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–+ servings
A thick slice of my vegan carrot cake on a small white plate.
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5 from 2 votes

Vegan Carrot Cake with Lemon Curd & Cream Cheese Frosting

This isn't your average vegan carrot cake recipe. This light and fluffy treat is filled and topped with lemon curd and frosting!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Carrot Lemon Curd Cake
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 8 Slices
Calories: 637kcal
Author: DJ

Ingredients

For the carrot cake batter:

  • 165 g freshly grated carrots
  • 200 ml soy milk
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 190 g all-purpose flour sifted
  • 175 g light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 50 ml canola oil rapeseed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

  • 230 g vegan butter block
  • 50 g vegan cream cheese
  • 240 g powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the lemon curd:

  • 10 g cornstarch
  • 30 g granulated sugar
  • 40 ml plant milk
  • 20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 25 g coconut oil room temperature
  • ⅛ th teaspoon turmeric
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preparation:

  • Preheat your oven to 177 Celsius (350F). Grease two rectangular 20cm x 10cm loaf cake tins with vegan butter and set aside.
  • Grate your carrots if you haven’t already. Set aside.
  • Make your vegan ‘buttermilk’ by stirring the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Set the ‘buttermilk’ aside to curdle for 8 minutes.

Make the carrot cake batter:

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including your grated carrots.
  • Now, add in the curdled ‘buttermilk’, canola oil and vanilla extract. Fold the dry into the wet gently. Don’t over-mix. Be patient and continue to fold the cake batter until all the pockets of flour are gone.

Bake the two cake halves:

  • Pour the carrot cake batter into the two greased tins, evenly.
  • Bake them in the center of your oven for 20 minutes. By this point, a skewer will come out clean. 
  • Allow the cakes cool down inside the loaf cake tins for at least 15 minutes. After that, transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting:

  • Add the vegan block butter and vegan cream cheese to a stand mixer. Cream with the whisk attachment on a high speed for 2 minutes. Switch to a medium speed and add in half of the powdered sugar and beat again until combined.
  • Now pour in the rest of your powdered sugar and the vanilla and beat once again until a thick buttercream forms. Set aside.

Make the lemon curd:

  • Mix the cornstarch with the granulated sugar inside a small saucepan.
  • Stir in the plant milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, coconut oil and turmeric, then place over a medium-low heat.
  • When it begins to simmer, whisk continuously for 1-2 minutes. As soon as you notice that it has thickened a little, remove from the heat and pour into the jar. It will continue to thicken while it cools. Let it cool fully.

Assemble the cake:

  • Spread half of your frosting onto the flat side of one of the cooled carrot cake halves, followed by half of the lemon curd on top of it.
  • Place your other half of carrot cake on top of the fillings then spread the remainder of the frosting on top of the cake. Drizzle some more of the lemon curd on top of the cake. If you have any left over, it makes a brilliant topping for other treats such as, pancakes and ice cream.
  • Slice the cake and serve.

Video

Notes

  • Avoid buying pre-packaged and pre-grated carrots that you would find at a supermarket or a convenience store. Fresh carrots have moisture, whereas pre-grated carrots will have dried out and little moisture will have been retained. Therefore, your cake won't be as moist and delicious as you would like.
  • Over-mixing the cake batter will cause the texture of your carrot cakes to become dense and unpleasant, but if you fold the batter, you will get better results. Folding calms the gluten and doesn't over-work it.
  • Not all powdered sugar is vegan as some brands use bone char. If you're a vegan, make sure that the one you pick up is suitable.

Nutrition

Calories: 637kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 804mg | Potassium: 184mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 4594IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 2mg