help! I have one week to experiment! Any suggestions are welcome!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Angie, if you just follow the recipe (weigh the ingredients where a weight is listed is my best tip!) then you should be totally fine! It should taste like a delicious cake, not a ‘vegan’ cake. If it does, then you know you got the recipe exactly right! Best of luck, and hope your dad’s visit goes great! 🙂
Beth says
This is the second of your cakes I’ve made. It was a huge hit for my mother-in-love’s 88th birthday. I had to add quite a bit of water but I suspect that’s because I did not weigh the flour. I made 1.5x the recipe as I had larger pans but did not increase sugar. Thank you Alison! You cake recipes are awesome.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Beth! So glad to hear it came out well! 🙂
Denise says
I am interested in making this recipe for my husband who is now vegan. Instead of flax eggs can I use the ener g egg replacer???
Alison Andrews says
Yes, that should be fine. 🙂
Laura Rossbach says
Hey Alison,
i want to make this cake on the weekend for a birthday.
Do you think I could make a icing out of coconut cream?
Alison Andrews says
Whipped coconut cream would make a nice topping for sure! 🙂
Ciera says
Loved this! Ssoooo delicious and moist! I added non vegan cream cheese to one of the layers for my non vegan husband and I ate just the cake no frosting and it didn’t even need any! I loved it, thank you so much for this recipe!
Amethyst42 says
Made this for my vegan daughter’s birthday. Well recieved and super tasty! No pic because it was utterly consumed before I had a chance.
I too had the dry batter issue. Canadian all-purpose flour is harder than American, and I expected it. Adding a little rice milk did the trick.
Next time I may try adding apple sauce or crushed pineapple to up the flavour and nutrition.
Alison Andrews says
Glad it was well received! Thanks for posting! ?
Meg saoirse williams says
hi my friend and i made this cake just now – FABULOUS RECIPE! We actually used chia eggs instead of the flax and oranges instead of the lemon and we also put toasted coconut and pumpkin seed on the top as I have a nut allergy- it worked out very well and I would recommend to all those nut free vegans out there!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your adjustments! 🙂
Delia Wolfaardt says
Hi, made this cake, but unfortunately my pans are 9 inches …so I didn’t bake them as long, and of course they were a bit flat…nonetheless, a lovely moist cake !
My question, if you don’t mind, for bakers from other regions (like New Zealand, where we use metric system), and where “vegan butter” is not available, could you possibly recommend a recipe for frosting containing basic ingredients such as coconut cream/oil perhaps?
Many thanks !
D.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Delia, you can get Nuttelex in New Zealand as far as I know (it’s an Australian brand that is also available elsewhere) and that is an awesome vegan ‘butter’ option. I used it all the time when I lived in Dubai and it is great for all our recipes calling for vegan butter. You can also make your own vegan butter and we do have a recipe for it. I don’t consider it as good for frostings as regular ‘store-bought’ vegan butters because it firms up too much in the fridge and can get too soft at room temperature in warm weather, because the base is coconut oil. However, some people have just swapped out the vegan butter for straight coconut oil in our frostings too and been happy with the result.
Delia says
Hi Alison,
Thank you for that ! I’ll have a look around for that vegan butter and also try coconut oil and see how it works !
Many thanks
Delia
Lucy says
Made this for a birthday and it went down so well! Would perhaps use less buttercream next time (personal preference) but this was probably the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. The walnuts were a wonderful addition and you could really taste the spices in the cake.
Joanna says
I just made this cake and overall love it as it’s so simple and really moist, but I found it really sweet. I only had 150g of brown sugar at home, so I added 100g of white sugar and it turned too sweet for me. I’ll definitely make it again but maybe next time I’ll use pineapple instead of the white sugar part and stick to 150g of brown sugar.
Still, thank you so much for this recipe as I love cakes that I can make in almost no time and without any weird ingredients!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Joanna, thanks for sharing your experience and so glad you liked the cake overall. I think if you read the other comments you’ll see that others have had success in using less sugar with this recipe and still really enjoyed the results. All the best! 🙂
Deb Rothschild says
I have an old carrot cake recipe I’ve used for years that I got out of Bon Appetit Magazine. It was a show stopper, 3 9-inch layers with lemon cream cheese frosting. Since going vegan a year ago, I’m always exploring new ways to make my old favorites. This recipe does not disappoint. The only thing I did differently was use whole wheat pastry flour. This too is a show stopper. And very fun as cupcakes as well!
Thanks for a great recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Whoop! So glad you like the recipe! Thanks a million! 🙂