Eggless Carrot Cake / How To Make Eggless Carrot Cake

This Eggless Carrot Cake is delicious with velvety cream cheese frosting. Making this highly flavorful and lightly spiced cake is straightforward, and the recipe comes together very quickly.

Moist crumbs, full of carrots, velvety cream cheese frosting, and topped with walnuts make this Eggless Carrot Cake worth calling a birthday cake.

Behind The Best Eggless Carrot Cake

Honestly, even I did not expect this cake to be so good at first. When I made it the first time, I was hoping for an average vanilla cake with lots of shredded carrots. But oh my, how wrong I was. And I am proudly happy to have been proved wrong.

I have received many eggless carrot cake requests from some of my friends and some of my social media followers for a long time. It took me a while to perfect the recipe. But all the experiments are worth it if I can land on this delicious and beautiful carrot cake. 

Making this eggless carrot cake batter is easy, and there is no need for an electric mixer. This cake is oil-based, and that makes everything so easy to mix. We sieve and whisk dry ingredients into one bowl. Mix wet ingredients into another bowl and then combine dry ingredients into wet.

I folded shredded carrots and apples into the wet ingredients before mixing the flour mixture. This ensures an even distribution of carrots in the batter. 

I have included step-by-step instructions with pictures below for better understanding and visual explanation.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Surprisingly, there are no fancy ingredients to make this fantastic eggless carrot cake. There are real possibilities that you will find each ingredient in your kitchen. The only thing is that you might need to go and grab some carrots, which are as fresh as possible. So, first, let’s start with carrots.

1. Carrots: Do not use pre-packaged shredded carrots. They are likely dry and lack the moisture needed for this cake. Instead, choose whole carrots, peel them, and grate them yourself. Then, use a fine shredder, either in a food processor or manually, to grate the carrots. Finely grated carrots will be evenly distributed in the cake.
2. Apples: Apples provide more moisture to the eggless carrot cake. I have also used an apple to reduce a bit of oil. If you have unsweetened applesauce, you can use that instead of grated apples. Use ⅓ cups of unsweetened applesauce to substitute the grated apple. If you do not want to use apples or applesauce, use more oil. So use 1 cup of oil instead of ¾ cup. But I highly recommend an apple, as it provides not only moisture but natural sweetness, too.
3. Spices: I have used cinnamon powder and ground ginger. Both are limited in quantity and do not overpower the taste of eggless carrot cake. Feel free to use more spices like nutmeg or allspice. Also, increase the amount of ground cinnamon and ginger as you prefer.
4. Oil: I have used sunflower oil in this recipe. You can choose any neutral-flavored oil, like vegetable or canola oil. Oil makes the cake moist and delicate. Even the refrigerated cake will be soft and moist.
5. Sour Cream: Sour cream is my go-to and favorite ingredient for baking. I have used full-fat sour cream, and I would suggest the same. However, you can substitute it with yogurt. And if you are using yogurt, use full-fat.
6. Sugar: I have used a total of 1 cup of sugar, making this cake moderately sweet. I usually use less sugar than standard recipes in my sweet baking recipes. We love sweets, but we don’t like anything too sweet. And this eggless carrot cake has frosting, so I certainly don’t need my extra sweet cake. I have used both brown sugar and white sugar. Brown sugar provides moisture and deepens the color of the cake. But if you do not have brown sugar, you can skip and use a total of 1 cup of white granulated sugar.
7. Walnuts: I haven’t added the walnuts to the batter. Instead, I decorated the cake with walnuts. I wanted to keep the cake smooth without any nuts. But topping the cake with walnuts means having a nice crunch on the side along with the soft and moist cake. If you want to add walnuts to the cake, add 1 cup of lightly toasted and roughly chopped walnuts. Pecans can also be used instead of walnuts. Add walnuts along with shredded carrots and apples. You do not need to change anything else.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Eggless Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting is a classic combo! Just like we can not think of red velvet cake without cream cheese frosting, one can’t imagine carrot cake without it. 
• If you have never made cream cheese frosting before, let me tell you, it’s easier than you think. At least to me, it’s easier to make than making buttercream frosting. The reason is that this frosting comes together very quickly. In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, we can make this frosting within 10 minutes. 
• We need cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, pure vanilla, and a pinch of salt to make this icing. I have not heavily frosted this eggless carrot cake. I have frosted the cake very lightly, almost like a semi-naked cake. The term semi-naked is used for the cake, which has a thin layer of frosting, and we can see some sponge through the icing. However, you can frost your cake as you desire. The cream cheese frosting recipe I have provided here is enough to frost a two-layer cake heavily.

How To Make Eggless Carrot Cake Step-by-Step

Baking The Eggless Carrot Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. 
• Grease two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick oil spray or grease with butter and line with parchment paper.

• In a medium mixing bowl, sift all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt.
• Whisk well and set aside.

• Take oil, sour cream (or yogurt), brown sugar, white sugar, and pure vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk well until the mixture is smooth.

• Add shredded carrots, apples, and milk.
• Stir well.

• Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until combined.
• Do not overmix.

• Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
• Bake at 350° F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

• Remove the pans from the oven and place them on a wire rack.
• Allow the eggless carrot cake layers to cool completely in the pan. Then, remove the cakes from the pan gently and carefully.
• The cakes must be completely cool before frosting.

Making Cream Cheese Frosting

• Using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, and butter in a large bowl at medium speed for about two minutes or until smooth.

• Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.
• Mix on low speed for a few seconds or until sugar is mixed in.
• Then increase the speed to high and continue beating for 3-5 minutes or until everything is well combined and the frosting is creamy and smooth.

• If your frosting is too thin, add more sugar.
• But if it is too thick, add one or two tablespoon of milk.
• If it is too sweet, you can add an extra pinch of salt.
• The icing should be creamy and smooth but not too thin and runny.

Assembling And Frosting The Cake

• Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off from the tops of both cake layers to make a flat surface.
• Place one cake layer on the cake stand, cake rotating stand, or serving plate.
• Evenly cover the top with frosting and place 2nd layer on top of it.
• Spread the frosting all over the top and sides of the cake. After frosting, place it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Note: I did not need to cut a thin layer off as my cake layers rose equally and almost flat.

Storing Suggestions

• You can make the cake layers ahead of time. Keep them at room temperature, tightly covered. The next day, you can frost the cake.
• After frosting, place the cake in the fridge until the time of slicing and serving.
• Place the leftover cake in the refrigerator tightly covered for up to 3 days.

Preparing The Baking Pans

I spray the baking pans generously with nonstick oil spray most of the time. And that’s because I bake a lot, and I know how much spray would be enough for the cake not to stick in the pan.

But when I try any cake for the first time, I always make sure to line my baking pan with parchment paper.

With the parchment paper, there will be no chance of our cake to stick at the bottom of the pan. So, if you are a beginner in baking or do not have nonstick oil spray, make sure to use parchment paper.

Grease the baking pan with butter, line it with parchment paper (just the bottom of the pan), and spread some butter on parchment paper as well.

More Eggless Cakes

You May Like More Cake Recipes

• Eggless Chocolate Chip Cake
• Chhena Poda / Easy Indian Cheesecake
• Eggless Chocolate Cake / Eggless Small Chocolate Cake

Recipe Card

Carrot Cake Eggless / The Best Eggless Carrot Cake

By Jigna

Carrot cake is soft, moist, and very delicious that I can even call it a birthday cake. It is a flavorful cake frosted with creamy and velvety smooth cream cheese frosting.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin SaveSaved!

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Cuisine World

Course Dessert

Diet Eggless, Vegetarian

Servings 12

Equipment

• Kitchen Scale
• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

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For The Cake

• ▢ 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 1 cup (240g) sour cream or plain yogurt
• ▢ ¾ cup (180ml) oil (sunflower or vegetable)
• ▢ ½ cup (100g) brown sugar
• ▢ ½ cup (100g) white granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup (60ml) milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups shredded carrots
• ▢ ⅓ cup grated apple
• ▢ 1 cup walnuts lightly toasted and roughly chopped (Optional)

For Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 250g cream cheese softened to room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup (114g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• ▢ 2½ cups (285g) Confectioners’ sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ Pinch of salt

Instructions

 

Making The Carrot Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• Grease two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick oil spray or grease with butter and line with parchment paper.
• In a medium mixing bowl, sieve together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, take oil, sour cream (or yogurt), brown sugar, white sugar, and pure vanilla extract. Whisk well until the mixture is smooth.
• Add shredded carrots, apple, and milk. Mix well.
• Add dry ingredients and mix until combined well. Do not overmix.
• Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake at 350° F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove the pans from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely into the pan. And then remove the cakes from the pan gently and carefully.
• The cakes must be completely cool before frosting.

Making Cream Cheese Frosting

• Using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed for about two minutes or until smooth.
• Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Mix on low speed for few seconds or until sugar mixed in. Then increase the speed to high and continue beating for 3-5 minutes or until everything is well combined and the frosting is creamy and smooth.
• If your frosting is too thin, add more sugar. But if it is too thick, add one or two tablespoon of milk. If it is too sweet, you can add an extra pinch of salt.
• The icing should be creamy and smooth but not too thin and runny.

Assembling and Frosting the Cake

• Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off from both cake layers’ tops to make a flat surface. Take one cake layer and place on the cake stand or cake rotating stand, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting and place 2nd layer on top of it. Spread the frosting all over the top and sides of the cake. After frosting, decorate the cake with walnuts or as you desire or enjoy as it is.

Notes

1. Cream Cheese: Use the original cream cheese block and not the spread. In Canada, we have one block of cream cheese of 250gms, which is approximately 1 cup.
2. Grated Apple: Apple provides moisture and makes the crumbs soft. But if you do not want to use an apple, make sure to use an extra ¼ cup of oil. 
3. Nuts: I did not add walnuts to the cake. But if you want to add it to the cake, add it with carrots and apples. You do not need to change anything else. You can also use pecans instead of walnuts. Either pecans or walnuts, whatever you are using, toast them lightly to enhance their flavor before using in the recipe.
4. Frosting: For me, this frosting was perfectly sweet, and I didn’t want to add more sugar. To make the frosting thicker, we need to add more sugar. So with 2.5 cups of icing sugar, the frosting will be smooth and creamy but not too thick. If you want it thicker, add more sugar, one or two tablespoon at a time, until you get the desired consistency. But then, if it becomes too sweet, you can add an extra pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. If your frosting is too thick, add one or two tablespoon of milk or cream.

Nutrition (Approximate Values)

Calories : 463kcalCarbohydrates : 60gProtein : 4gFat : 34gSaturated Fat : 12gPolyunsaturated Fat : 5gMonounsaturated Fat : 14gTrans Fat : 1gCholesterol : 54mgSodium : 345mgPotassium : 169mgFiber : 1gSugar : 19gVitamin A : 4216IUVitamin C : 1mgCalcium : 99mgIron : 1mg

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