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I know that with the quarantine a lot of us are bored, and bummed out that we won’t necessarily be able to spend the holiday this month with our loved ones. And even if we did, how would we get the ingredients to make things when most stores are bone dry. Well, this Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting uses 90% pantry ingredients, and the rest are usually super available, even right now. It’s so easy to make, and will really bring that spring feeling back into your life.

I’m really excited to announce that this recipe is in collaboration with Follow Your Heart! They’re one of my favorite brands, and I’ve gotten so many requests to make more recipes using their products from y’all, since they’re so accessible across the US. The product I used in this recipe is their Cream Cheese. They’re so dang good and really send this recipe over the top!

Let’s start out with the actual carrot cake itself! Here’s what you’ll need-

  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
  • 2 1/3 cups Grated Carrot
  • 1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 2 Flax Eggs (2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water)
  • 1/2 cup Canola Oil
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 cup Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

Now here’s the thing- vegan egg is always a controversial topic. Everyone has their favorites. If y’all have ever baked a recipe of mine, you know mine is flax egg! You can use applesauce, chia egg, even the follow your heart egg if you’d like! Now I haven’t tested the cake with those options, but I’m sure they’ll work just fine if you use 2 ‘eggs’ worth of whatever substitute.

Also let’s talk nuts, shall we? You don’t have to include them, but I actually quite enjoy the tiny bits of crunch some chopped walnuts bring to the party here. You can also use pecans, hazelnuts, any kind of nut really! But toasted ones are even better.

To make the cake-

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. Grease two 7-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixing bowl.
  4. Add the grated carrot and the brown sugar.
  5. Prepare the flax eggs, by mixing 2 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water and allowing to sit for a minute.
  6. In the meantime, add the oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar to the mixing bowl.
  7. Add the flax eggs.
  8. Mix everything together in the mixing bowl. Have a little patience and let the batter sit for a minute or two so that the carrots can release more water into the batter to enable you to mix it all together.
  9. *If your batter is still too dry to mix after letting it sit for a couple of minutes (and only if it’s too dry to mix after sitting for a few minutes) then add in a little non-dairy milk, only as much as you need to get the batter to a wet enough consistency so that it can mix properly.
  10. Lastly add the chopped walnuts if you want to add them.
  11. Divide the mixture between the two 7-inch cake tins.
  12. Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  13. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a cooling rack.

And now for the best part… the frosting! Here’s what you’ll need to make it.

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
  • 8 ounces Follow Your Heart cream cheese
  • 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Making it is even easier than the amount of ingredients needed…

  1. Beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended.
  2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy.

Now we just have to assemble the cake! Here’s my tips-

  1. Add a little bit of frosting to the center of your cake plate, then add your first cake round.  The frosting will help it stick to the plate and not slide around on you.
  2. Add a generous amount of frosting on top of your cake to create the middle layer.  Top with your second cake round and frost the entire outside. Use a spatula to smooth it out, or a piping bag to pipe on any desired designs on top. 
  3. I like to half the recipe and bake a third cake round, and crumble it up to place along the bottom of the cake for a pretty and minimal design.  You can then mix the rest of that crumbled cake with some leftover frosting to make cake balls!

See I told you, I promise it’s sooooo easy to make & that you’ll fall in love instantly.  Like. Super fucking instantly.

But that’s it! Super easy, super delicious, and definitely something amazing to make for the spring time blues (is that even a thing)? (or really any time, let’s be honest). Once again, I just want to give a big thanks to Follow Your Heart for sponsoring this recipe and allowing me to share it with y’all! It’s truly delicious. As always, if you make this, make sure to tag me @plvntfood / #plvntfood and tag @followyourheart as well, so we can all see it! Love y’all with my cold little heart.

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Looking for something to remind you of Spring / Easter even though we're in quarantine? This EASY VEGAN Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect thing!

Author PLVNTFOOD by Chef Brianna Gallo

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
  • 2 1/3 cups Grated Carrot
  • 1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 2 Flax Eggs 2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water
  • 1/2 cup Canola Oil
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 cup Chopped Walnuts *Optional

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter softened
  • 8 ounces Follow Your Heart cream cheese
  • 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Carrot Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. Grease two 7-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixing bowl.
  4. Add the grated carrot and the brown sugar.
  5. Prepare the flax eggs, by mixing 2 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal with 6 Tbsp Water and allowing to sit for a minute.
  6. In the meantime, add the oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar to the mixing bowl.
  7. Add the flax eggs.
  8. Mix everything together in the mixing bowl. Have a little patience and let the batter sit for a minute or two so that the carrots can release more water into the batter to enable you to mix it all together.
  9. *If your batter is still too dry to mix after letting it sit for a couple of minutes (and only if it’s too dry to mix after sitting for a few minutes) then add in a little non-dairy milk, only as much as you need to get the batter to a wet enough consistency so that it can mix properly.
  10. Lastly add the chopped walnuts if you want to add them.
  11. Divide the mixture between the two 7-inch cake tins.
  12. Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  13. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. Beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended.
  2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy.

Assembly

  1. Add a little bit of frosting to the center of your cake plate, then add your first cake round. The frosting will help it stick to the plate and not slide around on you.
  2. Add a generous amount of frosting on top of your cake to create the middle layer. Top with your second cake round and frost the entire outside. Use a spatula to smooth it out, or a piping bag to pipe on any desired designs on top.
  3. I like to half the recipe and bake a third cake round, and crumble it up to place along the bottom of the cake for a pretty and minimal design. You can then mix the rest of that crumbled cake with some leftover frosting to make cake balls!

Published by PLVNT

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