Vegan Carrot Cake

This vegan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is a showstopper! Flavored with warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and studded with golden raisins, shredded carrot and walnuts, it's packed with flavor and so moist. It's perfect for a birthday cake and our recipe is also gluten free, so everyone can enjoy!

Jump to:

• 🥕 Why We Love This Recipe
• 🍰 Ingredients
• 📋 Ingredient Notes
• 🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
• 💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
• 🍽 Related Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

🥕 Why We Love This Recipe

• Moist and flavorful: no dry carrot cake here! Our recipe is melt-in-your-mouth delicious and packed with spices like cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Paired with silkt smooth cream cheese frosting, every bite is perfection.
• Easy to make: this vegan carrot cake is a pretty standard recipe – combine the wet and dry, mix and bake. To make it even simpler, you can just make a one layer cake (cut the quantities in half) so you don't have to frost the sides of the cake.
• Vegan and gluten free: we love that (almost) everyone can enjoy this vegan carrot cake recipe, but it doesn't sacrifice on texture or flavor! Plus, you can easily make it with regular all purpose flour if you're not gluten free.
• Perfect for birthdays and special occasions: along with our funfetti cake, this vegan carrot cake is one of my go-to's for birthday celebrations. It would also be a fantastic dessert for Thanksgiving, Easter, Mother's Day, or any other dinner party.

🍰 Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this vegan carrot cake:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Gluten free flour: we use Bob's Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour in this vegan carrot cake (and all of our other baked goods). It's reliable and always produces a perfect texture. We also use their oat flour, which we use in combination with gluten free all purpose flour to provide added protein and structure to the cake.
  • If you're not gluten free, sub out the GF all purpose AND oat flour with regular all purpose flour.
• Raisins: we prefer using golden raisins, which tend to be sweeter and more moist than regular raisins. However, they can be harder to find, so you can absolutely swap with regular raisins if preferred! Alternatively, feel free to use chopped medjool dates for something different.
• Walnuts: you can sub with pecans if preferred.
• Carrots: we use a cheese grater to grate whole carrots, but you can also use a food processor attachment if you have one (it's much quicker!). We don't recommend using pre-shredded store-bought carrots, which tend to be quite a bit thicker and are better suited for something like this carrot salad.
• Nondairy milk: we prefer using oat milk for its neutral flavor and creamy consistency. Cashew or almond milk would also be a good choice.
• Applesauce: we use unsweetened applesauce in this vegan carrot cake. It acts as a binder and egg replacement, without making the cake too dense.
• Apple cider vinegar: it may not seem very important, but don't skip it! The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to create a lift in the cake, which greatly improves the texture and density.
• Cream cheese: when it comes to the vegan cream cheese frosting, we recommend using VioLife, Kite Hill or Miyoko's.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

PREP: Preheat oven to 350˚F / 175˚C. Use butter or cooking spray to grease two (2) 8” cake pans, then lightly dust each pan (make sure to get the sides!) with flour. This will help the cake release more easily from the pans.

(1) Cream the butter in a stand mixer, then add in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add applesauce and continue mixing. (It may look separated, but this is common – it will come back together once you add in the dry ingredients.)

(2) In a large mixing bowl, stir together gluten free (or regular) flour, oat flour, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. 

(3) Add half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until incorporated. Then add half of the nondairy milk and the apple cider vinegar. Add remaining dry mixture, then remaining milk and mix until smooth.

(4) Fold in shredded carrots, raisins, and walnuts. Divide batter equally between each cake pan and smooth with a spatula.

(5) Bake for 40 minutes, testing for doneness with a toothpick. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

(6) While the cakes are baking, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, and beat until stiff. Add vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting. You can pop the cakes in the fridge to speed up the process.

Use a serrated knife to level the top of each cake (this will keep your cake from tilting or worse, falling over!). Frost the top of the first cake. Top with second cake add remaining frosting to top and sides. Use an offset spatula to smooth out the frosting. It doesn't have to be perfect!

Garnish, then slice and serve. If not serving right away, refrigerate until ready to serve.

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Not gluten free? It's still super easy to make this vegan carrot cake! Sub the gluten free all purpose flour AND oat flour with regular all purpose flour (3 cups total).
• Decorating tips: for a fun, organic look, we lined the sides of the cake with crushed walnuts and topped the cake with carrot swirls. To make the swirls, use a vegetable peeler to peel thin pieces of carrot. Wrap into a tight swirl and place on top of cake. Sprinkle with more crushed walnuts if desired.
  • Alternatively, use a piping tip to pipe frosting swirls on top of the cake. You can garnish with sprinkles, cinnamon, chopped nuts, or anything else you'd like.
• Parchment paper: to make the cakes extra easy to remove from their pans, consider lining the pans with parchment paper. You can cut your own 8" circles, or you can purchase pre-cut rounds (this is what we do – it's much easier!).
• Make sure to let the cakes cool completely, and work quickly with the frosting. To prevent melty frosting, you don't want to spend too much time working with the frosting once it goes on the cooled cakes. The more you spread it around, the more it will warm up, which means it may get a bit runny. We recommend frosting the cake and then storing in the refrigerator before serving.
  • For best results, we suggest refrigerating the cakes for several hours before frosting. It's much easier to frost a cold cake!
• Don't overmix the frosting: if you beat the vegan cream cheese and butter for too long, it will start to separate. Mix just until combined, then until stiff when you add in the powdered sugar.
• Don't like cream cheese frosting? Sub the cream cheese with more vegan butter for a plain vanilla vegan buttercream.
• Storage: we recommend storing leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Freezer storage: You can also freeze leftover slices of vegan carrot cake for up to a few months. They will keep best if wrapped in plastic or reusable wrap. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

🍽 Related Recipes

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