Ever since I made this delicious AND healthy Carrot Cake is pretty much all I crave now! Seriously. Obsessed. It is decadent and moist with the perfect carroty goodness and rich with spices and creamy from the frosting – you’ll be saying WOW with every bite!!
And this beautiful naturally gluten-free and vegan carrot cake is still very much on the healthy side – honestly, I don’t think these ingredient could be better (if you doubt me, please scroll down to the bottom and see for yourself! ;)) BUT it doesn’t taste ‘healthy’ if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s delicious and really cakey ~ just perfect!
It was a hit at our table with the whole family with everyone from the baby to our great aunt who’s 88 – so I’m just happy to share this great recipe with you. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did :)
Delicious Carrot Cake with Cashew Walnut Frosting
Naturally gluten free and vegan cake recipe that’s refined sugar free/ low-glycemic.
- 3 tablespoons ground flax
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (or light spelt flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted) or grape seed oil
- 1/2 cup almond milk or other plant milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup peeled & grated carrots, packed
- 1/4 cup raisins (sulphite free) (optional)
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- + 1/4 cup ground up walnuts for topping (optional)
- Raw Cashew and Walnut Frosting (recipe follows)
- Grease one or two preferably spring-form baking pan(s) (8″x8″) and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flax and water and set aside.
- In another medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the sugar) : flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and mix until well incorporated.
- Back in the bowl with the flax, add in sugar, oil, milk, lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla extract and whisk to combine well for a few seconds to allow the sugar to melt slightly.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Add in grated carrots, walnuts and raisins and stir again to incorporate well.
- Pour 1/2 of the batter into the pan (if you want a 2 layer cake you need to bake the two layers separately) and bake for 25-35 minutes until top looks dry and the sides appear a little darker but not burned.
- Remove from the oven, score the sides and flip the cake out onto a cooling rack.
- Line the pan again and pour in the remaining batter and bake the other cake.
- Trim the dome part of the cake from the bottom layer and proceed to assemble the cake! (the really fun part!)
- To assemble the two layer cake, spread a little bit of the frosting on a serving plate so it doesn’t slide and carefully set the bottom layer with the top trimmed in the centre. Spread about 1/3 of the frosting on top and use a smooth knife or a spatula to spread the frosting out to the edges.
- Carefully place the top layer on the frosting and continue with frosting the top and sides.
- Toss with the ground up walnuts all over.
Store the cake in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry up in the fridge for up to 3 days or 1 day at room temperature.
Raw Cashew Walnut Frosting
A frosting recipe that’s all natural, raw, healthy, gluten free, vegan, paleo.
Ingredients :
2 cups cashews (pre-soaked)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
Optional : up to 1/4 cup powdered stevia or powdered sugar if more sweetness is desired (I omitted this entirely but it was on a low sweet side)
Directions :
Notes :
- You’ll need a high speed blender to get the cashews really smooth.
- Use pre-soaked cashews (soaked at least 4 hours in the fridge or overnight OR 1-2 hours in hot water set on the counter).
In a high speed blender, add in all the ingredients (except the walnuts) : cashews, oil, water, maple syrup, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix on high until a smooth creamy texture is achieved.
At the end, add in the walnuts and mix for a few seconds until combined thoroughly but still have some texture.
Chill for about 2 hours before using and frost the carrot cake as described above or use to top off carrot muffins or these Carrot Cake Brownies!
Notes :
- Great to make ahead. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Freezes well for up to 3 months.
I hope you’ll enjoy this delicious Healthy Carrot Cake soon! It was such a treat with our whole family. And it was even more delicious the next day as the flavours really saturated the cake! Ahhh… wish I could be eating it right now as I type this ;)
I can’t wait to hear what you think! Don’t forget to share your Pure Ella creations on Instagram and tagging me with #pureella to see it! (Please make sure you tag it otherwise I won’t see it and I LOVE to repost my favourites!)
Ella Leché is a cookbook author (‘Cut the Sugar‘), recipe developer, and photographer/stylist behind Pure Ella; where she shares delicious and healthy recipes. Eating PURE is clean ingredients, whole foods, plant-based nourishment and delicious desserts – with quality ingredients and sweeteners so they’re treats with benefits so you won’t have to feel deprived or restricted to eat healthier.Thank YOU for being here!
Follow on social media for daily health & happiness inspiration:
Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter
ps. don’t forget to share your Pure Ella (PE) recipe creations by tagging them #pureella and @pure_ella on Instagram – we repost our favourite photos!
Blogger, Recipe Developer, Photographer and Author. Loves healthy food, photography, sunshine and dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. 
It seems really really good!! I love carrot cake but I’m never really satisfied by the recipes online :/ This one is simply perfect for my pantry and diet ^_^
Hi Valentina, this is such a good one and I agree sometimes I see ‘healthy’ cake recipe only to realize it’s made with low-fat *crap* ingredients that are not healthy at all… ufff…
This is gooood and good for you too!! :) win win!! xoxo ella
I know! Any advice for the gluten-free flour? I moved to Usa 5 months ago and I haven’t experience with overseas brands :D
There are so many varieties – I just look for a clean ingredient list :)
Bob’s Red Mill is my usual :) But I also like to make my own mix but for the recipes for the blog I stick with a mix because then people complain that it’s too many ingredients :) lol
Hope you’ve been enjoying your move! Sounds exciting! All the best! xoxo ella
Wow Ella I thought my carrot cake days were over but they’re not! It is my ultimate favourite cake. I will definitely try this raw version, you just are the queen of healthy sweet things I love it :)
I too didn’t care for carrot cake anymore BUT man this is GOOOOD! :)
Next time I’m making it I will freeze some so I can just have on hand on days like this that I crave it so much :)
btw only the frosting is raw, the cake itself is baked :)
xox ella
is this right? =
3 tablespoons ground flax / ¼ cup hot water.
Yes! :)
Mix it up and let stand… by the time you mix your dry ingredients and go back to this – it will get gelly and perfect :)
Let me know how you like this recipe :)
xox ella
We’re loving raw carrot cake at the moment – love this!
Hello,
Thank you for the lovely recipe. I am going to make this for sure! I just wanted to ask is there any replacement for gluten free flour?Could I use almond or rice flour instead?
Thanks again
Hi Katerina,
Great question and I wish I could answer it simply for you but the thing is that I haven’t tried using other flours with this….
But, knowing quite a bit about gluten free baking I can offer a few tips.
I wouldn’t suggest almond flour as in this cake it will be too heavy.
And rice flour alone won’t have that elasticity and will be very crumbly….
First, why can’t you use a flour mix?
Can you mix a few flours yourself?
Here is my suggestion:
Use 3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca or potato starch (or other gf starch)
If you can’t use or can’t find the sorghum flour, you could try using
1 cup rice flour + 1/2 cup tapioca or potato starch but I would rather see a mix of the rice and sorghum.
I hope this helps and you’ll be making it soon.
Does it have to be vegan too? If not then adding 2 lightly beaten eggs will also help to bind these flours together. GF flours tend to loose that binding factor which gluten offers… so I hope this helps.
Do let me know if you get into any issues and I’ll try to be quick in offering help :)
Enjoy!!
xoxo ella
I put you in so much trouble for the almond flour, but I finally decided to make the recipe exactly as you gave it originally. The cake was awesome!I had some friends over the house in the weekend and everyone loved it and were super enthusiastic about the cake being such a healthy desert option!
Thank you very much :)
Oh…. thank YOU so much for this lovely feedback :)
You just made my day!!
I am so happy it turned out great and that everyone loved it :)
AND thank you for coming back and leaving this lovely comment.
Not everyone comes back and leaves praise ;) so I appreciate that very much!!
Sending lots of love your way,
Hope you come back for more recipe inspiration!
*hugs*
Ella
Do you have any suggestions for substituting the ground flax? Flax and chia seeds set off my asthma. I often use psyllium husks as a substitute, but not sure if it will work in this recipe, and if it does, how much to use. Thanks.
Hi Jane,
Great question.
I think the psyllium husks would work great. Just use the same amount, soak for the same amount of time and just proceed as in step 4. (I like to get this started in a larger bowl and then just add the wet ingredients, one by one, into this.) That way you prevent the husks from clumping up – just make sure you keep whisking once a while as you incorporate the ingredients in.
Ok, I’ll be baking this tomorrow for a friends birthday. I like the look of the recipe, but please do tell (I realize I will not have a reply by the time I bake this), WHY must I bake the two layers separately??? I have never heard of such a thing before. Is it a heat/ humidity thing that happens in the oven, or what? Thanks for offering this recipe.
Hi Megan,
Hopefully you haven’t baked these yet…
So I recommend baking this as two layers separately vs. one cake and slicing it in half. As when you cut this cake it’s a bit crumbly and it could fall apart on you.
It will be much easier to stack the layers as single pieces. Once it’s all done and assembled with the frosting it cuts fine as slices. I hope this suggestion helps. Let me know how it works out for you and how you liked the cake :)
Best,
Ella
Thanks for the quick reply!
OK, I must be misunderstanding something here….
I thought you were saying that I had to bake the layers separately. First bake one, then when that comes out of the oven, bake the other.. two separate bake times.
Now it seems that I could bake both layers in the oven at the same time?
This is what I’m talking about:
“Pour ½ of the batter into the pan (if you want a 2 layer cake you need to bake the two layers separately) and bake for 25-35 minutes until top looks dry and the sides appear a little darker but not burned.
Remove from the oven, score the sides and flip the cake out onto a cooling rack.
Line the pan again and pour in the remaining batter and bake the other cake.”
I am confused!
But the batter is ready, and I’m about to put both layers in the oven together.
Thanks and Love
Megan
Hi Megan,
Ok… yes maybe there’a bit of a misunderstanding in my directions…
Basically if you have two pans the same size then yes you can bake at the same time of course :)
I didn’t have the same pan size so I had to wait until one was baked, removed the cake and then poured in the rest of the batter… haha :)
I hope that’s the part that was misunderstood ~ and easy to move forward.
Let me know if that cleared up the confusion and if you’re all set to go :)
I am so excited for you~ I’m now really craving this cake!!
Love,
Ella
My friend Greg (whose birthday we were celebrating) is a marvelous vegan baker, himself, and his favorite is carrot cake, so the bar was high, and this cake was a hit!
The batter was easy to put together and it baked perfectly in 25 mins. It turned out of the pans easy and frosted really nicely.
The flavor was fresh and sweet, with a fantastic texture, and aromatic, cinnamon-spicy overtones.
Thanks so much for offering this recipe up for us all to try. I’m definitely going to make this one again.
Definitely a 5 star recipe