Vegan Carrot Cake

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Who says you need eggs or dairy to whip up a truly irresistible carrot cake? This vegan carrot cake is here to prove that plant based baking can be every bit as delicious and if not better! It is soft, moist, and packed with warming spices, sweet carrots, and crunchy walnuts, making every bite a perfect balance of flavour and texture.

And let’s talk about that creamy icing. Smooth, luscious, and just the right amount of indulgent. Sandwiched between two beautifully spiced layers, it is the kind of cake that feels special enough for a celebration but easy enough to whip up whenever you fancy a slice with your afternoon cuppa.

This recipe makes a generous two layer cake, serving 8 to 10 people, though we won’t blame you if it disappears faster than expected! Whether you are catering for a crowd, treating yourself, or impressing friends with your plant based baking skills, this carrot cake is guaranteed to hit the spot.

This recipe does contain walnuts but it won’t make a difference if you leave them out of the cake batter or off the top of the cake. This way you can cater to nut free people too! I used vegetable oil for this cake but you can use any oil that does not have a flavour including sunflower oil.

I like to decorate this cake very simply with a layer of icing swirled onto the top and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts around the edge. If you want to do something a bit fancier you could pipe swirls of the icing around the edge. You can even buy little carrot decorations (make sure they’re egg free if you do buy them!) and decorate the cake with those.

If you liked this recipe for a vegan carrot cake you might also like my recipe for vegan New York style cookies!

Vegan Carrot Cake

Difficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

50

minutes

Ingredients

• For the Cake

• 275g Plain Flour

• 1 tsp (heaped) Baking Powder

• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg

• Pinch of Salt

• 330g Light Brown Sugar

• 250g Grated Carrot

• 130ml Vegetable Oil

• 2 tbsp Ground Flaxseed

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

• 75g Chopped Walnuts

• For the Icing

• 80g Vegan Soft Butter

• 80g Vegan Butter Block

• 320g Icing Sugar

• 25g Chopped

Directions

• For the Cake
• Preheat the oven to 160ºc/320ºf fan and grease and line two 8 inch round cake tins with baking paper.
• In a small bowl mix the 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed with 6 tbsp warm water. Set aside.
• In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar.
• Mix in the grated carrot. Then mix in the oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and the flaxseed and water mixture you made earlier. Mix until a batter forms.
• Divide into the two tins and bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tins and cooling completely on a wire rack.
• For the Icing
• Beat together the two. vegan butters until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and mix until well combined.
• Once the cakes are cooled, spread half on the top of the first layer of cake. Add the second cake layer on top and spread the remaining icing on top of that.
• Decorate with chopped walnuts.