Vegan Carrot Cake with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting
The absolute perfect vegan carrot cake that’s insanely fluffy, studded with textured bits of walnuts, raisins, and coconut, and covered with a rich cream cheese frosting! Ideal for spring but equally superb on any other occasion when you find yourself craving this classic.
With temperatures climbing and sunny spring days juuuuust around the corner, my taste buds are drifting away from longing for chocolate 8x/day and craving more spring-y flavors like lemon and carrot. Since carrot cake is easily one of my favorite types of cake, I couldn’t think of a better way to welcome in the ~*spring vibes*~ than by developing my own take on this classic! My version features a fluffy sponge that’s moist without being dense, studded with lots of textured bits, and covered in indulgently rich cream cheese frosting to create the perfect carrot cake!
Why You’ll Love This Carrot Cake
Fluffy texture. If you’ve made my gingerbread loaf or chocolate beet loaf, you may have noticed I’m a big fan of fluffy-textured breads and cakes. This carrot cake is no different - it has that delightfully fluffy crumb I love and crave in baked goods!
Balanced flavors. Perfectly sweetened and infused with caramel-y notes from brown sugar, the carrot flavor is further enhanced with warming spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves) and vanilla extract to give it that classic “carrot cake” flavor we all crave.
Studded with textured ingredients. This cake has it all - walnuts, raisins, and shredded coconut! The classic walnut and raisin duo imparts the cake with crunch, nuttiness, and a bit of sweet chewiness. But in addition to the classics, I found that adding a bit of shredded coconut goes a long way to take the cake’s flavor to that *next level* without making it taste too tropical (trust me!). Coconut is my (not so) secret twist!
Covered in an ultra rich cream cheese frosting. Is it even carrot cake without that deliciously indulgent cream cheese frosting? 🤤 With the ever-growing range of vegan “dairy” products available on the market, it’s super easy to whip up an equally (or even more?) rich and satisfying veganized frosting with non-dairy substitutes - just use your favorite brand of cream cheese and buttery sticks! (And believe me, even non-vegans won’t know the difference!)
Ingredient Overview
All-purpose flour. Nothing fancy here - the cake relies on plain, all-purpose flour everyone already has in their pantry.
Baking powder, baking soda, salt, and apple cider vinegar. For rise! And don’t worry - you won’t be able to taste the vinegar in the cake - it’s there to provide the acidic component so that the baking soda (a base) can react and make the cake rise.
Brown sugar. IMO, brown sugar is the MVP of carrot cake! Not only does it sweeten the cake and infuse additional moisture into it, the molasses in the brown sugar also gives the cake caramel-y notes that pair wonderfully with the carrot flavor.
Spices & vanilla extract. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and vanilla extract add warmth and enhance the flavor of the cake.
Neutral oil. To moisten the cake!
Applesauce. Further moistens the cake (helping to lower the amount of oil needed), adds a bit of natural sweetness, and helps give the cake its ultra fluffy texture! Be sure to use the unsweetened variety of applesauce.
Carrots. The most obvious ingredient in carrot cake - but did you know carrots also infuse more moisture into the cake? Make sure they’re finely shredded/grated (it takes just a few seconds to do this if you use a food processor!) in order to blend into the batter better (no one wants giant pieces of grated carrots in their cake!).
Walnuts, raisins, and shredded coconut. Classic add-ins like raisins and walnuts fill the cake with textured bits while also adding some extra sweetness and nutiness. The shredded coconut gives the cake a bit of structure, some extra texture, and a subtle and slightly unconventional flavor addition.
Vegan cream cheese frosting. Vegan butter, softened at room temp, combines with vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla to form a rich, super indulgent-tasting cream cheese frosting you’ll be craving for dayyyyys.
Tips for Baking this Cake
Use a scale to weigh the ingredients. For the best results, use the gram measurements provided in the recipe as they are more accurate and will therefore yield more consistent results.
Don’t have a food scale? To measure the shredded carrots and brown sugar, be sure to lightly pack your measuring cups. For the flour, use the “spoon and level” method for the best results to avoid using too much flour (you don’t want a dry, dense cake!). To do this, “fluff” the flour to aerate it. Then, spoon the flour into a measuring cup until it overflows slightly, and use the back of a knife to “level” the excess flour off the top. (PS - I highly recommend investing in a food scale - they’re cheap and invaluably useful for both baking and cooking!)
Don’t overmix! The most important tip for a successful cake is to RESIST the urge to overmix the wet and dry ingredients in order to avoid overworking the gluten! Mix them together just until the dry ingredients have been incorporated in with the wet ingredients to form a batter. Note that this batter will be quite thick, since many of the ingredients (brown sugar, applesauce, shredded carrots) infuse the cake with additional moisture as it bakes. Don’t be tempted to add any more liquid - you don’t want the batter to be overly wet or you’ll end up with a soggy cake.
Bake the batter ASAP after mixing. Once the dry ingredients touch the wet ingredients, baking soda begins reacting immediately to release carbon dioxide, which creates little pockets that help the cake rise. This means you’ll want to work quickly to mix everything together and get those cakes into the oven to bake ASAP!
Let the cakes cool completely before frosting. After the cakes are done baking, let them cool completely on a baking rack before frosting in order to let the crumb finish cooking/forming.
Refrigerate the frosting to firm it up. Because the frosting is made with vegan butter and cream cheese, it will soften as it sits out at room temp. Once you’ve made the frosting, you’ll want to cool it for a couple of hours so that it can fully firm up. And once you’ve frosted the cake, throw it in the fridge for ~20 minutes to let the frosting set again (it will soften slightly as you frost the cake).
Carrot Cake with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting
Vegan
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
For the carrot cakes:
240 grams/2 cups (spooned & leveled) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
242 grams/1 ⅓ cups (lightly packed) light brown sugar
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon neutral oil (avocado, sunflower, etc.)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
230 grams/2 cups (lightly packed) finely shredded carrots (from about 4 medium carrots)*
¾ cup raw walnuts, chopped
⅓ cup raisins
¼ cup finely shredded coconut
For the cream cheese frosting:
4 ounces/8 tablespoons (1 stick) vegan butter, softened at room temp (I’ve used both Earth Balance and Miyoko’s with great success)
8 ounces vegan cream cheese (I used Kite Hill)
4 cups (480 grams) powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For topping (optional):
Walnuts, finely chopped or crushed
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with round pieces of parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, applesauce, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract and use a hand mixer to beat together until thoroughly incorporated. Add the shredded carrots and switch to a rubber spatula to fold the carrots in. The carrots will let off additional moisture as they’re incorporated.
Add in the dry ingredients and use the rubber spatula to fold together until a batter forms, mixing just until the dry and wet ingredients are almost completely incorporated and a few streaks of flour remain. The batter will be thick!
At first, it may seem like there’s isn’t enough liquid but as you fold the dry and wet ingredients together, the shredded carrots will continue releasing moisture and a batter will form.
Gently fold in the chopped walnuts, shredded coconut, and raisins, being careful not to overmix.
Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out nearly clean (very tiny crumbs are ideal!), about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, run a knife along the exterior of the cakes, then gently and carefully transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely before eating or frosting, about 2 hours.
While the cakes are baking, make the frosting. In a medium to large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the vegan butter until fluffy. Add in the vegan cream cheese and beat again until combined. Gradually add in the powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and vanilla extract and use the lowest speed on the mixer to beat together until fully incorporated. Transfer the frosting to the freezer for 20 minutes to set. Remove from freezer, use a rubber spatula to give it a quick mix, then transfer to the fridge to continue firming until ready to use.
The frosting can also be made ahead of time and stored directly in the fridge (just make sure to give it at least 2 hours to set).
Once the cakes have cooled completely and the frosting has firmed, frost the cake. Spread a generous amount of frosting onto one of the cake layers, then top with the second layer and cover the top and sides with frosting (or leave the sides “naked” for a more rustic look), using an offset spatula to smooth. Top with crushed walnuts (optional), then transfer the cake back to the fridge for 20 minutes to allow the frosting to firm up again before serving (it will soften slightly as you’re frosting the cake).
Store any leftover frosted cake in the fridge, covered.
Notes:
*I recommend using a food processor outfitted with a fine shredding disc to shred the carrots as it gets the job done in seconds! If you don’t have a food processor, you can use the fine side of a box grater to shred the carrots.
Already dreaming of your next slice of carrot cake? Me too! 🤤 Don’t forget to leave a comment review below and tag me on Instagram (@teostinykitchen) so I can see and share your beautiful cakes!