This Vegan Carrot Cake is possibly my favourite cake EVER. The mix of cinnamon spices and sweet carrot in the moist sponge is just beautiful. Further, the icing is creamy, buttery, sweet and a match made in heaven for the soft sponge it is layered between.
Carrot cake is very popular in spring time so if it is Easter is nearing, and you fancy making a show-stopping layered cake, this recipe is perfect for you. However, this really is a perfect cake for any time of the year and is a firm favourite in my house. You could make this for a function like a birthday, dinner party or work event. Alternatively, you could just make this for you to enjoy, with many, many (many) cups of tea!
Ingredients
In this vegan carrot cake recipe you will use some classic ingredients like flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, etc. This recipe makes 4 small 6 inch cake layers so if you want a bigger cake (e.g. 8 inches), you should increase the ingredient amounts.
- Flour
- Carrots
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Flax egg
- Almond milk
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Butter
- Vanilla Extract
- Icing sugar
See recipe card below for full quantities and Instructions.
Instructions
In order to help you level out your cake layers so that they are the same height, use a cake leveller. This is honestly a game changer for layered cakes. It makes your life SO much easier, with no faffing around with a knife.
Below you will see images of the icing process. I use a piping bag to ice my cakes as I think it is easier and allows more control over the process. The full recipe for this vegan carrot cake is below. I really hope you enjoy as it is one of my favourites. Please leave me a comment below if you enjoyed the cake and let me know how you got on! I would love to hear from you.
Start layering your cake up
Add the icing to the outside of the cake
Add more buttercream
Smooth the icing
SUBSTITUTIONS
This recipe is already dairy-free and vegan. However, there are still some substitutions you may like to make.
- Carrots - instead of using carrots you could actually substitute for grated apple. I have made apple cakes like this and they are equally as delicious. As you can imagine they are slightly sweeter but still very yum.
- Flour - instead of plain white flour, you could use gluten free flour to make this gluten free. I recommend a 50/50 gluten-free flour.
If you fancy another carrot cake variation, give my carrot cupcakes or carrot sheet cake a go!
EQUIPMENT
Use baking tins for the cakes. I actually use silicone ones as I find them easier to work with but any will do. I used 6-inch ones for this cake and it allowed me to make 4 layers. However, if you wanted a bigger cake with 8-inch cake tins then increase the ingredient amounts. The other pieces of equipment that make your life 10x easier is a cake table (that spins around so icing is easier) and a cake leveller - which enables you to cut your cake layers into even layers. Other than that, you will just need normal baking equipment for this recipe.
STORAGE
Store the carrot in an airtight container at room temperature. Good for 4-5 days.
TOP TIP
Use a piping bag and cake scraper to decorate the cake with icing. If you are just starting out, this will seem more difficult but it is all a learning process. Also, the key before you start icing your cake is to make sure that the cake is completely cool. If you try to ice your cake before it has cooled, it will not go well and the cake is likely to collapse.
Vegan Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 240 g Plain white flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 260 g Light soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 150 ml Vegetable oil
- 60 ml Almond milk
- 2 Flax eggs 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed diluted in 6 tablespoon water
- 220 g Grated carrot
For the Icing
- 400 g Butter
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 600 g Icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon Water if necessary
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/ 356°F. Prep your 6 inch baking tins with a circle of baking paper at the bottom. I use a bit of oil to make the paper stick to the tin. Note that if you use bigger baking trays you may have to adjust the ingredient amounts!
- Sieve + combine all of the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar). In a separate bowl, combine the milk and apple cider vinegar. Once curdled (after a couple of minutes) add the oil and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, along with the flax egg and grated carrot. Mix together. If your batter is a bit dry, leave it for a minute or so. The carrots will release moisture into the batter.
- Pour your carrot cake mixture into your lined baking tins. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Then leave the cakes to completely cool.
- Add the refrigerated butter to a standing mixer and beat on medium-high speed for around a minute. Sieve the icing sugar into the bowl. Add the extract + water. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, and then increase to high speed for further minutes, until a light buttercream icing has formed.
- Once your cake is completely cool, slice the cake into four even layers. I use a cake leveller to do this as it is WAY easier than using a knife. To use this, set your leveller to the height you want your cake to be, and then use it to cut your sponges. If you find it easier, you could just keep the cake in two layers (note. you will need less icing if you do it this way).
- Place the icing into a piping bag and pipe layers of icing between each layer of sponge. Then use the same icing bag to surround the edge of the cake. Use a scraper to even the icing out.
- You can finalise your decoration in any way you wish! I used little carrots and walnuts. Place in the fridge until you cut it. Enjoy!
Violet
hello! recipe looks amazing! just unsure how this is vegan considering there is butter in it… am i potentially missing something?
georginaeliza
Hey! Thanks so much. When I say butter I mean vegan butter. All of my recipes are vegan so I sometimes forget to identify that everything is vegan. You can buy vegan butter in every supermarket now! Hope you enjoy 🙂