Baking, Desserts, Vegan, Vegetarian
Vegan Carrot Cake with Maple Frosting
Recipe by The Loopy Whisk
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Cooking method:
Food Processor
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Total time: 1h 30 mins
- Skill Easy
- Serves 8 people
Vegan Carrot Cake with Maple Frosting
This easy vegan carrot cake is incredibly flavourful and a real showstopper. The sponges are moist and tender, packed full of spices, walnuts and carrots – perfectly grated thanks to the Ninja Food Processor with Auto-iQ technology. The recipe makes a lovely two-layer 6-inch cake, but is easily doubled to make an 8-inch cake. You can also make it 100% refined sugar free by using maple or coconut sugar instead of light brown soft sugar in the sponges, and by replacing the icing sugar with powdered maple sugar in the frosting.
Utensils required
Allergies
Tip: Allergy Advice
This dish contains the following allergens: Nuts
Ingredients
For the carrot cake
- 180g peeled carrots
- 240g plain all-purpose flour
- 180g light brown soft sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 150ml sunflower or vegetable oil
- 105ml non-dairy milk (such as almond, rice, soy or oat milk)
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 100g chopped walnuts (for easier cutting of the finished cake, chop the walnuts more finely)
For the maple frosting
- 150g vegan butter
- 150g-180g icing sugar (depending on how sweet you want the frosting to be)
- 50ml maple syrup
Cooking mode
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Method
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Step 1
Start by making the carrot cake! Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 180ºC and line two 6-inch (15cm) cake tins with baking paper
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Step 2
Coarsely grate the carrots using the Ninja Food Processor fitted with the grater attachment
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Step 3
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt
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Step 4
Add the oil, non-dairy milk and lemon juice, and mix together until you get a fairly thick cake batter with no flour clumps
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Step 5
Add the grated carrots and most of the walnuts (set about 15-20g of the chopped walnuts aside for decoration later). Fold them in until well combined and evenly distributed
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Step 6
Divide the cake batter evenly between the two lined cake tins and smooth out the top
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Step 7
Bake for 42-44 minutes on until well risen, springy to the touch and an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean
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Step 8
Allow to cool in the cake tins for about 10 minutes, then remove out of the tins onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely
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Step 9
Now let’s make the maple frosting! Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer with the double beaters attachment, cream the vegan butter and icing sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes
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Step 10
Add the maple syrup and mix until fully combined. The frosting should be fluffy and easily spreadable, but not too soft or runny
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Step 11
The final stage – assembling the cake! If necessary, level the sponges with a sharp serrated knife
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Step 12
Place the bottom sponge onto a cake stand and spread half of the frosting on top in an even layer
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Step 13
Place the other sponge on top, so that the bottom of the sponge faces upwards – this way, you’ll get a nice flat top. Spread the rest of the frosting on top, smoothing it into an even layer and creating swirls with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon for a decorative effect
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Step 14
Sprinkle with the reserved walnuts before slicing into individual portions and serving
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Step 15
If the frosting has become too soft to neatly slice the cake, you can chill the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes before cutting into it
