Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 21 Comments

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ThisGluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake is:

  • pretty and colourful
  • naturally sweetened
  • slathered in a delicious cream cheese frosting!

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (1)

Anyone else obsessed with carrot cake? I certainly am, which is why I've made all of these:

  • Carrot Cake Mug Cake
  • Carrot Cake Cupcakes
  • Tropical Carrot Cake
  • Carrot Cake Cookies

And now I'm moving onto this Purple Carrot Cake!

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (2)

Instead of normal carrots, I decided to mix things up and use purple carrots, because of their beautiful colour! Of course if you can't get hold of purple carrots, this recipe will work just fine with normal carrots too.

The base for this Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake is my go-to sponge recipe: it's made in one bowl, uses familiar ingredients and is refined sugar free.

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (3)

You can add any type of dried fruits you like - whilst raisins or sultanas may be more traditional, finely chopped pieces of dried mango or papaya are also delicious. Chopped walnuts add a lovely contrasting bitterness, but these can also be swapped for any other nuts, or left out completely.

I also like to add some desiccated coconut for its sweet and fragrant nuttiness that pairs wonderfully with the warming spices in the cake, but you can also leave this out if you prefer.

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (4)

And what's carrot cake without a rich, tangy, sweet cream cheese frosting? I like to make mine using creamy coconut whipped milk, lemon juice for sourness, and maple syrup for a little sweetness. It's easy to make and goes beautifully with the moist, fluffy sponge.

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (5)

Finally, I decided to decorate the top of the carrot cake with some thinly sliced purple carrot crisps - although putting roast vegetables on cake may sound a little strange, the oven really brings out the sweetness in the carrots, and they look beautiful too!

Again, normal carrots will work just as well for this, or you can leave them out completely and decorate the cake with anything else you like.

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (6)

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.

Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake:

For the cake:

box grater

glass mixing bowl

measuring jug

18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tin

baking paper

cooling rack

For the carrot crisps:

rectangular baking tray

For the frosting:

electric whisk

palette knife for frosting

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (7)

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake

ThisGluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake is pretty and colourful, naturally sweetened and slathered in a delicious cream cheese frosting!

4 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: vegan carrot cake, vegan gluten-free carrot cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 488kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
  • 230 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
  • Juice of ½ lemon*
  • 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or sub a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 100 g (3.5oz) purple carrots, grated (one medium-sized carrot)
  • 30 g (¼ cup) walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 50 g (⅓ cup) raisins or sultanas (or sub finely chopped dried mango or papaya)
  • 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
  • 150 g (1 ¼ cups) ground almonds** (almond meal)
  • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
  • 2 heaped teaspoons baking power (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
  • ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

For the carrot crisps (optional):

  • Mini purple carrots, sliced

For the frosting:

  • 400 g (14oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk***
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)

  • Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)

  • Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, ginger, mixed spice, salt, grated carrot, walnuts, raisins, desiccated coconut and ground almonds

  • Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda

  • Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry

  • Transfer mixture between two small greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm baking tins)

  • Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean

  • Once out the oven, immediately remove cakes from baking tins and transfer onto a wire rack to cool

For the carrot crisps (optional):

  • Lay out the purple carrot slices on a baking tray and bake in oven for around 10 minutes until the edges have shrivelled up - be careful to make sure they don’t burn!

For the frosting:

  • You'll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won't happen and you won't be able to make this cream!

  • Open the tin upside down - the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)

  • Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl

  • Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract

  • Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy

To decorate:

  • Once the sponges have cooled completely, place one sponge on a large plate or cake stand, and cover with half of the frosting

  • Place other sponge on top and use remaining frosting to cover the top

  • Decorate with the purple carrot slices, if desired

  • Best when fresh, but keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days

Notes

*The lemon juice is crucial as its acidity needs to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the sponge fluffy. If you don't want to use lemon juice, substitute with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar instead

**You can alternatively usealmond flour

***You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 488

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

More Baking & Dessert Recipes

  • Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Madeleines
  • Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Muffins
  • Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Cake
  • Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply

  1. Vegan_hen

    We don’t use oil so can I sub some thing for the coconut oil like applesauce? Or mashed banana

    Reply

    • Rhian Williams

      A few tablespoons apple sauce works!

« Older Comments

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Carrot Cake - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Does Purple Carrot have gluten free options? ›

Purple Carrot offers both prepared meals and meal kits, so you can choose the level of effort that you want to put into your meals. The meals are all fully plant-based, and Purple Carrot provides several gluten-free recipes to choose from, as well as gluten-free pre-prepared meals.

Is Purple Carrot vegan? ›

Purple Carrot is the only completely vegan meal kit service and it takes plant-based cooking seriously. You won't find many recipes that try to imitate meat, but just lots of recipes featuring vegan staples such as lentils, legumes, cashews, grains, cauliflower, root vegetables and healthy greens.

Are purple carrots better for you? ›

Purple carrots contain all the nutrients of orange carrots, but they've also been shown to have greater anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. A recent Australian study showed that the purple pigment that cases the carrot contained up to 28 times more anthocyanin antioxidants than those in orange carrots.

How healthy are Purple Carrot frozen meals? ›

Purple Carrot Meals

have been clinically proven to help people lose weight and lower LDL cholesterol—in just 4 weeks. Plus, when you eat a healthy plant-based diet you may also lower your risk of diabetes.

Is Purple Carrot anti-inflammatory? ›

Diets high in anthocyanin-rich foods — such as purple carrots — may protect against certain health conditions, especially those related to inflammation. Anthocyanins act as anti-inflammatory agents by reducing potentially harmful compounds like pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Can celiacs eat carrots? ›

Vegetables – All vegetables are naturally gluten free. You can eat a wide variety to get the vitamins and minerals you need. A few examples are zucchini, green beans, peas, lettuce, carrots, eggplant, peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes. Fruits – All fruits are also naturally gluten-free.

What is the flavor of Purple Carrot? ›

White carrots, for example, are crisp and sweet, with an “apple-like texture.” Purple carrots, on the other hand, have a more peppery flavor and woody texture. Orange carrots came into favor thanks to their sweetness and size, and they contain the most moisture of the cultivars.

Where is Purple Carrot shipped from? ›

Purple Carrot is a Needham, Massachusetts-based, and 100% plant-based meal kit company.

Do purple carrots taste different than regular carrots? ›

“Rainbow coloured carrots do taste different from orange. Yellow carrots have an earthy sweet flavour with notes of celery and parsley. White carrots are relatively mild. Purple carrots can have a peppery flavour but can also be very sweet.”

Are purple carrots high in sugar? ›

Our data showed that the purple carrots contained slightly higher total sugar content than the orange carrots (Fig. ...

Can dogs eat purple carrots? ›

Whether purple, yellow or regular orange, carrots are a healthy and nutritious vegetable for both you and your pup. Dogs can safely eat carrots. They're a good source of dietary fiber and rich in vitamins. It's often said that chewing cold or frozen carrots will help clean plaque off a dog's teeth.

Can I eat purple carrots raw? ›

Purple carrots can be used in the same way as orange and yellow carrots and can be eaten raw, cooked, or juiced.

Is Hungryroot or Purple Carrot better? ›

Whether Hungryroot or Purple Carrot is better will depend on a person's dietary needs and preferences for a meal delivery service. Purple Carrot offers exclusively plant-based meals, so it is a good option for vegans and vegetarians. It also offers both meal kits and prepared meals, widening a person's choices.

Is Purple Carrot good for diabetes? ›

The benefits of a plant-based diet include things like reduced risk of heart disease or diabetes. This makes Purple Carrot a compelling choice for anyone looking for an easy way to switch up their diet.

Is Purple Carrot expensive? ›

All in, Purple Carrot dinner cost between $11 and $14 per serving. The more servings you order per box, the lower the cost per serving. If you go for the smallest box, three meals with two servings each, you'll pay about $80. Max out your box and expect to pay around $132.

What does purple carrots contain? ›

Purple vegetables have antioxidants called anthocyanins, which delay cellular aging and help prevent the formation of blood clots. Anthocyanins also help with muscle recovery after intense exercise. Furthermore, they can inhibit the development and progression of some types of cancers.

Are purple potatoes gluten-free? ›

The advantage to potatoes is that there are hundreds of varieties to choose from. Some of the most popular include: russet, sweet, white, red, purple, fingerling, and petites. And all of them are gluten-free. They're also versatile enough that you can incorporate them into your gluten-free diet in many ways.

Is Purple Wheat gluten-free? ›

Purple Wheat is part of the anciet grain family Ours is grown in Australia and is stoneground and sustanable . It contains a simple gluten which makes it easier for our bodies to digest.

What is purple carrot made of? ›

Anthocyanin group members, also known as purple carrots, accumulate high levels of anthocyanins in their roots. Anthocyanins are water-soluble flavonoid compounds and confer red, blue, and purple pigmentation to plants. In addition to their important roles in plants, they are also beneficial human nutrients.

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