Dairy Free Carrot Cake

5 from 8 votes

This dairy-free carrot cake is moist, warmly spiced, and perfectly sweet with tender shredded carrots in every bite. It’s an easy, allergy-friendly dessert topped with a creamy dairy-free frosting that everyone will love.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Frosting Time10

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: allergy friendly cake, carrot cake without dairy, dairy free carrot cake, dairy free dessert, easy carrot cake recipe, healthy carrot cake, Moist carrot cake

Servings:

Calories: 691kcal

Author: Nicole Kendrick

Equipment

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups Bob's Red Mill GF 1:1 flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

Wet Ingredients

1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs room temp
3 cups carrots grated

Dairy Free Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

18 oz dairy free cream cheese softened
1 stick dairy free butter room temp
4 cups powdered sugar sifted
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Making Your Cakes

First, preheat oven to 350 °F. Then, lightly grease 2 8x8 round cake pans. Cover the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. The place all of your dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk.
Using a mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for one minute. Next, add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the mixture. Then mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add in half of your dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 20 seconds. Make sure to scrape down the sides. Add remaining dry mixture and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds until fully combined.
Now, evenly distribute into 2 8x8 round cake pans. I like to weigh mine to be sure they are going to bake evenly. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Once done, remove from their pans and let them cool all the way through.

Making Your Icing

First, add dairy free butter and cream cheese to a mixer with paddle attachment and mix until smooth.
Next, add in the powdered sugar 2 cups at a time. After each addition, begin mixing on low until the powder is slightly combined, then mix on medium until well combined (About 1 minute).
Once all powdered sugar has been combined, add vanilla, and mix again until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix.
The end result should be a thick and creamy frosting. See my Dairy Free Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe for step-by-step pictures.

If your frosting is too runny, add ¼ cup powdered sugar until it thickens.

Frosting Your Cakes

Start by putting some icing on your cake plate. Then put the first cake layer on top. This prevents the cake from sliding. Now, add a large amount of frosting to the top.
Spread the frosting so it covers the full layer of cake evenly.
Add you next cake layer and repeat the same frosting method to get both cakes evenly coated. Make sure the sides and top are smoothed together to help provide a seamless look.
Finish the cake by decorating with your favorite nuts and small carrot shavings. I used pecans for mine. Slice and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Tips:

Keep the cream cheese frosting cold. If it gets warm it will start to thin and get runny.
Use a high quality gluten free flour like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Flour.
Do not buy bags pre shredded carrots, this was a mistake a mistake I made many years ago. Those carrots are not grated small enough. Always buy regular carrots and grate them down nice and small. I like to use a food processor for this step.

Storage:

Store your cake in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Leftover frosting can be saved for up to 2 weeks. Make sure to keep it in the fridge.

Nutrition