Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Gluten-free)

Last weekend we were invited to our friends’ house for a vegan, gluten-free dinner. Vegan because of us, gluten-free because of them. It was an excellent meal! For starters, there were chips & salsa and veggies & hummus. Then we enjoyed a salad with roasted pears and stir-fry with vegetables and tofu.

We should have stopped there, but there was vegan, gluten-free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, which needed to be taste-tested for the blog. Tough job, I know. I brought this dessert because I know our friends like carrot cake and so do we. I had never tried this recipe before, though, so it was a risk.

Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Gluten-free

Fortunately, it passed the test. I was surprised by how much I liked it. The flavor wasn’t comprised one bit. It was plenty sweet, had a great, moist texture, and was rich enough that a small slice did the trick. When my BFF asked if they could keep some of the leftovers, well then you know you have a winner.

So, if you’re wondering what dessert you should make for Easter, I can assure you – this will be a crowd-pleaser. In fact, I will be bringing it to my in-laws’ house on Sunday.

Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Gluten-free

The original recipe from The Wannabe Chef was gluten-free but not vegan, so I adapted it slightly. The recipe said to use a 12″ round pan, but I used a 9″ and it worked perfectly.

In fact, I wouldn’t have wanted the cake to be any thinner. Mine took about 48 minutes to bake, but my oven runs a little cool. As you can see in the photo above, the cake should be a nice golden brown color when done and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Gluten-free

After you let the cake cool COMPLETELY (you’ll be sorry if you don’t), transfer it to your desired serving plate or cake stand. A tip for decorating (as shown in the photo above) – use overlapping pieces of wax paper gently tucked under the edge of the cake, all the way around.

Excess frosting and nuts will end up on the wax paper instead of the plate. When finished frosting and decorating, gently pull out each piece.

Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Gluten-free

This recipe makes a single layer cake. Simply double it and use two 9″ round cake pans to make a double layer cake, and add a layer of frosting between the two layers. I chose to put chopped nuts around the sides and outer edge, but you could just do one or the other, or omit them completely.

Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Gluten-free

Wishing you and your family a meaningful Easter! Don’t forget – the series finale (Easter reenacted) of The Bible miniseries is on the History channel on Sunday at 8:00 EST!

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9 thoughts on “Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Gluten-free)”

  1. Gorgeous! And I agree, I can’t imagine that layer any thinner than it is right now (unless she was going to make two of them for a layer cake?). Carrot cake seems the perfect Easter dessert (or any time!). :)

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  2. I served this yummy moist cake to my book club. My vegan friend was in dessert heaven and the rest agreed that the taste was comparable to a regular carrot cake. One modification is to limit the amount of powdered sugar in the icing. I used 1 1/4 cup which satisfied my sweet tooth.

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  3. Thanks for a beautiful recipe- I am really excited to try this for my best friend, she has Celiac´s, and can´t eat eggs on top of that, and she NEEDS a dessert– but here in Chile we don´t have egg replacer- I was hoping to try this with flax/banana instead. How many eggs does 2 tbsp of egg replacer replace? I would really appreciate your help! Thanks, and have a blessed day!

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      • Thanks, I am really excited to try this one- I ADORE carrot cake, and it makes me sad she can´t have it! ;) Sounds like something to brighten up a dreary winter day!

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    • Hi Tam. This recipe doesn’t contain eggs. I think what may have happened is you clicked on the link to original recipe source (which I adapted to make it vegan). If you go to the bottom of my post, you’ll see a big pink button that says “CLICK HERE TO PRINT RECIPE”. That’s where you’ll find the adapted version. Enjoy!

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