This easy carrot cake doesn’t require much effort to prepare, yet it’s effective enough to become a centrepiece on your Easter table. Your guests will never know it’s vegan!
Hey Friends!
Happy new week! I honestly find it hard to believe that we are now well into Spring and Easter is just around the corner. Every year it just kinda creeps up on me and takes me by surprise!
Also, another thing that I find hard to believe, is that my blog is turning 3 this April! Yup, it’s been 3 years since I’ve started this little space with my photos and recipes, so I thought it will be a good time to celebrate with some cake!
Easy Vegan Carrot Cake
As we are only couple of weeks away from Easter, I thought this easy vegan carrot cake recipe will come handy. Because we all love a bit of a carrot cake during Easter holidays, right? That, plus the fact that I actually do not have a recipe for this classic in my collection yet! (But just in case if carrot cake is not your cup of tea, this White Chocolate Cake will also be great for Easter).
What I love about this carrot cake is that it requires so little effort to make, yet it never fails to impress the guests. Few simple ingredients, two bowls and an oven. That and it’s flavour! Delicious, sweet carrots mixed with aromatic spices topped with sweet, creamy and fluffy frosting.
You can be as creative as you want with the toppings and decorations, or keep it simple and use the vanilla cream cheese frosting on its own. Either way, the cake will taste delicious!
If you prefer carrot cake in a loaf form, check out this Carrot Cake Loaf from So Yummy Recipes blog.
Vegan carrot cake- the ingredients
As with most of vegan cakes, it’s important to find the right bonding ingredient to replace the eggs. In this recipe, I’m using an apple sauce. It’s a great alternative, and works so well in pretty much most of the vegan cakes. Check out the notes in the recipe card for my simple homemade apple sauce method.
As for the rest of the ingredients, let’s split them into ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ ones. From the dry ones, we need some plain, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, some salt and aromatic spices. I’m using ground cinnamon and mixed spice, but feel free to experiment with your favourite spice selection. Wet ingredients include grated carrots (I’ve used some organic carrots with tops, because I like to use the carrot tops as decoration on the finished cake), olive oil (or vegetable oil), apple sauce and brown sugar (I know, technically this is a ‘dry’ ingredient).
Frosting is made of vegan cream cheese, vegan spread or butter, vanilla paste and icing/ powdered sugar. Make sure all of these ingredients are at the room temperature, as otherwise you may end up with some lumps and bumps!
How do I make easy vegan carrot cake?
The method couldn’t be simpler! Tip all the dry ingredients (apart from sugar) to a large bowl and mix well. Do the same with the wet ingredients. Add dry mix to the wet one and stir until JUST combined.
Like with any cake batter, do not over-mix it, as it will result in more dense, chewy texture. Pour the cake batter into prepared ‘springform’ tin (loose-bottom) and bake for about 50- 60 minutes until it’s golden-brown or skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and dry. If the cake starts to brown up on top, simple cover it with some aluminium foil to prevent it from burning. Allow the cake to cool down completely before topping it with the frosting.
As always, thanks for reading today’s post! I hope you will try this easy recipe, and that you will enjoy it as much as I do! Remember to leave me a comment below and follow me on my Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest too!
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Carrot Cake
This easy vegan carrot cake requires very small effort to make, yet is effective enough to make a centrepiece on your Easter table! Delicious combination of soft, fluffy and moist sponge topped with light and sweet vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan
Keyword: carrot cake, vegan carrot cake
Servings: 8 people
Calories:
Ingredients
- 400 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 200 g grated carrots
- 180 ml olive oil (vegetable oil will also work)
- 250 g apple sauce (see recipe notes)
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 200 g vegan cream cheese (room temperature)
- 100 g vegan butter (softened)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 200 g icing sugar
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 170 C (fan). Grease and line the springform cake tin (mine was 20 cm). In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices. In a separate large bowl, mix together grated carrots, olive oil or vegetable oil, apple sauce and brown sugar.
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Add the flour mixture to the carrot mix, and stir all together until just combined. Do not over-stir. Pour the mixture into prepared baking tin and bake in the oven for 50- 60 minutes, until golden brown or until skewer inserted n the middle comes out clean. Cool down for 10 minutes, then remove from the baking tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
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Meanwhile, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Beat all the ingredients together until light and fluffy. If the frosting feels too runny, add more icing sugar. Spread the frosting on top of the cake. Enjoy!
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
To make an apple sauce, simply peel and core 3 medium apples. Cut into cubes and place in a medium saucepan. Cover with 250 ml (1 cup) of water. Add ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 2 cloves and ½ teaspoon mixed spice. Cover with lid and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Blend the apples into a soft puree with hand blender or mash them with potato masher.
Did you make this?Tell me how you like it? Leave a comment or take a picture and tag @anna_wierzbinska on Instagram. I love seeing your take on my recipes!
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