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Side view of a large slice of a two tiered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. A fork has sliced through the piece and lays on the plate.

Simple Vegan Carrot Cake For A Special Occasion

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 5 reviews

  • Author: Kathryn Alexandre
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 12 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This vegan carrot cake recipe is simple, moist, & perfectly spiced. Easy “cream cheese” frosting makes it a stunner for a special occasion!

Ingredients

Units Scale

Vegan Spiced Carrot Cake

  • 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 3 tbsp water)
  • 2 cups white all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 cup applesauce (I use unsweetened)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups grated carrot (spooned lightly, not packed)*

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter (cool room temp, see notes for brands)
  • 8 oz vegan cream cheese (cool room temp, see notes for brands)*
  • 2 – 4 cups powdered sugar

*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.

Instructions

The Cake:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8 inch round cake pans. *If you use different sized/shaped pans just watch the cakes closely as they bake since the baking times will vary.
  2. In a large bowl, prepare the flax egg by combining 1 tbsp flaxseed meal and 3 tbsp water. Allow the flax egg to thicken for 5 minutes while you mix the dry ingredients.
  3. In a separate bowl; combine the flour (make sure to gently spoon and level your flour into your measuring cups, scooping will cause you to use too much flour), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. (If you have not peeled and grated your carrots, you can do that while the flax egg continues to gelatinize).
  4. Once the flax egg has been allowed to thicken for 5 minutes, whisk in the applesauce, vegetable oil, cane sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until the oil is evenly distributed and not sitting on top of the other ingredients.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix until no flour is visible. Gently fold in the shredded carrot and pour the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans. Lightly spread the batter inside each pan into an even layer.
  6. Bake for 22 to 27 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I tend to take my cakes out at 25 minutes.
  7. Allow to cool in the pans for 10 – 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.

The Frosting:

  1. Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer.
  2. Add the room temperature butter to the large bowl of your mixer (vegan butter tends to soften quicker than dairy butter so just ensure you don’t leave it out so long that it gets melty and greasy. It should be soft enough to lightly indent if you press on it but not very soft). Beat on medium speed until the butter is light and smooth.
  3. Add the room temperature vegan cream cheese and beat on medium speed until nicely combined with the butter.
  4. Gradually add the sugar 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup at a time (I don’t always sift the sugar but sifting the sugar will reduce any clumping in your frosting). Stop your machine in between additions of sugar if you need to scrape down the sides. Beat on medium until the sugar is incorporated. (I have made this icing with just 2 cups of sugar, the taste is less sweet and the frosting benefits from being refrigerated before spreading on the cake because it will still be quite soft. 3 cups of sugar makes a more sweet and firmer frosting. Feel free to increase the sugar to 4 cups if desired).
  5. With all the sugar combined and the frosting light and fluffy, transfer the frosting to your refrigerator and allow to cool and firm up before frosting your cake.

Assembly:

  1. With your cake and frosting cool, spread the frosting on top of one cake, place the other cake on top to sandwich the frosting, and frost the very top of the cake. If you have frosting leftover you can try frosting the sides of the cake, adding the frosting to a piping bag and decorating the top, or reserve the frosting for another treat. The frosting will last well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or freeze for longer storage.
  2. Garnish your cake with toasted chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted coconut, or any other toppings you desire. Toasting the nuts or coconut is a step well worth it!
  3. Leftovers, if there are any, keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days!

Notes

Approximate Cost: Just the cake costs us approximately CAD $5.09. If I were to use one egg in the cake it would cost roughly $0.50 vs. $0.06 for one flax egg. The vegan cream cheese frosting costs us roughly, CAD $5.28 – $7.69 depending on the brand of vegan cream cheese used and the amount of sugar added. To make the frosting with dairy butter and cream cheese would cost me $7.20 using 2 cups of sugar and $7.61 using 3 ½ cups of sugar.

Tips for the butter used in the frosting: blocks of vegan butter work better for frosting than spreadable butter from a container. I tend to use the Earth Balance brand (although I use Melt Organics for most other things). Melt… does exactly that. It melts a lot more quickly and earth balance has a firmer, less greasy texture that holds up better in frosting. I have read that the Miyokos cultured butter works very well but it is priced quite a bit higher for me so I have yet to try it.

Tips for the vegan cream cheese: I have tried two different brands. My preference is actually the President’s Choice plant based cream cheese if you are in Canada. I have used Tofutti and the texture is great but I find it lacks the tang I expect from a cream cheese. I have read that the Violife brand is great for cream cheese frosting (it is 200g vs. the others at 227g but that shouldn’t make a noticeable enough difference).

To make muffins or cupcakes: this recipe makes 12 large muffins/cupcakes Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-27 minutes. If making muffins, sprinkle the top of the batter with crushed toasted walnuts before baking. If making cupcakes, ensure they cool completely before icing.

Feel free to add ½ cup toasted crushed nuts to the batter. You can toss the nuts in flour before adding them to the batter. This will help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cakes. Add the nuts when you fold in the carrots.

If adding pineapple juice or pineapple chunks to this recipe, make sure to decrease the applesauce or other wet ingredients to account for the added moisture.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American, Canadian

Find it online: https://tastythriftytimely.com/simple-vegan-carrot-cake-for-a-special-occasion/