Desserts

Vegan Carrot Sheet Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist and fluffy carrot cake with spiced cream cheese frosting spread on top. This cake recipe is super easy to make and great for dessert or even breakfast!

Sheet cakes are great because they don’t need to assembled, and it generally takes less time to make compared to cakes with many layers. If you’re looking to simply enjoy a slice of cake from time to time, sheet cakes are perfect.

Overhead shot of sliced carrot cake.

Ingredients

Vegan carrot sheet cake

  • Nondairy milk such as soy or almond milk
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • All purpose flour
  • Baking soda and salt
  • Ground cinnamon
  • Vegetable oil
  • Brown sugar
  • Shredded carrot (peel a medium carrot and use a cheese grater to shred)
  • Walnuts pieces
Ingredients for carrot cake.
Ingredients for carrot sheet cake

Spiced cream cheese frosting

  • Vegan cream cheese (I use Violife or Earth’s Own)
  • Icing sugar (or confectioners sugar)
  • Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves
ingredients for spiced cream cheese frosting
Ingredients for spiced cream cheese frosting

Steps

Start by curdling the nondairy milk and apple cider. This will help make the cake extra fluffy!

curdling plant milk and apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup.

Sift all the dry ingredients minus the brown sugar into a large bowl.

whisking together dry ingredients in a glass bowl.

Add the curdled milk, oil, brown sugar and shredded carrot into the bowl of dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or a spatula to mix everything together. Be sure not to over mix, as we want to maintain some air bubbles in the dough, which will make the cake fluffy and not dense.

mixing together dry and wet ingredients.

Fold in the walnut pieces.

folding chopped walnuts into the cake batter.

Pour the batter into a 8×8 baking pan, and use a spatula spread out the batter. To take the cake out more easily once baked, line the baking pan with parchment paper. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a cooking rack (without the parchment paper) before frosting.

pouring batter into cake pan and smoothing it out with a spatula.

To make the spiced cream cheese frosting, all you have to do is beat all the ingredients together until voluminous.

FAQ

What brand vegan cream cheese did you use?

I either use Violife or Earth’s Own (not sponsored)! The cream cheese is spreadable, which works just as well as block cream cheese.

How do I shred the carrot?

Peel your carrot, cut off the end and use a grater with small grating holes. Once the carrot gets too small to hold, you can hold the piece with a fork and grate on.

Do I need to sift the icing sugar?

No you don’t need to! The icing sugar will melt when beat with the cream cheese.

Slices of carrot cake on dessert plates showing texture.

Check out my other vegan cake recipes


Overhead shot of sliced carrot cake.

Vegan Carrot Sheet Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

LingLing Deng
Moist and fluffy carrot cake with spiced cream cheese frosting spread on top. Super easy to cake to make and great for dessert and even breakfast.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Assembling Time 5 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 0 sheet cake

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¼ cup non dairy milk, such as soy milk
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup peeled and shredded carrot, about 1 medium carrot
  • ¼ cup crushed walnuts, plus more for topping

Spiced cream cheese frosting

  • 200 g vegan cream cheese, about ¾ cup
  • ½ cup icing sugar
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • tsp cloves

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 8×8 baking tray with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl, combine the apple cider vinegar and non dairy milk. Set aside to curdle.
    1 ¼ cup non dairy milk, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
    curdling plant milk and apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup.
  • In large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.
    2 cups all purpose flour, ½ tbsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    whisking together dry ingredients in a glass bowl.
  • Add the curdled milk, oil, brown sugar and shredded carrot to the bowl of dry ingredients. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix everything until a smooth batter forms. Fold in the crushed walnuts.
    ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 cup peeled and shredded carrot, ¼ cup crushed walnuts
    folding chopped walnuts into the cake batter.
  • Pour the batter into baking tray. Use a spatula to evenly distribute the batter and cover the pan. Bake for 20-25mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
    pouring batter into cake pan and smoothing it out with a spatula.

Make the cream cheese frosting

  • In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium until smooth.
    200 g vegan cream cheese
  • Gradually add the icing sugar and beat on low until there are no traces of sugar.
    ½ cup icing sugar
    beating cream cheese with icing sugar.
  • Add the spices and beat on high until smooth and fluffy.
    ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground ginger, ⅙ tsp cloves

Assemble the cake

  • Once the cake is completely cooled, spread the cream cheese frosting on top. Top with more crushed walnuts if desired.
    Sprinkling on chopped walnuts onto the frosted cake.

Notes

  • Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can cut the cake into pieces for easier storage.
  • Use a cheese grater with smaller holes to shred the carrot.
Keyword carrot cake, carrot sheet cake, vegan cake recipe, vegan carrot cake, vegan sheet cake
Tried this recipe?Leave a review and share your creation on Instagram!

4 Comments

  1. michelle tan

    5 stars
    Absolutely decadent carrot cake recipe! The cream cheese frosting is to die for and compliments the moist cake perfectly! The cake itself is dense, yet light at the same time! Sweetness is perfect for me and I love the crunch of the walnuts! I always load up my baked goods with lots of crunch and toppings 🙂

    • foodbylingling

      Thank you fo much for your review Michelle! I’m so glad that you liked the recipe, and I too love the element of crunch in my baked goods!

  2. Pingback: Vegan Ginger Banana Bread • foodbylingling

  3. Pingback: Vegan Coconut Caramel Cake • foodbylingling

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Recipe Rating