Carrot cake with vegan cream-cheese frosting

Carrot Cake
Image: © Theofano Vetouli

Yum! This vegan carrot cake is made with walnuts, cinnamon, and fresh ginger. Deliciously moist and redolent of sweet spice, it can be served plain or topped with a homemade vegan cream-cheese frosting (recipe included). For impressive results, decorate with carrots or walnuts and lime zest. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Servings: 10

For the carrot cake

  • 180 g
    vegan butter/margarine room temperature
  • 220 g
    brown sugar
  • 300 g
    carrots shredded
  • 1 tbsp
    ginger grated
  • 1 tsp
    cinnamon
  • 1 tsp
    vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp
    flaxseed crushed
  • 1 tbsp
    apple cider vinegar
  • 1
    orange or lime only the zest
  • 350 ml
    orange juice
  • 450 g
    white spelt flour
  • 15 g
    baking powder
  • ¼ tsp
    salt
  • 70 g
    walnuts crushed

For the frosting

  • 100 g
    margarine room temperature
  • 250 g
    powdered sugar
  • ½
    lime juiced
  • ¼ tsp
    salt
  • 400 g
    soya yoghurt strained overnight
  • 1 tsp
    cream stabiliser

For serving

  • 1
    lime only the zest
  • ½ cup
    walnuts optional

Instructions

For the cake

  1. Using a mixer, beat margarine and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy.

  2. In a bowl, mix the shredded carrots with the ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, flaxseed, vinegar, zest, and orange juice.

  3. In another bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and the salt.

  4. Add the carrot mixture to the margarine and add the dry ingredients one by one, mixing them in as you go. Then fold in the crushed walnuts.

  5. Pour mixture into a 26-cm-diameter round pan and bake at 180°C for about 50 minutes (place on the middle rack, no fan). Check that the cake is baked all the way through by inserting a toothpick into the middle and making sure it comes out clean.

  6. Let the cake cool before frosting.

For the frosting

  1. To strain the soya yoghurt, place a cheesecloth in a strainer, pour in the yoghurt and let it thicken overnight.

  2. Using a mixer, beat the margarine and half of the sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy.

  3. Add the juice, salt, strained yoghurt, and the rest of the sugar, and beat again at high speed. Continue mixing and add the cream stabiliser. Let the frosting cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours before using.

For serving

  1. Transfer the cooled carrot cake to a serving dish. Spread a thick layer of frosting on top and decorate with walnuts and lime zest.

Notes

The walnuts can optionally be omitted or replaced with other crushed nuts such as almonds or macadamia.

Tags

Courses: Dessert
Difficulty: Level 2 (average)
Season: Easter, Spring
Number ingredients: > 20 ingredients
Taste: Sweet
Type of dish: Cake, dessert

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