Vegan Carrot Cake
This carrot cake doesn’t need eggs or dairy to be rich, moist, and packed with warm spice — a splash of apple cider vinegar and plant milk does the work of buttermilk, and vegan cream cheese frosting comes together just like the classic version. Three tall layers, a mountain of walnuts, and nobody at the table will guess it’s vegan.
It’s a great make-ahead cake: bake the layers a day or two in advance and frost the day you plan to serve it.
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Vegan Carrot Cake
A moist, spiced three-layer carrot cake loaded with walnuts and finished with a tangy vegan cream cheese frosting. Completely plant-based, and nobody will know the difference.
Ingredients
Method
Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease three 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the plant milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the grated carrots and walnuts.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely before frosting.
Frost and Assemble
- Beat the vegan butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Place one cake layer on a stand or plate and spread with a layer of frosting. Repeat with the remaining layers, then frost the top and sides of the cake.
- Top with extra chopped walnuts. Chill for 30 minutes before slicing for the cleanest cuts.
Notes
Grate the carrots finely for the most tender crumb — a food processor’s grating attachment makes quick work of it. The un-frosted cake layers freeze well for up to 2 months; thaw before frosting. Chilling the frosted cake for 30 minutes before slicing makes for much cleaner layers.
