Vegan carrot cake recipe, 3 variations

1. Firstly, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a rectangular cake tin with plant-based butter and line with non-stick parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients wholemeal flour, baking powder, baking soda, spice mix, palm sugar and salt. Use a whisk to mix well.
3. Then stir in the almond milk and olive oil until batter is mixed.
4. Finally, mix in the walnuts and carrot. Use a spatula or spoon. It’s quite a solid mixture.
5. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and press gently. Bake for 45 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven. After 40 minutes you can test with a wooden skewer whether your carrot cake is ready. Insert the skewer into the centre of the cake, take it out and check whether the skewer comes out dry and clean. If so, your vegan carrot cake recipe is ready.
6. Remove the cake with parment paper from the tin and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting in slices.

1. First, prepare the flax eggs. Whisk together the linseed with 5 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes to thicken.
2. Secondly, heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a rectangular cake tin with plant-based butter and line with non-stick parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients wholemeal flour, baking powder, spice mix and salt. Use a whisk to mix well.
4. By using your hands, mix the chopped dates into the mixture.
5. Stir in the almond milk, flaxseed mixture and olive oil until batter is mixed.
6. Finally, mix in the walnuts and grated carrot using a spatula or spoon. It’s quite a heavy mixture.
7. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and press gently. Bake for 45 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven. After 40 minutes you can test with a wooden skewer whether your carrot cake is ready. Insert the skewer into the centre of the cake, take it out and check whether the skewer comes out dry and clean. If so, your vegan carrot cake recipe is ready.
8. Remove the carrot cake with parment paper from the tin and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting in slices. I know it’s difficult to wait, but otherwise it falls apart.

1. First, prepare the flax eggs. Whisk together the linseed with 5 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes to thicken.
2. Secondly, heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a rectangular cake tin with plant-based butter and line with non-stick parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients wholemeal flour, baking powder, baking soda, spice mix, palm sugar and salt. Use a whisk to mix well.
4. Stir in the almond milk, flaxseed mixture and olive oil until batter is mixed.
5. Finally, mix in the walnuts and grated carrot using a spatula or spoon. It’s quite a heavy mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and press gently. Bake for 45 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven. After 40 minutes you can test with a wooden skewer whether your carrot cake is ready. Insert the skewer into the centre of the cake, take it out and check whether the skewer comes out dry and clean. If so, your vegan carrot cake recipe is ready.
7. Remove the carrot cake with parment paper from the tin and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting in slices. I know it’s difficult to wait, but otherwise it falls apart.

My first and third vegan carrot cake recipe were cracking on top. Personally, I don’t have any problem at all with that. On the contrary, it looks rustic and the crust becomes crispy. But maybe you don’t want a cracked cake at all or you want to spread frosting on the cake. You can actually prevent cracking a cake. First you have to know why a cake cracks while baking.

Cakes do crack when the oven temperature is too high. While baking the outside is cooking much faster than the inside. A crust forms on top as the inside continues to cook. While the cake is rising the cake cracks op top. You could say the cake is cooking too quickly. If you don’t wish a cracked cake, you must give the cake time to rise at slow pace. Simply do this by baking at lower temperature. Best is 75 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius, but be alert because every oven is different. Possibly your oven needs a different baking time. Also avoid opening and closing the oven during baking, otherwise temperature is fluctuating.

If you have any leftovers you can store the carrot cake in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Make slices once the cake is cooled down to room temperature. I personally divide the slices into food storage containers to keep the cake fresh. This way I only have to grab the amount of slices we want to eat. On the Internet I read about wrapping the slices in plastic wraps, but using so much plastic is not really sustainable. If you want to keep the cake longer than a couple of days, freeze the slices and eat it within three months.