This past Friday night was meant for celebrating.
The weather was sit-out-on-the-deck-in-the-cool-evening-breeze perfection. Friends gathered from all around the city with chips and salsa and salads and popcorn and laughter and stories to share. The fire pit was aflame. The candles were lit on this (gluten free and vegan) carrot cake.
And a very special birthday girl turned the big 3-0.
Friends, meet Stacey.
I have no idea how I got so lucky in life to cross paths with someone as cool as this birthday girl, but somehow it happened. And I am totally grateful to know her. And even more grateful to be able to call her a friend.
Because Stacey’s just great.
Can I tell you why?
Well, she’s clearly beautiful. She is warm and friendly and goes out of her way to make people feel included. She’s super smart and perceptive, and pays thoughtful attention to the world and people around her. She’s an incredible single mom to the most charming, spunky, creative 5-year-old daughter. She has one of my favorite Instagram feeds ever (with some of the best moments captured of said daughter). She’s strong and brave and stands up for things and people she believes in. She has an incredible heart for service and selflessly gives to so many around her. And quite simply, she’s one of those friends who quite simply has a way of bringing out the best in those around her.
Like I said, pretty great.
Oh. And you see that heart banner in the background? It’s worth noting that Stacey also just had last-minute minor heart surgery a few days before her 30th b-day (um, whoa), but she was still game to gear up the energy to spend an evening surrounded by friends. And of course, leave them all feeling extra loved and inspired and awesome in the process. Per usual.
Anyway, I feel like I don’t tell my friends often enough how amazing they are. So today on the world wide webosphere, I thought it would be fun to raise a glass to to this friendship and people like Stacey who make this world a more meaningful, awesome place.
Actually, I should raise a slice of this cake I brought for the party that was rumored (and then confirmed) to be her favorite — carrot cake!
Yes, yes, I know I just posted a carrot cake recipe on the blog last month that looks strikingly similar to this one. But Stacey and a few friends at the party are all gluten-free, and another friend is vegan. So I attempted my first vegan and gluten-free cake for the party.
Thankfully, it turned out to be a mega success!
I actually based the recipe off of a new cookbook that was recommended by a friend — The How Can It Be Gluten-Free Cookbook published by America’s Test Kitchen.
I have long been a fan of ATK, and have given away probably 50 copies of The New Best Recipe as wedding presents over the years. (It is my top recommendation for friends who want to learn how to cook!) So when I heard that there was a new version explaining their process creating and testing out all sorts of gluten-free techniques, I immediately picked up a copy. And sure enough, it’s great! I have experimented with my fair share of GF cooking over the past few years — more for friends, than here on the blog — but I feel like this cookbook is finally giving some concrete answers to some of the science behind the ingredient combos. Especially about how different flours work together with different main ingredients.
So anyway, if you’re looking for a basic gluten-free cookbook to check out, I highly recommend picking up a copy. (This is not a paid endorsement — just my recommendation!)
I made a few tweaks to the recipe to adjust the spices and salt to the levels I prefer for carrot cake. But then to make it vegan, I also substituted flax eggs for traditional eggs (although chia eggs work too and are more flavor-less).
If you’ve never done this before, it’s a super easy substitution. Just whisk together 1 tablespoon of (ideally) freshly-ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons of water until combined. Then pop them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. And once you pull them back out, the mixture should be thick and sticky, which will help bind your batter together just like regular eggs.
(This recipe called for 4 eggs, so I used 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds and 3/4 cup water.)
I also whipped up a vegan “cream cheese” frosting — minus the cream cheese. (No, not even that fake soy vegan cream cheese stuff.) I just made a simple vegan buttercream, and added in a little apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. And voila. I don’t know how, but somehow it tastes just like cream cheese. My friends agreed.
The other main ingredient that’s a non-negotiable in my carrot cakes is fresh carrots. Yes, the recipe calls for an entire pound of carrots, which you can grate by hand. Or, if you have a food processor, I highly recommend trying out the grating attachment and letting that little motor do all of the work. Seriously, mine grated this whole batch in less than 20 seconds. Brrrrrrrilliant.
I was in a hurry making this cake and forgot to take step-by-step process photos. But I did make a few little carrot toppers for decor.
Well, I should admit the cake started out simply…
…and then got a little out of control with this carrot patch. ;)
(I apparently love cake toppers, what can I say?)
As pretty as it was on the outside, though, it tasted 100x better on the inside.
I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about how the gluten-free substitutions would work, especially since the ATK recipe called for half the usual amount of oil for a carrot cake. But friends, the cake turned out so moist. And flavorful. And oh my goodness, that cream cheese knockoff was the perfect icing on the cake.
Thankfully, the birthday girl loved it, which in turn made me extra happy since cooking for friends is kind of my favorite things ever. Especially when they’re amazing friends like Stacey. :)
So now I pass on the recipe to you. I hope you enjoy it just as much as we did.
Vegan Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Vegan Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Ingredients:
- 2.5 cups (12.5 ounces) gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF All-Purpose Baking Flour), plus extra for dusting the pans
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
- pinch of ground ginger
- 1 pound carrots, peeled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 4 flax eggs (*1/4 cup ground flaxmeal and 3/4 cup water, see instructions below*)
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- (optional: 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts)
Vegan Gluten-Free “Cream Cheese” Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 cups gluten-free powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) vegan butter or margarine
- 3 Tablespoons non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Adjust oven rack to the middle position, and preheat to 350 degrees F. Use cooking spray or butter to thoroughly grease the inside of either:
- -1 13×19-inch baking pan, or
- -2 9-inch round cake pans, or
- -3 8-inch round cake pans
- Then dust the inside of each pan with gluten-free flour until the grease is completely covered and no spots of the pan are visible.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves and ginger together until combined.
- In a food processor fitted with the large shredding disk, shred carrots. Then transfer them to the mixing bowl with the flour. Wipe clean the food processor bowl, and fit with the metal blade (in place of the shredding disk). Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and flax eggs and process until frothy and throughly combined, about 20 seconds. With processor running, add oil in a steady stream. Process until egg mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 more seconds.
- Transfer egg mixture to the large bowl with the carrots and flour. Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture until thoroughly combined. If using nuts, stir them in until combined.
Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan(s). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about:
- -30-35 minutes for the 9×13-inch baking pan
- -25-30 minutes for the two 9-inch round cake pans, or
- -18-23 minutes for the three 8-inch round cake pans
- Let cake cool completely in the pan(s) on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen. Remove cake, if transferring to a different serving platter, and frost as desired.
How To Make Vegan Gluten-Free “Cream Cheese” Frosting:
- Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor, and mix until smooth and combined. If the frosting is too thick, add in some extra milk to thin. If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar to thicken.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!Be sure to also check out these other carrot cake recipes on the blog:
Traditional Carrot Cake with a Cream Cheese Frosting
I am making this for my sister in laws baby shower. She is vegan and a carrot cake lover. Just one question, is the butter melted or not for the icing? It doesn’t state so I would assume no but that is a lot of ingredients to waste if it should be melted. Thanks so much!
Hi Lindsay! No, the butter is not supposed to be melted. We hope you and your sister-in-law enjoy! :)
This is absolutely amazing and awesome!!! Delicious cake, and wonderful frosting that can be used with other desserts. I made cupcakes and baked them about 24 minutes. Thank you for this!
Thanks Carol — we’re so glad to hear you enjoyed this! :)
Thanks so much for this recipe! I am doing a charity cake sale and wanted to cater for everyone and this recipe looked absolutely delicious and hasn’t disappointed. I ran out of Icing Sugar so had to adapt and make a single layer of buttercream instead but it looks and smells divine. Thanks a million!
You’re welcome Steph — we hope it was a hit! :)
When you are dairy and gluten free finding recipes like your carrot cake online is like finding a diamond mine. I was really missing deserts when I found your carrot cake sometime in 2014 and cannot begin to say how many times I’ve made this recipe. I have a garden and we had tons of carrots so I was making this as a carrot loaf even (think zucchini bread). I ended up getting married twice (we eloped without family for the first one because of medical necessity), and the second was the planned wedding with family. I used your recipe for my wedding cake(s – both weddings) and have gotten so many compliments I’ve finally been spurred to try and share how much people love this recipe. I have to say it’s always nice to be able to tell GF haters something they just complimented was GF. Likewise it was so nice to be able to tell wedding guests they can eat cake because it’s GF and dairy free.
For the cake I use chicken eggs. I’ve used Pamelas GF Artisan Flour as well as my own mix of GF flour with equally tasty results. I have given your website to friends and family that are both nonGF and GF. I will admit with the frosting I don’t really follow the recipe. I don’t think I’ve actually made the frosting the same twice.
I’ so sorry I can’t figure out how to attach pictures of my carrot cake creations. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Cynthia, thank you so much for sharing this with us! We are so happy to hear love this cake, and we really appreciate you sharing this recipe with others! :D
Do you know if you can substitute the oil? I have walnut oil that I like to use for baking. Thanks!
Hi Melissa! We haven’t tried using walnut oil in this cake, but we think it should work (should be yummy too)! We hope you enjoy. :)
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, but was looking for the non-gf version and noticed the link to it is broken and I couldn’t find the recipe when searching for it either. ?
Hi Jess! That’s strange, the recipe is appearing fine for us. Can you still not see it?
I would love to make this NOW but I need to know how many eggs I use (I’m going for the gluten free, not so much vegan on this), BUT I do have pre-ground flax seed (Golden Roasted Cold Milled Flaxseed). What measurement do I use for the ground?
Hi Lizzie, for each egg, mix 1 TBS of ground flax seed (measure after grinding) with 3 TBS of water. We hope you enjoy the cake! :)
This looks so good! I was wondering if I could use either almond flour or oat flour instead of the bought flour mix, do you have any advice on how to make them work?
Thanks! Honestly, we have found that an all-purpose mix works best in this recipe. We hope you enjoy! :)
I just want to say how thankful I am that I found your recipe. A couple of years ago, my brother asked if I could make a gluten free carrot cake for someone at his work. I started looking up recipes and decided to use yours. I made it, and he took it to work, and everyone loved it. I was so happy because I didn’t really even get a chance to taste it because it was such short notice. I used coconut oil and regular eggs. I also make a cream cheese frosting with it and add walnuts. It’s so great, to be able to make a cake like this for the people who are eating gluten free. Since that first cake, he has come back to me each year for more. This year, he asked for 3. I already made 2, and the last one will be made tomorrow. Now I’m super curious about trying to make a chocolate cake out of this recipe. I’m going to look through your website to see if you have other cake recipes that are gluten free. Thank you so much again for sharing this amazing recipe with all of us.
Thanks for sharing Amanda, we’re so happy your brother and his coworkers enjoyed this! Unfortunately we do have one gluten-free chocolate cake recipe, so we hope this helps! :)
Hi!! I just wanted to send you a ginormous thank you for this recipe. It has become my go to recipe for special occasions and has turned out perfectly all four times I’ve made it. I’m not vegan, but allergic to gluten and egg so this is perfect for me. I use my own browned butter frosting recipe with it. Also, you should know!!! I really wanted to make an apple cake for a dinner party tomorrow night but couldn’t find a gluten egg free recipe, so I literally made your exact recipe but subbed grated apple for the carrot. It’s cooling right now and looks perfect! So this can easily transform into an apple cake. Thank you so much.
Awww you’re so very welcome Laura, we’re happy you enjoy it! We think that browned butter frosting sounds amazing too. And that’s wonderful to know this translates well to an apple cake as well – awesome! Thanks for sharing with us. :D