Vegan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I LOVE Carrot Cake. I used to work at the cutest little cafe about twelve years ago that was famous for its carrot cake. It was full of flavour, had lots of texture, and was oh so moist.

Of course it wasn't vegan, so I was determined to make one just as good that I could eventually sell at my (at the time) future Vegan Restaurant ... and I did!

At Grow Your Roots (the restaurant), we would sell so many cakes to happy customers at Easter time. I loved that this favourite cake of mine became a Spring dessert staple for so many people. It seemed fitting to me. Naturally, we think of cute little bunnies eating carrots in Spring too, right?

This Carrot Cake is loaded with all the good stuff - warming spices, coconut, pineapple, raisins (or omit if you don't like them) and of course, carrots. The carrot and the pineapple add so much moisture to the cake, while the spices, coconut and raisins add the perfect amount of warmth and texture.

This cake is, of course, finished off with the signature delicious cream cheese frosting (made vegan obviously), and some toasted coconut for an added boost of crunch and deliciousness! The frosting is beautifully rich, which compliments the not overly sweet cake amazingly.

Love some nuts in your carrot cake? Throw in some chopped walnuts! You can also sub chopped walnuts instead of raisins if you like a little crunch in your cake!

I've made this cake both in a Bundt pan, and a double layer 8" cake and both are great options.

Just be sure to always let your cakes cool completely before removing from the pan and especially cool before trying to frost them. Otherwise your icing will fall off the cake and you'll have a mess! I put a quick little video on my Instagram Highlights on how to easily ice the cake if you need a little help with that! Follow me and watch at @melanieboudens .