So today is a very exciting day for me…My blog is officially one year old today! I even reached my goal of getting 20,000 views.

Through all the ups and downs of this past year, the one thing I always looked forward to was getting in the kitchen and cooking, juicing, baking, sautéing or anything else that involved food. I am so glad that I started this blog to share my recipes and I’m looking forward to sharing lots more recipes with you in this coming year.

Now back to the real reason I’m writing this post to you…

Throughout this year, I tried a lot of different recipes but my favorite by far was the carrot cake muffins.

So I figured what better way to celebrate my blog’s first year than with a vegan carrot cake with “cream cheese” frosting!

I changed my original recipe for carrot cake muffins and came up with this delicious, moist vegan carrot cake.

The vegan “cream cheese” frosting recipe came from my favorite cookbook, “BIG VEGAN” by Robin Asbell.

Together the vegan carrot cake and the vegan “cream cheese” frosting combine to create a layered 9×9 cake that will impress your friends not only in appearance but also in how amazingly delicious, moist and flavorful this cake is. In addition, for being a cake, I have to say this is pretty nutritious. You’ll be getting good amounts of vitamin A and E as well as the mineral manganese. One slice of this cake will also give you some fiber, protein and some of your daily potassium.

Makes two 9×9 cakes

Serves 20

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 cups of whole wheat flour

1.5 cups of light brown sugar

2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of allspice

2 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

1 cup of chopped walnuts

2 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk

3/4 cup of safflower oil

2 cups of shredded carrots (about 6 carrots)

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Let’s start by making the vegan carrot cake.

Put all of your dry ingredients for the vegan carrot cake into a large mixing bowl. This will include the 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1.5 cups of light brown sugar (packed), 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of allspice, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the 1 cup of chopped walnuts.

Place all of your wet ingredients into a separate mixing bowl. This will include the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 3/4 cup of safflower oil and the two cups of grated carrots, which I packed like you would brown sugar to get lots of carrots in there.

Note: you can use canola or vegetable oil if you prefer instead of the safflower oil. I like that it works well as a replacement for canola oil or vegetable oil and has one less gram of fat and a good amount of vitamin E in it.

Mix your dry ingredients well, and then mix your wet ingredients well.

Once both are mixed, you’ll be adding the wet ingredient mixture to the dry ingredient mixture and will once again be stirring vigorously by hand to make sure you have a thoroughly mixed carrot cake batter.

Next take two 9×9 round cake pans and prepare appropriately. I sprayed mine with canola oil spray so that the cake would not stick to the pan, but this may be unnecessary if you are using nonstick pans.

Then divide up your carrot cake batter into the two 9×9 pans and put into the oven. This will bake for about 35 minutes until golden brown and done.

Now set aside and while your cakes are cooling, you can make the vegan “cream cheese” frosting.

Vegan “Cream Cheese” Frosting Recipe

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 cups of tofu “cream cheese”

1/4 cup of agave syrup

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Again just want to mention that this fabulous, simple vegan “cream cheese” frosting is from my favorite cookbook “BIG VEGAN” by Robin Asbell and is not my own creation.

To make the vegan “cream cheese” frosting, you will need to combine all ingredients into a medium size mixing bowl. The two cups of tofu “cream cheese” will take about two containers. I packed my cream cheese into the cup and ended up needing a little bit more from a third container of tofu “cream cheese”.

You will need to really mash the tofu “cream cheese”, the agave syrup and the vanilla extract together. I left this mixture to sit at room temperature for about ten minutes before mixing. You could also just leave the cream cheese in the container out on the counter for five to ten minutes before you start to make this frosting. Either way, letting it sit really makes it easier to combine. Mix by hand and stir until you’ve reached icing-like consistency.

Then come back to your now cool vegan carrot cakes and start frosting the cakes!

I use a trick my mom taught me for icing cakes. That is to put wax paper underneath the cake on the four different sides, just a little bit underneath the cake. This makes sure that when you ice the cake, if any falls off it hits the wax paper and not your serving plate. Once done icing, carefully remove the wax paper.

Now you’re all set to enjoy your vegan carrot cake with vegan “cream cheese” frosting!

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition facts were kind of difficult for me on this cake because the servings depend on how thick you cut your slice. So if you’re one of those people who loves a big piece of cake, these nutrition facts might be a little different for you. If you are cutting a normal piece, I’m assuming we can get twenty slices out of this layered 9×9 cake.

In one slice of this cake, you’re getting 285 calories and 16 grams of fat. You are also getting 38 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams being dietary fiber. Additionally, one slice of this vegan carrot cake will give you 168 milligrams of potassium and 3 grams of protein.

In terms of vitamins, you’ll be receiving 2% of your daily vitamin C, 3% of your daily vitamin B-6, 20% of your daily vitamin E, and 52% of your daily vitamin A.

One slice of this vegan carrot cake will give you a variety of minerals. Some of those include: 5% of your daily calcium, 7% of your daily copper, and 23% of your daily manganese.

The complete nutrition facts can be seen in the images above and have been calculated using Sparks Recipe Calculator.