Healthier-For-You Dessert: Delicious Vegan Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing

|Updated Nov 27, 2020

Warm, spiced, velvety, and crumbled carrot cake would please just about anyone. This recipe sets standards for a healthier, delicious, plant-based, gluten-free cake that everyone loves.

Each bite of this carrot cake is bursting with flavors of zesty ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and smooth touch of vanilla. And the best part? The icing is made with cashews, coconut cream, and a dash of maple syrup for sweetness and it simply tastes out-of-this-world. If I have extra icing, or purposely double the recipe, I save it in my fridge and dip almost anything into the bowl for a sweet treat, pretzels and fruit are my favorite. If you're baking any cookies, pies, and cakes, I suggest using this frosting recipe, it will become your go-to, just like mine.

With more holidays approaching quickly, The Beet will provide sinful, "healthy-ish" vegan dessert recipes for your small celebrations, parties, dinners, or for yourself! Keep in mind that all of these desserts are dairy and egg-free so you can dive into the batter with a spoon and enjoy cake, cookies, pies, brownies completely raw and indulge.

Serve this carrot cake on a plate, platter, or jar. Create a beautiful presentation and save some extra cake on the side to crumble around the edges. Or, skip decorating entirely and add the cake into a mason jar or cup and it will still taste amazing. Ellen, the talented recipe developer, topped her cake with a cute gingerbread man, joyful for the holidays. Design your own fun and save this cake to your plant-based holiday recipe book.

Recipe Developer: Ellen Charlotte Marie, author of Everyday Vegan: Healthy Plant-Based Cooking for the Entire Family

Vegan Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

9 oz. white spelt flour
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
2.5 oz. coconut blossom sugar
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger powder
a pinch of salt

Wet ingredients

10.5 oz. carrots, finely grated
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
5 fl. oz. unsweetened almond or oat milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1.5 oz. melted coconut oil or mild olive oil

For the cashew icing

juice of 1 lemon
9 oz. cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours)
5 oz. coconut cream
5 tablespoons maple syrup
seeds of 1 vanilla pod or ½ teaspoon
natural vanilla powder
a pinch of salt

Topping

Chopped walnuts
Carrot strings
Cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350oF. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in
another bowl.
Mix the dry and wet ingredients to make a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into a large, greased cake pan (or 2 small ones) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is baked.
In the meantime, make the cashew icing: mix all the ingredients in a good blender or food processor till you get a smooth, thick
consistency.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Let the cake cool.
Cut the cake in half and spread the bottom half with half of the icing. Replace the top half and cover it with the rest of the icing.
Decorate with chopped nuts, carrot strings, and extra cinnamon.