Easy to make vegan carrot cake

You just cannot beat a tasty, moist carrot cake with delicious icing. In fact, it is one of the nation’s favourite cakes and a staple in afternoon tea. Following a vegan diet means that you do not consume products which are derived from animals. This therefore means that you do not eat any meat, dairy products or eggs. But that does not mean that your diet is boring. And you do not have to miss out on anything delicious just because you are a vegan. So we thought we would share our recipe for a simple vegan carrot cake. This sweet treat works well without dairy and the finished cake looks pretty impressive too. It can be made quickly and you will not need any fancy equipment. All you will need are a couple of bowls and spoons. Plus, it tastes great! This easy vegan carrot cake is simple to make and is perfect for sharing with friends with a cuppa and a chat, as a midweek dessert or just as a yummy snack. This vegan carrot cake recipe takes just an hour to make, including prep and baking time and will serve 12 people – or six if you like large slices! The recipe makes for a moist vegan carrot cake, which can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Vegan carrot cake ingredients

The ingredients list for this carrot cake it quite long. However, you might find that you already have a lot of the items in your kitchen:

For the plant based carrot cake:

• 270g carrots (of course!)
• 135g walnuts or pecans or hazelnuts if you prefer
• 1 orange
• 135g sultanas
• 400g self-raising flour (you can substitute this with gluten free flour if you need to)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 240g soft light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 400ml dairy-free milk alternative such as soya milk or oat milk
• 160ml rapeseed oil or sunflower oil

For the “cream cheese” vegan carrot cake icing:

• 440g icing sugar
• 100g dairy free margarine
• 100g dairy free cream cheese
• 1 to 2 tbsp dairy free milk alternative
• 3 tbsp pistachios with the shells removed (these are optional and are used to decorate the top of the cake. You can use other nuts if you’d prefer or go without)

Vegan carrot cake method:

1. Start your preparations by preheating your oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Grease two 23cm cake tins with your vegan margarine and then line them with greaseproof paper. If you prefer, you can make a dairy free carrot cake tray bake, rather than a traditional shaped cake.
3. Peel and grate the carrots. Grate the orange zest and add this to the grated carrot before adding the sultanas too.
4. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt into a mixing bowl.
5. Mix the dairy free milk and oil together and then add this mixture to the mixing bowl with your dry ingredients in it.
6. Mix this together until all the ingredients are combined and the cake mix is smooth.
7. Add the carrots, orange zest and sultana mix to the cake batter and then add the walnuts too. Stir this mixture together until all of the ingredients are fully combined.
8. Pour the mixture evenly between the two cake tins.
9. Place both of the cake tins in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Test with a knife or skewer and if it comes out clean then the cakes are ready.
10. Leave to cool for five minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
11. Now it is time to move on to the icing. Beat together the icing sugar, vegan margarine and vegan cream cheese until smooth.
12. Add your dairy free milk alternative one tablespoon at a time and mix in until the icing has a light and fluffy consistency.
13. Use one third of the icing and spread it across the top of one of the cakes.
14. Place the other cake on top of this and then spread the remaining two thirds of the icing on top of the cake. You can also get creative with the icing here if you would prefer and try some piping.
15. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios or other nuts for decoration. And then all that is left to do is enjoy!¹

Last Updated: 20th January 2021 Sources: 1 https://www.thevegspace.co.uk/recipe-easy-vegan-carrot-cake/