Nothing says, “I love you,” like a naked, shredded, caramelized, toasty, loaded…
carrot cake. (This is a food blog, people.)
Credit for Vegan Carrot Cake
I leaned heavily on a conventional recipe, “The Best Carrot Cake Recipe” by Lindsay Conchar of Life, Love and Sugar. Though I changed her formula too much to label this post as a veganization, I could not share my work in good conscience without referencing her blog.
Significant Changes
Structure
Carrot cake is a labor of love! I decided to amplify flavor by giving each mix-in special attention: the raisins are hydrated; half the carrots, puréed and caramelized; coconut and walnuts, toasted.
The instructions, therefore, are divided into Stages and Days. You may flow from stage-to-stage to complete Vegan Carrot Cake in a day, or jump from day-to-day to progress from least to most perishable preparations.
Ingredients
I recommend three specific products for Vegan Carrot Cake:
- Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer
- Country Crock Homestyle Dairy Free Butter
- Violife Just Like Cream Cheese Block
I’m not affiliated! These are simply the products that performed best in my product reviews. Others may work, but I’ve only tested with these and my reverse-engineered versions of them.
You may also notice I don’t include vanilla extract in my “cream cheese” frosting. To me, cream cheese is the flavor! Vegan cream cheese tends to be milder than dairy, too, so using vanilla tames its tang too far for my liking.
Tools
I almost require a food scale. I provide volume and time measurements in case you don’t have one, but consider sourcing one. It’s not merely another gadget: it’s an increase in your success rate, and – a decrease in your dirty dishes pile! (I honestly can’t remember the last time I washed a measuring cup.)
Naked Vegan Carrot Cake
Description
This recipe is primarily written to be completed in a day, but each stage could be a day's work onto itself. To execute this project in smaller chunks, follow the Day - not Stage - numbers which flow from least to most perishable preparations.
Completely cooled dry mix-ins will last a month or more in airtight containers at room temperature; frosting, a week or more in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Similarly sealed and chilled wet mix-ins, however, will stay fresh only 2-3 days.
Lastly, the day you bake your cakes should be the day you assemble and serve them too. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers, and aim to finish them within 5 days.
makes 2, 9-in (23-cm) round cakes plus enough frosting to coat middle and top generously
Ingredients
Wet Mix-ins
Dry Mix-ins
Cake
Frosting
Instructions
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Bring any cold ingredients to room temperature.
If you’re making Naked Vegan Carrot Cake over several days, revisit this step each day before proceeding. Room temperature ingredients are especially critical for smooth frosting!
STAGE 1/DAY 3: Wet Mix-ins
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Measure raisins into a med to lg bowl.
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Pour pineapple into a strainer and press with the back of a spoon to drain well. Add ½ cup (120 mL/g) to raisins, then stir to combine.
Save unused pineapple for another application. -
Peel carrots. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate 350 g into raisin mixture. Cover and set aside.
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Prepare a steamer pot. As water comes to a boil, chop remaining carrots into small dice. Transfer to steamer basket, then cover and steam 20-30 min, until they offer almost no resistance when pierced with a fork.
Carrot trimmings are great for Zero-Waste Vegetable Stock (linked under Note). -
Purée steamed carrots in a food processor scraping sides as needed.
A blender will not work! It will force you to add water which will throw off other measurements. -
Weigh 350 g puréed carrots into a small pot. Place over med heat stirring constantly about 10 min, until reduced to 300 g and deeper in color. Remove from heat, then cover and set aside.
STAGE 2/DAY 1: Dry Mix-ins
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Pan-toast coconut. Allow to cool in a sm mixing bowl.
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In the same pan, toast walnuts. Reserve about ¼ cup (60 mL/28 g) in a prep bowl for garnish, then add remainder to coconut. Set both bowls aside.
STAGE 3/DAY 4a: Cake
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Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease and line bottoms of 2, 9-in (23-cm) round cake pans with parchment.
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Measure flour through cloves into a med bowl. Whisk thoroughly.
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In a lg bowl, cream ½ cup (120 mL/113 g) “butter”, oil, extract, and light brown and granulated sugars with a hand or stand mixer and paddle attachment on hi about 1 ½ to 2 min, until uniformly smooth and pale.
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Add half the dry ingredients to “butter” mixture, then beat on lo until just incorporated. Repeat with all the carrot purée followed by the second half of the dry ingredients beating on lo after each addition.
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If necessary, switch to a spatula - or, Use slowest setting of stand mixer - to fold in other wet and dry mix-ins (from Steps 2-4, and 8-9).
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Equally divide batter between pans.
You will have over 4 lbs (almost 2 kg) of batter! Weigh about 2 lbs (950-975 g) into each pan. -
Bake both pans at once for 40-50 min, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Set pans on a cooling rack for 2-4 hrs, until cakes are completely cool before assembly.
STAGE 4/DAY 2: Frosting
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Measure powdered sugar into a med bowl.
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In a lg bowl, beat “cream cheese” and 6 Tbsp (90mL/84 g) “butter” with a hand or stand mixer and paddle attachment on hi until silky.
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Add half the powdered sugar to “cream cheese” mixture, then beat on lo until just incorporated. Repeat with second half. Gradually and briefly return motor to hi stopping as soon as frosting is smooth.
STAGE 5/Day 4b: Assembly
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Carefully flip one cake onto a baking sheet or plate, and again onto a cake stand or serving platter. Evenly spread on half the frosting.
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Similarly flip the other cake, and again onto the first cake. Spread on the other half of the frosting, then top with toasted walnuts (from Step 8).
Note
Learn why I recommend Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer, Country Crock Homestyle Dairy Free Butter, and Violife Just Like Cream Cheese Block.
If you can't find my recommendations, checkout my collection of reverse-engineered recipes!
Carrot trimmings are great for Zero-Waste Vegetable Stock.
