This luscious Plant Based Refined Sugar and Oil Free Carrot Cake is going to WOW your taste buds! My family just loves carrot cake but your typical carrot cake recipe is loaded with refined sugar and oil. It has been my mission to create a Plant Based carrot cake that is not only good for you, but tastes fantastic too! This is it folks!
No need to feel guilty diving into a piece of this cake or even going back for seconds. This is full of Plant Based goodness that is going to make your belly and you happy! Serves 12
Ingredients
Cake
3 3/4 cups oat flour
3/4 cup Green Banana flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/4 cups dates
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk ( or plant milk of your choice )
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp flax meal with 1/2 cup water
3 cups grated carrots
Frosting
1 1/2 cups raw cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours)
1/2 cup coconut milk
8 medjool dates
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Mix the 1/2 cup water and flax meal together and let sit. Add oat flour, green banana flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl and mix. Blend dates, almond milk, vanilla and apple cider vinegar together in blender. Pour into bowl with dry mixture along with the flax mixture. Stir. Add carrots and mix thoroughly. Pour into 2 parchment paper lined 9 inch cake pans and smooth. Bake for 25 min.
Let cakes cool.
While cakes are cooling you can prepare the frosting. Add all ingredients to blender and blend until silky smooth =).
Place one of the cakes on your serving dish. Add a layer of frosting to the top. Lay other cake on top and use the remaining frosting to frost the cake.
27 comments
I JUST tried making a raw vegan carrot cake that I really didn’t like so im soo glad you posted your recipe! Are there any standard type flour substitutions that you think could work in place of the banana flour?
You could just use more of the oat flour, rice flour or coconut 👍
I make home made bread using hard white wheat I grind myself. Not worried about Gluten. Could I use this flour instead of the banana four..Love your recipes.
Pretty sure that would work just fine🤗
Also could you just make a cake pan and not do the double layer thing.. What adjustments would you make for cooking time?
Hello. I’m making this awesome cake. I have a question… I estimated that a serving of this cake (1/10th of a 9’’ pan) is about 376 calories (give or take 50 cals), that’s about the same number of calories in a regular carot cake made with oil sugar and eggs. I’m kind of bummed out by that, I was expecting a lighter cake since no oil or sugar. Does the body metabolize it differently?
When you eat a piece of this cake it is super filling but you won’t sugar crash. You will feel full but nourished =) All the ingredients are good for you unlike a regular cake where almost every ingredient except for the carrots is bad for you.
You could just make the cake without the icing to save calories. Because the icing has cashews in it, i suspect a lot of the calories could be reduced by leaving it out.
Jill I followed recipe closely however the cake mix was so stiff I bent 2 spoons and burned out my mixer what would you change for my next cake? Its in oven now
Jill what couyl dw euse in substitution for Bannana flour as I am waiting fo my shipment but want to make it NOW! HAHAHAH
dARRYL
Has anyone made muffins with this recipe? If so, how would I adjust the baking time? Also, is there a reason you don’t use a mixer to blend the ingredients. I don’t want to use my Kitchenaid if it’s going to ruin the batter. Thank you for all you do. I can’t wait to make this.
Is there a sub for the coconut milk? I can’t tolerate the fat in in.
You can use any plant milk of your choice =)
My green banana flour just came in the mail – I can’t wait to try this out!!
For the frosting, is it coconut milk the fatty kind from a can or a carton?
From the can
I made this cake for my daughter 21st birthday.
She and I are vegans and LOVED IT.
I could not get the green banana flour so I made green plantain flour- by peeling a dehydrating the plantains- a long but not difficult process. I also made the oat flour.
My only suggestion is- I added some carrot shreds to the frosting to give it an orange color I personally found more appetizing than the brown frosting. I was still able to use a piping bag and decorate the edges with the star tips.
Here were the votes from my family-
The two vegans loved the cake.
3 non vegans liked it with vegan vanilla oat milk ice cream (but that has refined sugar).
3 non vegans liked it as “more of bread”
1 non vegan carrot hater tried it but was not a fan.
Mostly the non vegans wanted it sweeter- maybe it was the plantains or maybe their tastes buds are muted.
Anyway I was very pleased with the cake thank you!
Jill, this recipe looks amazing! My canned organic coconut milk is full fat and the ingredients are organic coconut, filter water and guar gum. Question, is guar gum and full fat coconut milk WFPB ‘compliant’ ??
yes
Jill, you da best! I just made this with my boyfriend for my 28th birthday and it was fantastic. I kept thinking ‘there is no way 8 dates can make that frosting sweet enough’ but I was wrong, it was perfectly sweet and tangy <3
Can you add grams measurements please?
Jill can I use fresh banana instead of banana flour?
No
I’ve made this cake twice and the only substitution I used was salt and sugar free cashew powder. It turned out great. Thank you Jill.
Is there anyway to add some chopped pecans or walnuts? If yes, what amount should I use so I don’t spoil the recipe? Thank you, Susan
I would add walnuts to the batter, 1/2 cup should be fine.
Great. Thank you Jill !! Susan