Allergens: vegan, gluten free, optional nut free, and naturally sweetened option

Amount: 1 cake

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 45-50 minutes

If you know me, you know I love carrots. Hence, carrot cake is my favourite cake. And this one is my favourite.

The first time I made this for my dad he ate it all in nearly one sitting! Yes, it’s that good.

I often make this cake for birthdays or other special occasions, but really it can be eaten any day of the week.

This is a dense cake, delicious cake! But it’s also slightly healthier than a more traditional carrot cake as it mostly uses natural sweeteners, like maple syrup.

I love to decorate it with coconut shreds and walnut slices but get creative and decorate it how you see fit!

Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

1. 2 cups oat flour
2. 1 cup rice flour (I used white rice flour)
3. 2/3 cup coconut sugar or cane sugar
4. 1/3 cup maple syrup
5. 1 tablespoon baking powder
6. ½ teaspoon salt
7. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
8. 1 teaspoon nutmeg
9. ½ teaspoon ground ginger
10. 2 teaspoons vanilla
11. ½ cup olive oil (can use melted coconut oil instead)
12. 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds or chia seeds
13. 1 very ripe banana thoroughly mashed
14. 2/3 cups oat milk
15. ½ cup of raisins (can omit if you’re a raisin hater)
16. ½ cup shredded coconut
17. 1 cup chopped walnuts
18. 2 cups carrots (about 3 large carrots)
19. additional ¼ cup of each shredded coconut, walnuts an carrots (optional – for decorating)

Coconut “Cheese” Cream Frosting

1. 1 package of vegan cream cheese
2. “cream” from 1 can of coconut
3. ½ cup of powdered sugar or coconut sugar blended
4. ½ cup of maple syrup
5. 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

Carrot Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together all dry ingredients (oat flour, rice flour, sugar, baking powder and spices).
2. Mix together all wet ingredients (oil, banana, vanilla and maple syrup). Add the flax seeds and stir to combine.
3. Mix wet into dry bowl and stir everything together.
4. Grate the carrots. Either use a standard grater or for a quick tip chop carrots into medium sized chunks and place into a high-speed blender with enough water to cover the carrots. Blend on high until carrots are finely chopped. Pour this carrot water mixture into a strainer to remove the water. You should be left with perfectly fine grated carrots! A quick easy tip for carrots.
5. Now add the carrots to the mixture with 1 cup of the chopped walnuts and ¼ cup of the shredded coconut.
6. Divide cake into 2 greased nine-inch round baking pans. Bake for 30 minutes (or 25 minutes in a convection oven) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake completely.

Coconut “Cheese” Cream Frosting

1. Place the can of coconut into the fridge for at least 8 hours. Then scoop out the thick coconut layer into a bowl (we will not use the coconut milk for this recipe so save it and use it for something else!). Next add the vegan cream cheese and beat with an electric beater. Once combined add the sugar, maple syrup and vanilla while the beater is on low. Beat until it becomes creamy.
2. Frost the cake once it is cooled.
3. Decorate the cake with the reserved chopped walnuts and shredded coconut.
4. Enjoy!

Alana Walter

Alana Walter is a food aficionado. Her passion for cooking and baking started at a young age. Being celiac and plant based presents Alana with a unique opportunity to look at food in a different way. But her “free-from” food is the furthest thing from boring. Her goal is to break down the barriers people have towards cooking with dietary restrictions. Alana is one of the co-founders of ThoughtNotion.