A moist and flavour-packed vegan carrot cake with cream 'cheese' icing, that's easy to make with no weird ingredients... what more could you ask for?!
🍴Why you will love this recipe
Carrot cake must surely be one of the nation's favourite teatime treats, and there's absolutely no reason why vegans should miss out, so here's a plant-based version, with dairy-free cream 'cheese' icing to top it off.
Incredibly moist and studded with juicy sultanas, walnuts and carrot, this has all the classic flavours of a traditional carrot cake, just without the eggs and butter. No one will believe that it is vegan!
This one-bowl recipe really is easy, I promise - even if you've never baked a vegan cake before, this is a very simple one to start with. You don't need a food mixer or any fancy equipment, just a large bowl, two baking tins and an oven.
Do give it a go and let me know in the comments below or on instagram how you get on - I love seeing photos of your vegan cakes!
Jump to:
📝 What you need
Ingredients
Carrots obviously! But you can also experiment with other vegetables - I made a parsnip version of this a few months ago and it was pretty epic, even if I do say so myself!!
Walnuts are a carrot cake classic but I do also love this with pecans or hazelnuts so do choose whichever you prefer, or you have in the cupboard!
Soya milk I always recommend soya milk for baking particularly when it is acting as an 'egg replacer' as it has the highest protein content of any of the plant based milks so behaves most like an egg would. However your cake will still turn out well if you use oat or nut milks too, so if you can't or don't want to use soya don't be put off.
Dairy-free margarine for the icing - I often use a spread rather than a block margarine as it makes the icing very soft, creamy and easy to work with. My favourites are Flora vegan or Naturli spread. Do leave them out of the fridge for a while before making the icing, the softer the better.
Dairy-free cream cheese for the icing - I have tried using many different brands and usually come back to Violife cream cheese as the best tasting in this icing.
Pistachios just look so pretty on the top of this cake, but they are pricey so do use walnuts or pecans instead, or pipe pretty rosettes of the icing around the edge!
👩🏽🍳 How to make your Vegan Carrot Cake
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page 👇🏼.
Peel and grate the carrots into a small bowl. Finely chop the walnuts. Grate in the orange zest and add the sultanas. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add the soya milk and rapeseed oil and mix until smooth. Stir through the walnuts, sultanas and carrots.
Divide the mixture between two lined tins and bake for 25-30 minutes. When cool, layer with cream 'cheese' icing and scatter with chopped pistachios.
⭐️ Reader Testimonials
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Delicious cake and a hit with non-vegans too. So much so that a friend has passed it on to a teacher colleague to share with her class!" Tessa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Carrot cake was delicious and family members I left outside their door thought I had bought it and asked for the recipe! Will make again as was so easy to do." Renita
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Made this for my wife’s birthday – it’s the first time I ever made a two-layered cake and frosting – it came out amazing! The instructions are great and so easy to follow, thanks for a great recipe!" Jon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I made this the other day. It truly is the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted – and I’ve tasted a lot! You’d also never know that it’s vegan." Jo
🔪 Top Tips & FAQs
Storing the carrot cake overnight in an airtight container or tin before icing makes a huge difference to the texture. The crust will become soft and the cake will become even more moist.
As soon as the wet ingredients are mixed into the dry, try to work quickly to get the cakes into the oven as soon as possible. The raising agent will get to work as soon as it is mixed with the yoghurt, and you want this to happen in the oven, not beforehand!
Frequently Asked Questions
This cake keeps really well in an airtight cake tin or tupperware for 3-4 days - it is so moist thanks to the carrots and nuts that it doesn't dry out like a plain sponge might.
Yes, it freezes really well, so great if you need to plan ahead for a party or gathering. Just pop a sheet of greaseproof paper between the two sponges and wrap them in foil and they will keep really well for months. Then you just need to ice and decorate them before serving.
This is so straightforward to make that sometimes I double the recipe and pop a spare cake in the freezer (or make little individual ones to freeze, even better!). It is so handy to have cake in the freezer for unexpected guests or school cake sales you've forgotten about...!
🍽 If you liked that...
.... you might also enjoy these vegan recipes from The Veg Space:
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📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 270 g carrots
- 135 g walnuts
- 1 orange
- 135 g sultanas
- 400 g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 240 g soft light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 400 ml soya milk
- 160 ml rapeseed oil (or other flavourless oil)
For the icing:
- 440 g icing sugar
- 100 g dairy-free margarine
- 100 g dairy-free cream 'cheese'
- 1-2 tablespoon soya milk
- 3 tablespoon shelled pistachios (optional)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Grease two 23cm (9 inch) cake tins and line the bottoms with baking parchment / greaseproof paper.
- Peel and trim the carrots and grate them into a bowl. Finely chop the walnuts and add to the carrots. Grate the zest of the orange into the bowl, and finally weigh the sultanas and add to the bowl.
- Next, put the flour, baking powder, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl.
- Mix the soya milk and rapeseed oil in a jug, then tip them into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix (by hand) until combined and the batter is fairly smooth.
- Tip in the carrot, walnuts, orange zest and sultanas and stir until fully combined.
- Bang the bowl firmly onto the work surface (this stops the raising agents starting to work too early). Divide the cake mixture between the two tins, and bang each tin on the work surface once again, (you will see tiny bubbles come to the surface).
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until a knife or skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack, peel off the paper and leave until fully cool.
- TOP TIP: If you have time, the cake will be even better if you now put it in an airtight container or tin overnight. The crust will become soft and the cake will become more moist.
For the icing:
- Place the icing sugar, margarine and cream cheese into a large bowl (or mixer), and beat together until completely smooth. Add the soya milk one tablespoon at a time until the icing is light and fluffy.
- Sandwich the two cakes together with a layer of icing in the middle (use about one third of the icing for this), and spread the remaining icing over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios if you wish, or any other chopped nuts.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Bas says
The icing is way to runny (even after adding cornflour) and just slides off in a puddle. Looks a bit rubbish!
Kate Ford says
Sorry to hear that - what brand of margarine and cream cheese did you use? They can vary a lot in their water content - I've suggested my favourites in the tips above. Also wouldn't ever recommend adding cornflour to icing - if in doubt, just keep adding more icing sugar until stiff. Very hot weather can also make a difference to icing consistency, it can help to chill it a bit before spreading over the cake if it is particularly warm. Hope that helps.
Nikki says
I made this and it was delicious. however, it was a bit crumbly and I'm wondering where I went wrong:)
Kate Ford says
Hi Nikki, glad you enjoyed the taste and sorry to hear it was crumbly. Did you use soya milk, and was anything else different from the recipe for any reason? It sounds like the mixture might have been a little dry, but I'm not sure why - what type of flour did you use? Next time you could add a little more oil and a little more milk to see if that might help. Let me know how you get on if you have another go. Thanks x
Kat says
Lovely flavour but unfortunately it fell apart- shame as it was for my parents’ golden wedding! Not sure where I went wrong as the only substitution was soy milk for almond milk. If someone has any ideas what went wrong. I left the cake 24 hours in an airtight container before icing too.
Mahy says
The carrot cake that makes a difference. Fantastic result. It would the perfect cake to make for someone's special occasion.
Kate Ford says
Great to hear, thanks Mahy.
Helen says
Fantastic! The first vegan cake I've made that turned out well...and I've tried a few! I followed the recipe to the letter and am really pleased with the result. Tastes delish!
Thank you Kate. 😃
Kate Ford says
That's so great to hear, thanks Helen!
Helen says
I'm going to make this for my son's birthday as it is his favorite, but I must point out that Flora Buttery is no longer vegan, a shame as we liked it.
Kate Ford says
Thanks for spotting this Helen - I had heard the sad news about Flora Buttery but had forgotten I had recommended it here, what a shame! Hope the cake goes well x
Angharad says
Delighted to have found this recipe! Made it for my friend’s 40th, increased the frosting quantities by half again so I could cover the sides too and do some piping around the top and bottom edges. It’s so, so tasty. Thank you so much for sharing it with the world.
Kate Ford says
That's fantastic, thanks so much Angharad x
Jean Franks says
Daughter went vegan so tried this recipe as know she loves carrot cake. Absolutely delicious. Must admit did 'tweak' it a bit - used 1 teaspoon of baking powder and one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, omitted the walnuts (cannot stand them!). Daughter not keen on the frosting so scattered chopped pistachios on the top before baking - result was amazing. Thank you
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear Jean - I love hearing how people have tweaked the recipe to their own tastes - just brilliant.
Julie Ward says
I made this as a loaf cake, substituted half the flour with spelt flour. I didn’t have an orange so I soaked the sultanas for an hour in a little bit of orange juice. It took a bit longer to bake in the loaf tin but turned out amazing. So moist and tasty and healthy. Win, win, win!
Kate Ford says
What a lovely idea, I'm going to try that sometime! Thanks for the great feedback x
Lorraine says
If I left out the walnuts, would I need to make any other adjustments to the recipe? My vegan husband loves carrot cake but hates nuts in it 🤷🏻♀️
Thanks
Kate Ford says
No not at all, they don't affect any of the other ingredients so won't cause a problem! Hope you enjoy it. Kate
Lorraine Clement says
Thankyou! Looking forward to giving it a go!
Sara Hobbs says
Made this for my son's birthday...turned out just like the picture. Delicious. I used pecan nuts instead of walnuts in the middle.
Wonder whether I need to keep it in the fridge now we have cut into it...but not all gone in 1 sitting, it is a big cake...
Kate Ford says
Hi Sara, so glad you enjoyed it! I wouldn't keep it in the fridge as it will dry out - a good airtight tin or Tupperware is best, but you will need to eat it in a few days. There's a challenge!! Kate x
Sarah says
A truly brilliant cake and easy to make. I have actually always changed the recipe as I only have one cake tin! It then takes a bit over an hour to bake. I've shared the recipe with so many friends
Deb says
I had that problem once too, I think it's all about the butter that you use, in my opinion a good vegan block butter works best
Sarah says
I've always found it works really well with coconut oil
Deb says
I have made this carrot cake a few times now and every time, I get the best compliments, so thank you very much for the recipe, it really is the best carrot cake ever
Kate Ford says
That's so great to hear, thanks Deb!
Richard says
This was a really yummy way to use up some carrots we had left over, but I think I got the icing wrong - it almost all ran off my cake onto the plate!
Tessa says
Lovely recipe - thank you. The batter rose beautifully and worked without the walnuts - I adjusted the other amounts to suit. Also used a buttercream recipe for the icing (300g icing sugar / 200g Flora / 1dsp vanilla) as didn't have cream cheese and pistachios. Delicious cake and a hit with non-vegans too. So much so that a friend has passed it on to a teacher colleague to share with her class!
Kell says
Hey, recipe sounds delish!
Will try today, just intrigued about the calories this recipe contains? Couldn’t find any nutritional info.
If you could inform, would be much appreciated x
Renita says
Easy vegan carrot I made for my sons birthday as he didn’t like the chocolate one I made
Carrot cake was delicious and family members I left outside their door thought I had bought it and asked for the recipe. I chopped up some Brazil but as didn’t have enough walnuts.
Will make again as was do easy to do.
Jon says
Made this for my wife's birthday - it's the first time I ever made a two-layered cake and frosting - it came out amazing! The instructions are great and so easy to follow, thanks for a great recipe!
roy morris says
Made the cake on 15th March 2020 and served to 8 adults we all said its the best carrot cake we have had..