Vegan Carrot Cake
Update:
Well you all know how to boost a gal's confidence! I was debating on even posting this due to the bowing/bulging. I unfortunately was too busy hosting my friends birthday and forgot to take an inside picture, blasphemy I know.
I'll share the recipe that I made below:
Vegan Carrot Cake: This made 3 6in layers with a little left over that I made as a mini cake to taste test 😂
- 315 g all-purpose flour
- 2¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1⅛ tsp salt
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- ⅜ tsp nutmeg
- ~¼ tsp ground ginger
- 225 g finely grated carrots (don't squeeze the liquid out)
- 100 g cane sugar
- 85 g coconut sugar
- 115 g brown sugar
- 180 ml neutral oil
- 270 ml unsweetened soy milk
- 2¼ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 110g Walnuts
Instructions:
- Preheat oven: 350°F
- Grease three 6-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
- Make vegan buttermilk: Combine soy milk + apple cider vinegar. Let sit 5–10 min.
- Toast walnuts in a dry pan until aromatic and golden. Remove from heat and chop.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger together.
- In another bowl, whisk the cane sugar, coconut sugar, brown sugar, oil, vegan buttermilk and vanilla until well combined.
- Stir in the finely grated carrots. Add the walnuts.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and fold gently just until the flour disappears. Don't overmix.
- Divide between pans, filling them about ⅔ full.
- Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, beginning to check around 25 minutes.
- I pulled them out when the center sprung back gently and a toothpick came out with a few moist crumbs, not completely clean.
- Cool in pans about 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack and cool completely.
- I wrapped them and put them in the refrigerator overnight to assemble the next day.
Vegan Cream Cheese Buttercream (I ended up making a second batch after my crumb coat, I prefer to have extra than not enough and I just felt like I needed more lol)
- 113 g vegan butter, softened but not melted
- 226 g vegan cream cheese, cold
- 480g powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Beat vegan butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add cold vegan cream cheese.
- Beat just until combined, don't overbeat.
- Gradually add 450-480g powdered sugar.
- Add vanilla and salt.
- Beat just until smooth.
- If too soft, refrigerate for 20–30 minutes.
Vegan Salted Caramel:
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 60 ml full-fat canned coconut cream
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Put sugar and water into a small saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat.
- Once it starts cooking, don't stir. Gently swirl the pan if necessary.
- Watch the color progress from clear to pale yellow to golden to medium amber.
- Remove from heat.
- Slowly add coconut cream. It will bubble aggressively, this is normal.
- Whisk in vegan butter, vanilla and salt.
- Let cool. I let this cool and then kept it in the fridge overnight for assembly the next day.
Toasted Walnuts for Topping:
- 115 g walnuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Put walnuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat.
- Toast for approximately 4–6 minutes, stirring frequently.
- They should become aromatic and lightly golden.
- Remove from heat immediately.
- Let cool completely.
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Haven’t made a cake since my 2 yo was born. Made this for my friend’s birthday and now want to work on improving!
This is a vegan carrot cake with vegan cream cheese butter cream, vegan salted caramel, and toasted walnuts on top. Is it visually perfect? No, but it was absolutely decadent!