Vegan Carrot Cake with Pineapple

This vegan carrot cake with pineapple is moist, spiced, and layered with rich cream cheese frosting. No mixer needed, and it all comes together in one bowl!

Course Vegan Dessert Recipes

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Servings

Calories 550kcal

Author Louisa

Equipment

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup almond milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts, plus more for topping
1 cup shredded coconut, plus more for topping
Baking spray

For the Non Dairy Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz vegan cream cheese
1/2 cup vegan butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups organic powdered sugar
Orange gel food coloring, optional for the decorative carrot
Parsley for the optional decorative carrot

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the cake pans and line them with parchment paper. Set the prepared cake pans aside.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients. Mix just until combined.
Fold in the carrots, walnuts, and coconut.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans with parchment paper and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the sides of the cakes are pulling away from the pans and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in the pans for 20 minutes, then remove them from the pans and cool completely on the wire rack before frosting.
To make the frosting while the cakes are cooling, just beat the ingredients together until smooth.
Spread a layer of frosting on top of one of the cooled carrot cakes, place the other cake on top, and decorate. You can add more walnuts and coconut to the frosted cake if desired. You can also add a decorative carrot in the center of the vegan carrot cake with orange frosting and parsley for its leaves.

Notes

Store-bought grated carrots are too coarse and dry for the cake. Just grate the carrots very finely with a box grater to give your vegan carrot cake with pineapple the best texture.
Do not overmix the vegan carrot pineapple cake batter too much to maintain its delicate crumb. You can stop mixing the batter when you can't see any flour left.
Allow the vegan pineapple carrot cakes to cool completely before frosting or the frosting will just melt. You can also make the frosting 2 hours in advance so it can harden in the fridge and make it easier to spread.

Nutrition