This easy vegan coconut carrot cake is an amazing twist on traditional carrot cake! A great vegan spring dessert recipe!
Carrot cake with a twist! This amazing vegan coconut carrot cake is the perfect twist to a spring classic! If you love carrot cake and love coconut, you will wonder why you haven’t put these two things together before.
If you are worried about a vegetable in your cake, no worries. Luckily, carrots are sweet so it aids in helping balance a sweet cake with something you may not traditionally think should be in a cake.
In addition, we’ll share details below on how you can make this Top 8 Free carrot cake as well if that is needed for your dietary restrictions!
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I make this a vegan Top 8 Allergy Friendly carrot cake?
When we are considering Top 8 Allergies for this vegan coconut carrot cake, we want to consider the coconut, flour, dairy free milk and almond extract.
The easiest swap is the almond extract. Just completely omit this if you have a nut allergy.
For the dairy free milk, just use your favorite that you love love and is safe for you.
The flour can be replaced with a gluten free cup for cup flour like King Arthur.
Lastly, there is coconut in this recipe as it’s a main focus on the recipe. However, if you want to make top 8 free, we recommend you follow the directions for a vegan carrot cake.
HOW DO I MAKE THIS VEGAN COCONUT CARROT CAKE LOOK EXACTLY LIKE YOURS?
We get it. No one likes “Pinterest fails”. You see something and think, “that’s out of my league, no way I’m trying that.” Take a deep breathe and instead say, “I’m going to following these steps and make the best cake I’ve ever made.”
Step 1: It’s all about positive thinking.
Step 2: You need to follow some really important tips that we’re going to share with you on how to make the best dairy free carrot cake that actually looks like it came from a bakery. Your guests (and yourself) are going to be blown away.
HERE’S OUR TIPS FOR MAKING THIS CAKE LOOK EXACTLY LIKE OURS IN THE PICTURE:
- Follow the instructions pretty please. Cake baking is a science, especially when making a dairy free/vegan cake. The sifting and exact ingredient amounts are very important. Every step has a purpose to ensure the perfect dairy free carrot cake.
- We are using two 9″ cake pans.
- Make sure that you evenly distribute the cake batter into the cake pans. You can use a scale to make sure that they are all within a small range of each other.
- When the cakes are cooked, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to allow the cakes to cool evenly.
- Let the cakes cool to touch, then remove them carefully to wax paper to cool completely. DO NOT RUSH. Let it cool completely.
- When ready to make the cake – use a cake leveling tool to make sure there’s no uneven tops.
TIPS FOR PIPING:
- Place a small amount of frosting down first on a rotating cake stand, then your first layer. The frosting acts as a glue so the cake won’t slip.
- Use a piping bag and a large round tip and pipe frosting in a circular motion from the outer edge completely in to the middle.
- For this cake we didn’t do any crazy piping design, but rather used the back of a spoon in a swirling up motion.
- *Bonus Tip: If you want to frosting the cake but keep a clean cake stand, cut four 7″ pieces of wax paper and overlap them before placing the first layer on the cake stand. When you are completely done frosting the cake, carefully remove the four pieces of wax paper.
Can I make vegan coconut carrot cake cupcakes?
Absolutely! Make the recipe batter as directed and then fill cupcake tins ¾ of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-23 minutes.
Do I have to use round cake pans?
No! You can easily use square or rectangular cake pan as well.
CAN I USE A DIFFERENT VEGAN FROSTING IDEAS FOR THIS CAKE?
One great thing about cakes is that you can mix and match frostings! We absolutely love doing this. We are using a coconut cream frosting in the post, but you can totally, use one of our other ones like:
Can I add nuts in this vegan coconut carrot cake?
Yes! Feel free to use chopped pecans or walnuts. You could even use another one if you wished, but those are the most common ones used.
What are other dairy free desserts recipes that I can make?
Whether you are having a dessert bar of deliciousness at your next get together, or you just want to have even more amazing dairy free desserts at the ready, we recommend you trying out some of these delicious non-dairy desserts (all are vegan):
- Dairy Free Brownies
- The Best Dairy Free Lemon Pound Cake
- Triple Chocolate Dairy Free Cookies
- Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
- Perfect Dairy Free Apple Pie
- Dairy Free Cinnamon Rolls (could be breakfast or dessert)
Pin this vegan coconut carrot cake for later!
Vegan Coconut Carrot Cake
Equipment
- 9" pans
Ingredients
For the Vegan Coconut Carrot Cake
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup dairy free milk
- 1 ½ cups canola oil, or another neutral oil
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup vegan cane white
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 1 cup shredded coconut (we use unsweetened)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (*See Posts for Gluten free)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans) (*Omit for nut allergy), Plus more for topping, optional
For Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz vegan cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
Optional Topping
Instructions
For the Vegan Coconut Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease 2- 9inch round cake pans with vegan butter (or other oil if allergies).
- In a large bowl, add apple cider vinegar and dairy free milk. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add in oil, applesauce, both sugars, and both extracts. Beat together until mix.
- Add in shredded carrots and coconut. Blend together again.
- Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Beat together just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Add nuts, if adding. Fold until just combined.
- Pour half the batter in each cake pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops are set and no longer wiggly in the center.
- Remove and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges around the pan, turn cake out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
For the Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla to a bowl. Beat together until smooth.
- Add the brown sugar and mix thoroughly.
- Finally, add the powdered sugar to the bowl and mix until the frosting is the right consistency.
- After cake is cooled, frosting the cakes.
Notes
Nutrition
Let’s see your creations!
Share to Instagram and tag us @makeitdairyfree so we can see and share it!
Meri Jo
Perfect coconut cream pie! Especially including vegan butter, which gives it a more traditional richness. Thank you for the recipe!
Rakhinationwide
Great Post!! Absolutely amazing.
LarishaBernard
Thank you!