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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Vegan carrot cake with delicate frosting

April 3, 2015 by Ania - 32

baking, easy, root vegetablesgo to recipe

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carrot cake cross section

Right, so this is the carrot cake I was on about on Tuesday. After a few days break, I was ready embrace cake making again. As you can see by the short instructions, it is super easy to make and it does taste great even without the frosting. You are welcome to put some chopped nuts inside for an extra bit of texture (I sprinkled mine on the top instead).

To get a moist (yet eggless) carrot cake, I used a homemade applesauce (see Notes below on how to make it or you can buy it here) as a cunning egg replacer. It took a few attempts to get the exact proportions right, but it does work a treat. The cake is moist yet light. Another thing I love about it is the smell of spices. It exudes warming aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger, which magically transport your mind to an exotic spice market.

Photographing this puppy was a mean feat. I waited for the golden hour to capture the cake’s beautifully warm colours at their best, but it so happens that the golden hour is terribly close to our cats’ feeding time. So at some point in the afternoon, the cake and I were literally surrounded by a gang of hungry cats impartial to stealing a piece if I wasn’t looking. In the end, I just fed them all early (cats always win, don’t they?) in the hope that they all just bugger off. Luckily, it worked.

Enjoy this recipe as it will be the last cake recipe for a little while. The summer is upon us and I will need to squeeze into a bikini soon so, as much as it pains me, I’m going to stick to savoury recipes for a few weeks. I’m even considering doing a few day veg juice cleanse. Duncan isn’t very happy about it as it means he will need to make his own meals for a while. I wonder what that would entail?:)

PS: If you make my vegan carrot cake don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

cutting carrot cake

forkful of carrot cake

carrot cake and coffee

4.86 from 7 votes
Print
  • makes: 2 lb cake
  • prep: 30 min
  • cooking: 60 min

Ingredients


CARROT CAKE

Wet ingredients

  • 0.25 lb / 120 g carrots, coarsely grated (1½ cup grated)
  • ½ + 1/8 cup / 120 g brown sugar
  • ½ cup + 1 tbsp applesauce*
  • ¼ + 1/8 cup / 90 ml olive oil

Dry ingredients

  • 1½ cup / 185 g wholemeal flour, sifted
  • 1 level tsp baking soda
  • 1 level tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp ground ginger

VANILLA-ORANGE FROSTING

  • 75 g cashews, soaked overnight
  • 6 tbsp silken tofu
  • 1 orange (you’ll need 5 tbsp juice + zest of ½ orange)
  • 4 tsp coconut oil, melted
  • 1½ tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
  • ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • chopped pistachios, for decoration

Method

CAKE

  1. Set the oven to 180° C. Line a 2lb cake tin (see notes) with a piece of baking parchment or grease it.
  2. In a bowl mix together all wet ingredients. In another bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
  3. Slowly tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and incorporate everything together but, like with all batters, be careful not to over mix.
  4. Spoon the batter (yes, it’s meant to be that thick) into a baking tin. Bake for 50-60 mins depending on your oven. It’s done when a toothpick comes out fairly clean.

ICING

  1. Drain and rinse soaked cashews. Put them into a food processor to grind into a smooth paste.
  2. Add in silken tofu and all other ingredients. Process some more.
  3. Put the icing into the fridge for a few hours so that it thickens. It won’t be as thick as an icing made with margarine and icing sugar, but it will stay on the cake.

Notes

Volume measurement I use is 1 cup = 237ml

* To make an applesauce, peel, core and chop 3 apples. Put them in a pot with a cup of water and spices and simmer covered until soft. I added the following spices to it: 1 allspice, 2 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick and ½ star anise. Once the apples are cooked, I pureed them with a hand blender. You can make a bigger batch and freeze it for another use.

PLEASE NOTE that a 2lb cake tin is very different from a 2lb bread tin. A 2lb cake tin (which should be used here) holds about 5 cups / 1250 ml (by contrast the bread one holds 8 cups / 2000 ml). The batter should fill no more than 2/3 – 3/4 of the 2lb cake tin or else the cake may not raise.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. valentina | sweet kabocha says

    April 11, 2015 at 9:34 am

    I made some carrot muffins few days ago, but your cake makes me want it anyway!!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 11, 2015 at 10:24 am

      Aw, thank you, that’s so nice to hear. You can never have too much cake, I say:)
      I love your blog, btw.

      Reply
  2. Renee Stam says

    April 11, 2015 at 6:38 pm

    We are big fans of carrots cakes, and will be giving your version a try soon

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 11, 2015 at 6:40 pm

      Thank you Renee, please do let me know how you liked it:)

      Reply
  3. Maikki // Maikin mokomin says

    November 13, 2015 at 6:15 am

    I love carrot cake! That frosting looks delicious, I love that you added some silken tofu to it. Can you approximate how much 6 tbsps of tofu would be in grams?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 13, 2015 at 11:37 am

      Aw, thanks, glad you like it. I would say start with 60 grams. Good luck!

      Reply
  4. Blue Ducklings says

    November 26, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    It looks so yummy. I’m totally a fan of this cake 🙂
    Xx Blue Ducklings

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 26, 2015 at 5:40 pm

      Thanks, Blue Ducklings!

      Reply
  5. Magali says

    December 22, 2015 at 12:12 am

    Hi! Can I replace the tofu with other “cheese”. Thanks! And merry xmas!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 22, 2015 at 11:24 am

      Hi Magali,

      Depends what “cheese” do you mean – something like vegan cream cheese would definitely work, cheddar not so much:)
      Let me know how it turned out and merry xmas to you too!

      Reply
  6. Erin Kathleen O'Brien says

    February 20, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    This cake looks unbelievable. It’s really hard to find a great vegan carrot cake. When you say “whole meal” flour do you mean whole wheat? I’m in the U.S. we might just call them different names. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 20, 2017 at 10:09 pm

      Thanks so much, Erin. I’m pleased to hear you like it. Yes, whole wheat is the type of flour I used here. Hope you’ll like it! Ania

      Reply
  7. Marieke says

    February 27, 2017 at 11:06 pm

    Hi! I was wondering if I could substitute the olive oil with another oil, like sunflour oil or maybe coconut oil? I’m not a particular fan of olive oil.
    The recipe looks delicious though!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 28, 2017 at 10:28 am

      Hi Marieke,

      Yes, any other vegetable oil will do, for sure. Sunflower and mild coconut one are both great choices! Hope you’ll like this cake as much as we do 🙂 Ania

      Reply
  8. Priyanshu Agrawal says

    July 12, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    Hi!!I tried your recipe today and it turned out to be delicious and amazing. Only glitch was the base which was so soft that some of it crumbled when i kept it on a cooling rack.Could you tell how i can overcome this problem??
    Thank you for this Vegan recipe and i hope you do keep up your good work.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 12, 2017 at 7:45 pm

      Hi Priyanshu,

      I’m glad you liked my cake 🙂 but so sorry to hear about the base crumbling. If it crumbled, it sounds like it might have been overcooked (was it moist or dry in the middle?) or your oven burns a bit high at the bottom? I’m not sure as I haven’t had this issue with this particular cake and I make it often. Did you make any ingredient substitutions at all? Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this ‘crumbly bottom’ 😉 Ania

      Reply
  9. Annabel says

    March 20, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    Hi!

    I’m going to make this very soon but wanted to ask whether the applesauce is included instead of oil? If so, could I reverse that and just use oil or use almond milk instead of the applesauce?

    Thanks for your help,
    Annabel

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 20, 2018 at 5:08 pm

      Hi Annabel,

      Applesauce has been used here to keep the cake moist. I suppose you could sub it by increasing the amount of oil a little (2 tbsp maybe) and using almond milk for the rest, except that maybe use a little less as almond milk is much more runnier than apple sauce. I would try 2 tbsp oil and 5 tbsp almond milk to begin with. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  10. Sneha Varma says

    July 22, 2018 at 11:43 am

    I wanted to know, how long can I keep the cake either refridgerated or frozen? And can I keep just the batter? Thank you so much

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 23, 2018 at 12:41 am

      Hi,

      I have not tried freezing this cake or cake batter. I would say that it will probably be okay to freeze (aren’t most cakes?) but I would bake it first, cool and then freeze. As for refrigeration, it will keep for 2-3 days. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  11. Ana says

    November 13, 2018 at 1:29 am

    Hi! This looks great! I really want to try it. Is there a reason you used whole meal flower? Could I use all purpose flower instead?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 13, 2018 at 11:41 am

      No, not at all. Simply personal preference, all purpose flour will work just as well. Ania

      Reply
  12. Elle says

    April 5, 2019 at 8:40 pm

    Made this cake for my mom’s birthday last year, and everyone was surprised it was vegan. It was delicious, and I like this vegan frosting actually better than frosting with dairy. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 8, 2019 at 7:01 pm

      Yay! What a result, I love giving conventional foods a run for their money. So glad you like is so much! x Ania

      Reply
  13. Sylvie says

    May 14, 2019 at 10:04 pm

    Hello, I made your carrot cake for the office and let say it was more than a success. Thank you for this delicious recipe.
    PS : I didn’t make the frosting through. It was a late last minute bake.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      May 15, 2019 at 10:34 am

      Thanks, Sylvie! I am delighted to hear that! Ania

      Reply
  14. Sue says

    August 26, 2020 at 5:12 pm

    I really love this cake, it’s a bit addictive. Even though I realised at the last minute didn’t have any ginger so had to add a bit more of the other spices. Will make sure I get ginger for my next attempt, I’m sure it will be even better 🙂 I didn’t make the frosting, it was lovely on its own. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 26, 2020 at 5:38 pm

      Thank you, Sue! I’m delighted to hear that and thanks so much for letting me and my other readers know that you enjoyed it! Ania

      Reply
  15. heal_me_org says

    November 7, 2020 at 9:46 am

    Tried this s recipe for the first time today. 7th November 2020

    It was a hit . Rose well in the oven.
    Everyone loved it.. 🥕

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 9, 2020 at 7:14 pm

      Thank you, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! Ania

      Reply
  16. Dorota says

    April 7, 2021 at 2:52 pm

    I just made this cake and i am nicely surprised how well it has risen although it is a bit crumbly when cutting. Also, when I sift my whole meal flower i am left with the thicker pieces on the sieve. I added them into the cake anyway, but was that your intention or not? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 7, 2021 at 4:12 pm

      Thanks Dorota, I’m glad to hear! Crumbliness could be due to overbaking, which can happen if your oven runs a little hot or if the cake is in the oven too long. Yes, that’s correct. Whatever is left on the sieve needs to go back in – sifting is done simply to aerate the flour, not to get rid of anything. Hope this helps! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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