Vegan Carrot Cake

This flavorful Vegan Carrot Cake is moist, rich, not overly sweet and topped with a creamy vegan cream cheese frosting that you will love. It’s easy to make and delightfully fragrant.

Vegan Carrot Cake

Haven’t you made a Vegan Carrot Cake before? Feeling intimidated? You shouldn’t, honestly. You’ll love this recipe for its simplicity. It can be made with just one bowl and a few basic ingredients.

The warm spices, walnuts and raisins make this cake even more special. Bake this easy layered cake recipe today and frost it with my favorite vegan cream cheese frosting.  It’s the perfect combo for a any celebration. 

Vegan Carrot Cake consists of layers of tender carrot cake filled and frosted with addictive vegan cream cheese frosting. It’s decadent, rich and so incredibly moist.

Ingredients for the Vegan Carrot Cake

Besides the usual basic ingredients like flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla extract, you’ll also need:

• oil: I use canola oil or virgin olive oil but any neutral-tasting oil works great for this recipe.
• sugar: You can use cane sugar, brown sugar or, even, substitute 1/4 cup of sugar for 1/4 cup of agave or maple syrup to enhance the flavor of the cake.
• applesauce: I use it as the eggs replacer. Store-bought or homemade applesauce, it’s up to you.
• vegetable milk: almond milk, oat milk or soy milk are the best choices for baking, although you can perfectly use rice milk, hemp milk, flax milk, cashew or coconut milk.
• apple cider: reacts with the baking soda and helps the cake to raise as it bakes.

And now, the ingredients that make this recipe so special:

• carrots: you can add them grated or chopped into small pieces.
• walnuts: crushed walnuts are a great addition to this cake. However, if you are allergic to nuts, you can omit them without sacrificing flavor.
• raisins: for extra moisture and flavor. They also make a more tender cake.
• species: Cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg are my favorites. Pumpkin pie spice is a good option instead and fresh grated ginger is a delicious alternative to the ground ginger.

How to Make Vegan Carrot Cake

You can make this cake two ways: using one bowl or two mixing bowls. Either way works fine. It’s just that I’m a bit of a perfectionist and not quite good at taking the shortcut.

If you choose the one bowl way, once you have measured all the ingredients, start by sifting the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add the sugar and give a stir. Then add in the wet ingredients: oil, milk, applesauce, vanilla, vinegar, stir to combine. Lastly, add the carrots, walnuts, raisins and whisk everything until just combined.

And, if you prefer the two bowls way, you’ll find the detailed instructions bellow, in the recipe card.

Vegan Carrot Cake

Yield: 3-layer 6-inch cake or 2-layer 9-inch cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

This flavorful Vegan Carrot Cake is moist, rich, not overly sweet and topped with a creamy vegan cream cheese frosting that you will love. It’s easy to make and delightfully fragrant.

Print

Ingredients

For the Vegan Carrot Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup brown sugar (o 3/4 brown sugar + 1/4 agave syrup)
• 1/2 cup plant-based milk (almond, oat, soy, rice)
• 3/4 cup Homemade Applesauce
• 2/3 cup canola oil (or other vegetable oil of your choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

For the Frosting

• Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

For the Vegan Carrot Cake

1. First, preheat the oven to 350ºF / 180ºC. Line the pans with round parchment paper and grease or spray them.  
2. In a medium bowl, prepare the buttermilk mixing the vegetable milk with the apple cider vinegar. Stir and set aside for two minutes. Then, add the oil, milk, applesauce,and vanilla extract. 
3. In a large bowl or the bowl of an stand mixer, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Stir to combine and add the wet ingredients mixture. Whisk for a minute and add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and raisins. Whisk again until just combined. 
4. Now, pour the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25 and test cake doneness inserting a toothpick in the middle of one of the cakes. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If it comes out with wet batter, bake it for longer and check every 5 minutes. 
5. Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool for 20 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
6. Once cooled, frost them with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting.
7. Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve. 

For the Frosting

1. Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

If you liked this recipe don’t forget to Pin and share with your friends!

Did you make this recipe? Tag @simplegreenrecipes on Instagram

More vegan cakes from Simple Green Recipes?

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake

Vegan Lemon Cake

Raw Vegan Cherry Tart

More vegan ideas from favorite blogs:

Vegan Vanilla Cake  from Loving It Vegan