butterfly bakery blog

The perfect carrot cake recipe, in cupcake form! The sponge is packed with comforting flavours and finely grated carrot, making these extra fluffy AND moist – slathered with rich vegan cream cheese frosting – finished with a toasted walnut for garnish. Could it get any better?

This recipe comes together in under an hour and is the perfect addition to any day, of any season (because carrots are year-round)! We love a one-bowl recipe around here, your kitchen will smell DIVINE, and the sink won’t be filled with dishes. Your welcome!

It’s probably not only me who hates when vegan recipes include a bunch of weird ingredients (like xanthan gum??), so this recipe includes all simple ingredients that you probably already have in the house.

JUMP TO:
• What you’ll need
• FAQ’s
• History of carrot cake
• Recipe

What you’ll need

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Ingredients list:

• Carrots | It’s important to use good-quality carrots for the best flavour. Using paler carrots could lead to less flavour. Be sure to wash and peel your carrots before use.

• Vegan “buttermilk” | This is just a combination of vegan milk (I prefer oat) and an acid, such as cider vinegar or lemon juice. The milk will curdle and result in a super moist and fluffy sponge.

• Caster sugar | You can use granulated instead.

• Brown sugar | This adds a deeper flavour.

• Olive oil | You can also use a neutral oil.

• Vanilla | This adds more flavour to both the sponge and the frosting.

• Flour | Use all-purpose (plain), as we add in leaveners individually.

• Baking powder | This will help the cake rise.

• Baking soda | This will keep the cake fluffy.

• Spices | I use cinnamon, ginger and mixed spice.

• Salt | This will enhance the flavour.

• Vegan cream cheese | Make sure this is very cold, soy based works well.

• Vegan butter | Use vegan block butter (I use flora) to keep things stable.

• Powdered sugar | 4 cups creates a stable frosting, you can adjust it.

• Nuts | I like to garnish my cupcakes with walnuts or pecans.

FAQ’s

• Why is my frosting unstable? | If your vegan cream cheese frosting is runny, this is most likely due to the temperature of both your butter and cream cheese. Be sure to use cold cream cheese (straight from the fridge), and room temperature block butter. The consistency of your frosting can differ heavily depending on the brand of cream cheese that you use – I used Asda’s own, which is soy based.

• Why do I use oil? | Olive oil in this recipe is used to provide some extra moisture, which can be replaced by another neutral oil, or melted butter.

• Why are my cupcakes dry? | The most common cause to this would be the use of too much flour – to correctly measure dry ingredients, take a spoon and “fluff up” the flour, making sure it isn’t compact, then spoon it into your measuring cup, and level the top with the back of a knife.

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History of Carrot Cake

Though this wonderful invention did not become popular until the 1940s, it dates back to as early as 1747, when a recipe for carrot pudding pie was published in Britain through “The Food of England Project”.

The first official “Carrot Cake” recipe (which is thought to have stemmed from the carrot puddings) was published in a french cookbook in 1827. It was within this book that disclosed that carrots could be used in place of sugar, due to their natural sweetness. This was further put to use over 100yrs later.

During and after WW2, rations were tough and sugar was significantly inaccessible. Naturally, housewives at the time began looking for alternatives. What better than the beloved orange root vegetable, the humble carrot? Here is when Carrot Cake first made its noticeable entrance. A short recipe, that actually received considerable recognition, was published in 1943.

Vegan Spiced Carrot Cupcakes
prep time: 30mins / serves: 12 / cook time: 21mins

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Ingredients:

for the sponge
• 1 cup oat milk + 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup carrot, finely grated
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 + 1/2 cup plain flour, all-purpose
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

for the frosting
• 3/4 cup vegan cream cheese
• 1/2 cup vegan block butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

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Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 180c (160c fan oven) and line a cupcake tray with 12 cases.
• To a large mixing bowl, add the oat milk and cider vinegar, let sit for 5 mins.
• To the same bowl, add the finely grated carrot, sugars, oil and vanilla.
• Whisk to fully combine, then add flour, spices, salt, baking powder + soda.
• Whisk again until just combined and no flour streaks remain.
• Divide the batter between the 12 cases (I use cookie scoop).
• Bake for 21 minutes until risen and a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cool on a cooling rack whilst you make the frosting.

• To a large bowl, add cold cream cheese and room temp butter.
• With an electric whisk (or stand mixer), whip to combine.
• Add the vanilla and slowly add powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time).
• Keep whipping whilst adding in the sugar, until stiff and smooth.
• It should be pale and fluffy – place in the fridge to firm up.

• Decorate the cooled cupcakes with the frosting and nuts! 🙂

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