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January 22, 2017

Vegan Spelt Carrot Cake

Greetings dear readers, and a very belated happy new year. I hope your 2017 is off to a good start, despite the fact that world events have been marred by the existence of the world’s most hated carrot-top. In any case, onto a more pleasant iteration of the orange vegetable; carrot cake.

Although I can’t fully explain why, something about baking a whole cake is daunting. Intimidating, even. Cupcakes, muffins, and bars have long been a mainstay of my baking repertoire, and are all things I feel I can whip up with relative ease.

vegan-spelt-carrot-cake-3

Cakes on the other hand, have always been out of my comfort zone. Maybe it’s the higher potential for margin of error? You know, a larger surface area, only one cake instead of 24 miniature ones. And what about the inability to taste it before you serve it?

Madness.

vegan-spelt-carrot-cake-2

In any case, I decided to put my cake baking woes aside for one day to try my hand at a carrot cake. Not just any carrot cake, but a wholegrain, organic spelt flour and naturally sweetened carrot cake topped with the world’s most addictive vegan cream cheese frosting.

Needless to say, I think I was worried about nothing.

5.0 from 5 reviews
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Vegan Spelt Carrot Cake
Author: Nada E.
Recipe type: Baked goods
Prep time:  15 mins
Cook time:  35 mins
Total time:  50 mins
Serves: Serves 8
 
A healthified vegan carrot cake adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Coleen Patrick-Goudreau.
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups spelt flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 4 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ¾ tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup pureed apples
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or non-dairy milk of choice
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup melted coconut oil
  • 2 cups grated carrots
  • ½ cup of walnuts (plus extra for garnish)
  • ⅓ cup raisins
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 176 C and grease a medium sized round baking pan.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
  3. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the applesauce, almond milk, vanilla essence, oil and sugar.
  4. Pour the wet ingredient mix into your dry ingredients, then add the carrots, raisins and walnuts and stir until just combined.
  5. Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
3.5.3208


 

Admittedly, my decorating skills definitely leave something to be desired, but if ever there was a time not to judge a cake by it’s cover, this would be it.

vegan-spelt-carrot-cake-4

Delicately spiced, incredibly moist with little bursts of caramelised sweetness from the raisins. The frosting, while not the healthiest by any stretch of the imagination, is frighteningly authentic and definitely a welcome somewhat savoury flavour complement.

If you’re looking for a refined sugar-free version, try drizzling with my cashew agave frosting instead.

vegan-spelt-carrot-cake-1

I also must take a moment to apologise for the lack of variety in terms of photography – this particular cake was a gift on a house visit I made last Eid, and I felt it would’ve been rude to cut a piece out for blogging purposes. Perhaps I should’ve be more dedicated to my craft, but what would  Ms. Manners say?

Until next time, dear readers!


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Filed Under: Baked Goods, Recipes Tagged With: baked goods, carrot cake, dessert

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Erika says

    January 24, 2017 at 5:48 am

    Hi, could the all purpose flour be replaced with another to make this recipe gluten free as well?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Nada says

      January 24, 2017 at 10:05 am

      Hi Erika! Just FYI spelt is low gluten not gluten-free. If you wanted to replace the all purpose flour I’d recommend using an all-purpose gluten-free blend rather than just a single ingredient GF flour as I tend to have closer results with those. I haven’t tried this recipe with only GF ingredients though so I can’t say for certain how it will turn out. Do let me know if you end up giving it a shot!

      Reply
  2. Erin says

    January 30, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    This is it!

    After searching extensively for a vegan carrot cake recipe that truly stands out, I settled on yours. I’m so glad I did. This cake is perfection — moist and modest. The only changes I made were halving the sugar, and subbing GF flour for the all-purpose portion. I am not gluten-free, but that is the only flour I had, in addition to spelt flour. I cannot wait to make this carrot cake for my next dinner party.

    Reply
    • Nada says

      January 30, 2017 at 7:05 pm

      Erin – you don’t know how happy that makes me to hear! Glad to know you loved it and that it works with less sugar too – I may consider doing likewise when I make it for us to have at home.

      Reply
      • Erin says

        January 30, 2017 at 7:09 pm

        Thank you. I look forward to making many more of your delicious looking dishes!

        Reply
  3. nimmy george says

    February 1, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Thank you to share this post

    Reply
  4. Dr.Nada Baydoun says

    March 25, 2017 at 4:37 am

    I am very impressed with your receipes!!! Thank you for sharing them.

    Reply
    • Nada says

      March 26, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      Thank you so much for reading, Nada! Glad you’re enjoying.

      Reply
  5. Thejeetha paladugu says

    August 26, 2017 at 1:42 am

    The cake came out amazing, but it came better in a 15 in pan rather than a 9 inch one. The 9 inch one was dense whereas 15 in was fluffy. But it is the best recipe so far. Please post more cake recipies

    Reply
  6. Violet says

    March 2, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    I just made a practice cake for my sons first bday and it turned out great! I made these adjustments to fit our diet:

    -Brown rice flour instead of all purpose
    -No cinnamon or nutmeg
    -Maple syrup (1/4c) instead of coconut sugar
    -Olive oil instead of coconut oil

    For the frosting I’m planning to use puréed banana, blueberries, and dragon fruit.

    Thank you! 5 stars!

    Reply
    • Violet says

      March 2, 2018 at 9:08 pm

      For the cake, I used a 9” pan round pan and baked at 350 F for 56 minutes.

      If I want to make cupcakes, can I just use the same recipe and test with a toothpick for the bake time?

      Reply
      • Nada says

        March 10, 2018 at 7:02 pm

        I haven’t tried baking it into cupcakes just yet, but will update when I do.

        Reply
    • Nada says

      March 10, 2018 at 7:02 pm

      Thanks for sharing Violet! I’ll definitely have to try it with the brown rice flour next time for a GF option.

      Reply
  7. Ahly Lee Arwa Mohammed says

    May 7, 2018 at 3:18 am

    I love your blog.
    Its beautiful and wholesome.
    I cant wait for new recipes.
    Have a beautiful blessed Ramadan & Eid.
    Masalama❣

    Reply
  8. Mal says

    September 28, 2019 at 3:58 am

    Does the cake need to be refrigerated after the cashew agave frosting is placed on the cake or can the cake remain non refrigerated?

    Reply
    • Nada says

      October 5, 2019 at 9:00 am

      You can keep the cake unrefrigerated at room temperature or pop in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up the frosting a little, but not more than that as it will dry the base out.

      Reply

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Meet Nada

Hi! I'm Nada, (pronounced ned-a). I create simple, healthy, plant-based recipes inspired by Middle Eastern flavours and write about leading a vegan lifestyle in the Arab world. Read More…

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