Description
The BEST vegan gluten-free carrot cake recipe! Perfectly moist and fluffy, deliciously soft but sturdy enough to layer with lush dairy-free cream cheese frosting. This is the only easter dessert you need!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 1/2 cups (310g) gluten-free flour
- 1/2 cups (56g) almond flour
- 2 tbsp (15g) coconut flour (or more gluten-free flour)
- 3 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (150g) cane sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) light brown sugar*
- 1/2 cup (108g) avocado oil**
- 1 cup (240g) almond milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup (150g) grated carrots***
- 3/4 cup (75g) chopped walnuts (optional)
Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8oz vegan cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 3 6-inch round cake pans.
- Stir apple cider vinegar into the almond milk and set aside 5 minutes. Add vanilla extract.
- In a stand mixer, combine all the dry ingredients for the cake. Mix until combined.
- With the mixer running, stream in the oil.
- Stream in the almond milk mixture. Keep mixing until batter is just combined.
- Fold in grated carrots (I recommend grating ahead of time and spreading out between two paper towels to soak out some of the excess water) and walnuts.
- Divide into the 3 pans. Bake 40-42 minutes.
- Cool 15 minutes, then flip onto a cooling rack and cool cakes completely.
For the frosting:
- Cream together butter and cream cheese on medium high speed.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix on low until powdered sugar is mostly mixed in. Then turn to high speed briefly, mixing to a light fluffy frosting with no lumps remaining.
- If it seems a bit soft, add 1/2 cup more powdered sugar and/or chill for an hour or so before assembling your cake.
To assemble:
- Slice the tops off of each cake (chilling cakes overnight makes this easier) to create a flat surface.
- Layer the cakes with a thick layer of frosting in between. Use an offset spatula to cover the sides of the cake.
- Sprinkle the top with chopped pecans, coconut, sprinkles, etc.
- Slice and enjoy.
Notes
*You can use coconut sugar, but it won’t be as fluffy
**You can use melted dairy-free butter or another natural flavored oil
***Grate these carrots first before prepping the batter, and lay them out on a towel with another towel on top to press out/absorb excess moisture
Keywords: vegan, gluten free, dairy free, cream cheese frosting, healthy, spring, easter, healthy