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Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe. Vegan Carrot Cake Quick bread loaf with Cashew Cream Frosting. Moist, spiced with Cinnamon and Cardamom, full of carrots. Low oil. Soyfree Palmoil-free. Pin this Recipe Jump to Recipe
This week is amazingly busy. I was planning up the posts last week and realized that both Holi and Easter are this week. Carrots and Mangoes were my choice to appear on the blog this week. So lets get started with this super moist Carrot Cake.
This carrot cake is loaded with shredded carrots and pureed carrots. All that carrot with the spices like cinnamon and cardamom (because Cardamom!), some ginger, and a creamy cream cheese style cashew vanilla frosting make this an irresistible loaf. The loaf is a carrot cake quick bread with mild sweetness. Add spices of choice, some nuts and dried fruit, bake, then frost with an easy cashew cream vanilla frosting. This is an incredibly moist carrot cake. It tastes even better after chilling as the spices infuse the loaf. The frosting is cashews plus little sweetener, lemon and vanilla! I use my mini food processor to shred the carrots. That reduces elbow grease and time needed. Bake this loaf and tag me on Instagram. For a Gluten and Grain free version, try this. What are your plans for Easter?
Other Easter Recipes from the blog
- Carrot Cake Pancakes
- Carrot Cake Ice Cream with candied walnuts and roasted carrots
- Carrot Veggie Pilaf with shredded carrots.
- GF Carrot Cake – Gluten-free.
- Or use the 1.5 to 2 cups of dry ingredients from my gf pumpkin loaf to make this loaf gluten-free. Add 1/2 cup oats and 1 tbsp chia seeds as well to help hold the bread.
Mix the dry ingredients. Soak the shredded carrots in maple. Mix in the pureed carrots + apples. Mix in the dry to make a thick stiff batter. Drop into parchment lined pan and even it out.
Bake until toothpick from the center comes out almost clean.
Cool completely. Slice and serve or frost, slice and serve. Frosting Inspired by Wallflower Girl’s Cashew coconut flour frosting.
Video!
Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Wet:
- 2 cups loosely packed grated or shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2/3 cup sugar, i use a mix of regular and brown sugar. Add 2 tbsp more for sweeter
- 1/4 cup oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp flax seed meal
- 1/2 of a small apple or 1/4 cup chopped apple or use 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 1/3-1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, optional
- 1/2 cup water or non dairy milk, or use orange juice
Dry:
- 2 cups flour, I use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached white
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp or more cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup currants or raisins
Cashew Vanilla Frosting:
- 1/2 cup cashews soaked for 1 hour or overnight
- 3-4 tbsp water
- 1/8-1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp or more lemon juice
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tsp coconut flour
Instructions
- Prepare your pan for baking by lining with parchment or greasing and dusting with flour. Preheat the oven to 365 degrees F / 180ºc.
- Grate or shred the carrots and transfer to a bowl. Add the maple, sugar, oil, lemon, vanilla and mix well. Let sit for 2 mins.
- Meanwhile Blend the flax, apples, chopped carrots, ginger with water until pureed. Add to the carrot bowl and mix well.
- In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Transfer to the wet and mix until there are no dry flour streaks. Fold in the nuts and currants. The mixture should be a stiff-ish batter. If the batter is too wet/moist (depends on the carrots), add 1 to 2 tbsp more flour and mix in.
- Drop the thick batter into prepared loaf pan. Even it out on the top.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until the toothpick from the center comes out almost clean. Cool for 15 mins and remove from the pan. Cool for atleast another 10 minutes before slicing.
- Frosting: Blend the soaked cashews with water, salt, lemon, sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth. (I use a nutri bullet small blender).Taste and adjust lemon, sweet and salt and blend. Add a 1/4 tsp white vinegar for stronger sour flavor. Add some cinnamon for a cinnamony frosting. If the mixture is runny, add 1 tsp coconut flour and blend it. Add more coconut flour if needed to get the desired consistency. Spread the frosting over the cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is there a way of signing up for alerts to the fact that you have commented on our comments? I often can’t remember where I’ve posted things.
Helenx
I hadn’t seen the. ‘Notify’ box sorry. Thank you for pointing this out,
Helen
I notice that despite checking the ‘notify’ box, I have to re-check it every time I write a comment here. I thought I’d let you know incase it’s an error. It keeps undo in itself.
X
I’ve never had the confidence to sub stevia for sugar in baking because of the potential to destroy the recipe completely, not in terms of sweetness or aftertaste, but because of the reduction in bulk, and so on. The sugar must often play a vital role in recipes. I see you tell us above that it’s ok in this cake recipe.
Are there any general rules regarding this issue? I notice that in this recipe, the sugar goes into the ‘wet’ mix and presumably dissolves so I can see why stevia might be passable. But when the sugar goes I with the dry mix I see the potential for things being less than ideal. Is this the reason why it’s ok in this case? Or are there no rules at all, and no way of guessing beforehand?
Helen x
Yes, you are right. It depends on where the sugar is used. If sugar is in the dry ingredients, like in vanilla or sponge cake, it is adding a lot more bulk, so you would need to adjust the recipe a bit to make a similar batter. If the sugar is in the wet, it doesnt add as much bulk but adds moisture and hold. It depends on the general moisture in the recipe, you might need to add a bit more wet. Here is an article with some tips on adjusting. https://www.livestrong.com/article/283456-how-to-bake-with-stevia-instead-of-sugar/ I haven’t baked much with stevia as I do not like the taste. I might experiment with no sugar options if i find something that I like. In a recipe like this, the fruit puree makes the wet thick enough to provide the hold as well as some extra moisture. so the recipe might be less fussy compared to a plain cake.
I think I had the subscription to the comments option, seems like that plugin was deleted. I added it now. You should see a subscribe to the comments check box now.
Thank you very much for all this information. It’s really interesting. If I don’t want refined cane sugar but don’t want to muck things up in baking I sometimes use xylitol but it’s expensive and in general think that there’s no real harm in a little cane sugar taken with food in moderation. Yes, stevia does taste a bit funny but I use it if I want extra sweetness in hot drinks. I am more concerned for my teeth/dental health than my waistline.
Thanks again for all your help and information
Helen
How about date sugar or coconut sugar? or a combination of those with a little stevia. that way there is some sugar to perform the bulk or hold in the recipe and stevia to sweeten it further. Try my 1 bowl banana bread. that has like 2-4 tbsp sugar. if you use really ripe bananas, then omit the sugar and add a bit of stevia. that recipe doesnt depend on the sugar.
Thank you. I haven’t heard of date sugar and will look into the idea of trying some. Coconut sugar is expensive here too sadly.
I don’t really understand why unrefined cane sugar is such a baddie and on so many peoples hit list. I avoid it because of its reputation among the health conscious…but I’m not sure why. Surely extrinsic sugar is sugar wherever it has come from. I sweeten with fruit wherever possible but don’t dare do this in baking recipes.
Thank you for the recipe suggestion. I love bananas and always have spare. I peel and mash and freeze any which are sitting getting overripe so they are always ready for when the banana urge strikes.
Helen xx
Date sugar might be expensive too. Refined sugar can be refined using animal bone char, hence refined sugar can be on a non vegan foods list, hence I use unrefined cane sugar. I have no nutrition background so I can’t really comment of badness or not of sugar. There are many interpretations in the health world about what is “healthy” by people or docs, which different doctors don’t even agree with each other on. So we use everything in moderation with occasional treats. The recipes are about making it easy to eat amazing food without animal products, and keeping it somewhat healthy in a general healthy definition way, without vilifying any particular food (sugar, soy, oil). The cake takes 3-4 days to finish as we eat some for breakfast and a slice for snack later.
Richa
You are one lovely thoughtful and talented woman.
Your balanced attitude to eating and baking, (in which everything ethical, vegan, unrefined, and generally healthy, taken in moderation, is fine) is exactly what makes your food (and you!) so appealing.
I am more than happy with a little unrefined cane sugar (fair trade of course) and so glad to see you use it. Taken to the extremes I see everywhere around me, the act of following fads and vilifying certain foods for no clear reason (other than fashion/trend) can be far more unhealthy than eating and enjoyment, as you clearly agree.
I love your work and I only came across it a matter of days ago. Your recipes are beautiful, affordable and accessible. It is greatly appreciated. I’ll be sticking around.
Love Helen X
Hi, do you have a suggestion to make this cane and beet sugar free. Thanks
use stevia.
Hi Richa,
This looks amazing, but you mention grating carrots and then adding apples etc to the carrots, Which carrots. I presume that the grated carrots go into step 2, and the chopped ones in step 3. Is this correct?
Thanks!
The chopped carrots get blended and the grated carrots are soaking in the bowl in maple syrup.
I made this cake for Easter and it turned out really great! Thanks for the recipe!!
Awesome !
You line your loaf pans so neatly. I make a real mess trying to fit the parchment paper tidily. What’s the secret!?
X
You should see some of my other posts where I put one sheet in, they arent as pretty 🙂 . When I have the time and energy, I cut the parchment sheet by width and length of the loaf pan so I can fit the 2 pieces in width and length. Makes it easier to pull out the loaf and easy clean up.
I’ve just looked up how to line cake tins on the ‘ bbc good food ‘ website. There’s a great little video showing some fascinating tricks! It looks so easy but I’m sure it isn’t. It’s a bit like putting on a duvet…..looks and sounds easier than it is!
This looks amazing. I only have cardamon pods, not ground cardamon. Is it possible to substitute? Thanks 🙂
yes. open the cardamon pods using a knife and use the black seeds. Pound the seeds in a mortar pestle or blend or use a coffee/ spice grinder to grind the seeds and use.
Thanks!!
Hmmm …. Terminology again.
When you say coconut flour are you referring to ground dried coconut flakes (meal) or one of the commercially available defatted coconut flours on the market (very dry, like a fine protein powder, high in protein etc) or even home made coconut pulp flour (which is probably the nearest thing you could make at home to resemble the commercial stuff).
Different people mean different things when they say nut flour. Some people, mean nut meal, others mean nut pulp flour, and also there are the commercial defatted nut flours appearing (the commercial version of nut pulp flour I imagine.)
This recipe looks like it will be top of my list. Beautiful.
Helen X
Yes it is the dry fine powder, Ground from dried, defatted coconut meat. it absorbs water really quickly. This is the kind I use https://www.bobsredmill.com/organic-coconut-flour.html
I think nut flour is a different term that would apply to nuts like almonds, cashews etc and nut flour or nut meal would be ground up nuts in fine or coarse form. Coconut processing is quite different. I generally use coconut flakes (large or small shred, dried coconut which has all the fat) or coconut flour, which is the defatted coconut meal flour, in my recipes.
In this recipe, you can just blend in more cashews or use a different flour to make a frosting consistency you prefer.
Thank you so much for clarifying this.
As I’m sure you have seen, as well as coconut flour, other commercial nut ‘flours’, such as almond ‘flour’ (Surkin make one ) are also appearing on the market which are also defatted like the commercial coconut flour, and probably more similar to home made ‘nut pulp flour’ which I imagine you would make by blending nuts with water to make a milk, straining, gathering the pulp, dehydrating and then grinding (phew – surely there’s more to life than doing that!?). So they are very different from the nut ‘meal’ you’d get by simply grinding nuts.
At the same time, other manufacturers such as Holland and Barrett (UK) are selling almond ‘flour’ which is simply finely ground almond meal.
I have no doubt that nut meals and the defatted nut flours behave completely differently in recipes. There seems to be no standard, generally accepted terminology. Yet. Hence my question. Why not detangle all this for us one day in your blog? It is interesting……
Many thanks again
Helen
Would you mind please deleting the above?
Somehow part of a private txt that I was writing to a friend has got pasted in the middle of a comment.
I’d be really grateful if you could delete this as soon as you pick up on it.
I’ll redraft the comment and other time.
Many thanks
Helen
Oh dear how terribly embarrassing.
Have a lovely Easter
Helen
X
I deleted the part of the comment. I also answered your question about whole meal flours on the multigrain buns post. They are basically the same, but because the type of wheat or grain differs depending on country, you might need to adjust recipes with additional water or flour to get the required dough. More details on that post.
hmm . I am not sure if blending nuts with water to make a milk, dehydrating the remaining pulp and grinding it to a flour would make it defatted. I think its probably an option because there is always pulp remaining from making nut milks and people already do dehydrate and use it. It might behave slightly differently since it has more of the fiber and less of the nut meat. I would have to try some recipes with both to note the exact differences in use.
Terminology is not a straightforward topic really. Different people mean different things. Always seems best to ask. You are very kind to reply and clarify exactly what you mean for us to use. That is all that is important. Names are neither here nor there really.
I’m sure that you are right and that there is no home made equivalent to the defatted nut flours on the market. I just meant to say that the closest thing you could make at home to the light dry defatted stuff in packets might be nut pulp flour, made as I suggested, by straining but milk etc. It wouldn’t be defatted to the same extent I’m sure but it is lighter and drier than the whole ground nut meal. And some people I see in the raw food world seem to use nut pulp flour quite often.
Getting confusing
Thanks for deleting my mistakes!
Bedtime here,
Goodnight x
Yes true. Many terms mean different things in different countries. For eg, chili powder in the US is a mix of cayenne, paprika, some herbs and spices. Chili powder in India means just plain hot cayenne powder. Now that would make a big difference in the recipes if you use a tablespoon of Indian chili powder for the US 🙂
Yes, I think the nut pulp flour used a lot because the raw community probably always make their own nut milk and always have a load of pulp to use! So they have recipes that use nut pulp flour instead of nut flour. I can understand that there might be some companies who would sell that kind of flour as well as sell the ground nut flour, and also the fully defatted version. and use random names and confuse us all 🙂
I’ve definitely been there in terms of crazy busy weeks! I’ll be departing to NYC this Thursday so it’s going to be a ZOO week. This carrot cake just makes me want to relax, sit down and have a big piece!
The texture of this cake couldn’t look any more perfect. Carrot cake is my favourite part of this time of year! Thanks for mentioning my cashew frosting 🙂