1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me… Happy birthday to me!

Hey, guys. It’s my birthday and I made myself a cake, ’cause that’s how I do.

This cake is simple, requiring just 1 bowl to make! Plus, it requires basic ingredients you likely have on hand right now.

The recipe is adapted from my Vegan GF Carrot Apple Muffins, but it needed some tweaking to get that cake-like texture.

I tested this recipe for 3 days straight (oy) until I finally ended up with this perfected version. I served it to friends (non-vegan and non-gluten-free folks) and none of them could tell that it was special-diet friendly. Score!

The base of the cake is coconut oil, applesauce, flax eggs, maple syrup, and almond milk. Organic brown sugar and cane sugar add the perfect amount of sweetness while leaving the cake light and fluffy. And for gluten-free flours, I went with almond flour and my go-to gluten-free blend.

The result is a light, airy, fluffy carrot cake that retains its moisture without being mushy (the ultimate goal). Once cooled, it’s frosting time!

For frostings, I included several options. After taking a vote on Twitter, it seemed many of you wanted to see both a vegan buttercream and a cashew buttercream. But guess what? I provide 6 frosting options below!

For my cake, I went for classic Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting – I couldn’t resist. But really, any of the options would be amazing! Just depends on how creative and healthy you want to be.

This would make the perfect birthday cake or cake for summer celebrations, wedding showers, cookouts, and beyond! It’s insanely flavorful, rich, moist, and undetectably vegan and gluten-free. Those who are gluten-free will be happy to know there isn’t any oat flour in this cake. I also included nut-free, oil-free, and refined-sugar-free options in the notes.