carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting (vegan)

I had my sights on a go-to celebration carrot cake that is walnut-studded, carrot-flecked, fragrant, moist, and lavish with decadent frosting.  So, I revisited and reposted a recipe created a few years back and made a few adjustments. 

Variations can be found at the end of the recipe!

This cake uses walnuts for crunch and flavour, with a lovely warmth in the cardamom and cinnamon. It is deliciously moist, topped with vegan cream cheese frosting, and decorated with edible flowers. 

carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting

Inspired by the much-loved Spice Cake from The Voluptuous Vegan by Myra Kornfeld.

Makes one 9-inch cake or 12 cupcakes (Reduce baking time to 35 minutes)

The cardamom adds a rich warmth, so it is important to grind your own as the taste is much more fragrant, fresher, and flavour intense. 

ingredients 

1 cup/100g walnuts – divided

1 cup/120g whole-wheat flour

1 cup/120g unbleached white flour

2 tsp baking powder

1½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp fine rock salt

2 tsp cardamom powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon powder 

½ cup/110g neutral-tasting oil or mild-tasting olive oil

⅔ cup/190g maple syrup (can replace with ⅔ cup/100g brown sugar)

¼ cup/45g brown sugar or coconut sugar

⅔ cup/160g almond/oat milk

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup/50g golden raisins/dates, roughly chopped

2 cups/180g grated carrots (approx 2 medium)

cream cheese frosting

⅓ cup/60g vegan/regular butter (softened to room temperature)

1 tub (200g) Vegan Violife Cream Cheese (available from Celeiro – out of the fridge for an hour)

⅓ cup/40g icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract or scrape one vanilla bean (halved lengthways and seeds scraped out)

preparation 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C—oil a 9-inch springform pan with oil.

toast the walnuts

2. On a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Remove half of the whole walnuts (approximately 23 pieces) for garnishing on top and roughly chop the remaining (50g) to add to the cake batter—set aside.

prepare the cake

3. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients—flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices—and whisk to combine.
4. In another medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients—oil, maple syrup, sugar, almond milk, and vinegar—and whisk until the wet ingredients are emulsified. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry, whisking together until all the dry ingredients are absorbed. Stir in the walnuts, sultanas, and grated carrot, folding gently with a spatula to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the oiled pan and bake for about 45 – 55 minutes, until the cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. If the top looks like it’s getting dark, but the inside needs more time, cover loosely with aluminium foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.

prepare the frosting

6. Beat the butter with a hand mixer until soft. Add the cream cheese and beat again until well mixed (*don’t over mix.) Sift over icing sugar and add the vanilla extract – beat again. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. *If, for some reason, the mixture starts to separate from over beating. Place it in the blender, blend until smooth, then place in the fridge for a few hours.
7. When the cake is completely cool, flip it over so that the top is now the bottom, and spread the frosting evenly over it. Decorate the cake with the remaining walnuts and edible flowers.

variation with a crumble topping

Add a quarter of the chopped roasted walnuts to the cake dough; with the remaining, make a crumble topping by adding 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 Tbsp maple syrup to the walnuts, stirring to combine. Spoon over the top of the dough before baking. (See image below.)
Sprinkle the sides and bottom of the greased cake tin with two tablespoons of sesame seeds before baking.