WHOLE WHEAT VEGAN CARROT CAKE

This Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake is moist and flavorful, plus made with some healthier substitutions like flax seed, whole wheat white flour, and coconut oil for one delicious cake.

I started with a more traditional, “healthier carrot cake” recipe found on allrecipes.com, but it called for eggs and vegetable oil… womp womp. Not that I don’t eat eggs, because I do… But I’ve been enjoying experimenting with vegan baking substitutions and I wanted to see if I could start with a traditional recipe and change things up from there. Lo and behold, it came out BANGIN’.

 I tested this Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake on some work friends last weekend. One of the girls had us over to build terrariums (which I actually didn’t make one, but that’s beside the point) and I figured it was the perfect time to test this recipe on a “gaggle of girls”, as my dad would say (I don’t know why that just came to mind, but it did, and my dad does say that and now it’s making me laugh).  But here’s the thing… If I am being 100% honest, I didn’t make the frosting vegan the first time. None of them are actually vegan,  and I was worried they wouldn’t like the cashew frosting I used here. And when you make a classic carrot cake, you kind of just expect a tangy cream cheese frosting, so I didn’t want to disappoint my taste testers. And mainly I didn’t want to buy specific vegan cream cheese because I don’t eat that myself… anyways.

I did bring THIS cake into work earlier this week, and some of the same girls came back for this vegan version. So I think it’s safe to say it was a hit, however, you decide you want to frost it 

100% vegan, and 100% delicious! The ingredients look a little something like this >>>

FOR THE CAKE

3 cups grated carrots

whole wheat white flour

flax seed

granulated & brown sugars

coconut oil

applesauce

 FOR THE FROSTING (if you’d like a simple soy-free, vegan option)

2 cups cashews, soaked & drained

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup maple syrup

 To start the cake, I suggest making up your flax eggs first. You’ll need to let your flax seeds soak in water for about 10-15 minutes, until a thick gel forms.

While the flax seeds gel up, you can grate your carrots! If you’re not grating the carrots by hand, this cake can be made even quicker by using a food processor. I used my food processor* with the shredding attachment, then the blade to cut them down into bits.

You then transfer the carrots to your bowl of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. (picture below, top left)

And because I didn’t want to dirty another bowl, I just wiped out the food processor bowl and started combining the wet ingredients in there.

Blend the sugars with the flax eggs, then add in your melted coconut oil and applesauce. (food processor bowl picture)

Once that is all blended, you add your wet ingredients to your flour/carrot bowl of dry ingredients and gently combine. Then evenly disperse the batter into two lined 9″ round cake pans. (picture on right, before going into oven) 

I used both parchment paper + greased the pans with coconut oil to ensure they came out perfectly. This cake should take roughly 25 minutes if using 9″ round pans. Just let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

If you are using a 9×13, watch cake at 35-40 minutes, and test with toothpick until it comes out clean. I did not test in a 9×13 pan myself, so if you try it out let me know how it goes!

And let your cake cool completely before frosting!

DESCRIPTION

This Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake is moist and flavorful, plus made with some healthier substitutions like flax seed, whole wheat white flour, and coconut oil for one delicious cake.

INGREDIENTS

• Wet Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup milled flax seeds* + 3/4 cup lukewarm water, soaked for 10 minutes
• 3/4 granulated sugar (I used beet sugar)
• 3/4 organic light brown sugar (or sub coconut sugar)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup applesauce (mashed banana may be subbed)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled
• Dry Ingredients:
• 2 cups whole wheat white flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBS ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 3 cups grated carrots (about 1lb)
• Vegan Cashew Cream Frosting:
• 2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 6 hours, drained & rinsed
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (+ more to taste)
• 1/3 cup non-dairy milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F, line two 9″ round cake pans with parchment paper, plus lightly grease and dust with flour. Set aside.
2. In medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup flax seeds and 3/4 cup water and whisk together. Let seeds and water form gel, about 15 minutes total, whisking every 5 minutes. Grate carrots while flax seeds thicken. (I used my food processor with shredding disc + blade, see pictures in post)
3. In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk until evenly combined, then fold in grated carrots.
4. In the clean bowl of your food processor (or large bowl using hand mixer, or stand mixer with whisk attachment) combine sugars, flax “eggs”, and vanilla extract until creamy, about 30 seconds. With the motor still running, add in applesauce, and pour steady stream of coconut oil until wet ingredients are evenly combined.
5. Pour wet ingredients into large bowl of flour/carrot mixture. Using a large rubber spatula, gently combine. Disperse batter evenly into prepared pans.
6. Bake cake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cake cool in pans for about 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the frosting: Combine rinsed cashews with 1/3 cup of maple syrup, and 1/3 cup of non-dairy milk in a high speed blender or food processor. Process until creamy, even consistency forms. Transfer frosting to a bowl and set in freezer for 30 minutes to firm. Once chilled, whip frosting with hand mixer or use whisk. Spread a medium-thick layer of frosting evenly over first layer of cake, then layer second cake on top and frost completely. Store cake in fridge before serving.

NOTES

*Chia seeds (same amount/water ratio) can most likely be subbed for flax seeds, but I have not tried this myself.

*Store leftover cake in fridge up to 5 days.

*This cake can by made in a 9×13 pan, but baking times will differ. Check cake with toothpick at 35-40 minutes and adjust times accordingly.