I bet even though you're here you're probably having a hard time believing the frosting on these raw carrot cake cupcakes is actually raw, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, right? Must be a typo or something... Well, I was in disbelief myself when these first happened to be honest, so I don't blame you ;). I was so excited this pipeable raw frosting worked so well and held its shape! Seems there's no end to the wonderful treats you can make with a few simple ingredients.
A raw carrot cake has been on my hit list for some time now, so finally getting around to making this has been a real treat. I've been making all kinds of carrot cakes lately, but this one made me the happiest on account of its simplicity, ease of making, alternative diet-friendliness, and it's gorgeous-looking frosting! Looking at these cupcakes just made me smile every time.
I made this carrot cake into 6 little cupcakes for individual servings, but the recipe can easily be made into one 6" cake or doubled for a taller cake. You can even make two 6" layers and make this into a layer cake -- the frosting will totally hold up! This frosting can be piped (I used a Wilton 1G tip), or just spread with a spatula. Sprinkling it with cinnamon on top seals the deal ;)
Oh, and feel free to play around -- dates, dried pineapple, or dried apricots, etc. would be amazing in place of the raisins here (or in combination with), as would pecans or brazil nuts in place of walnuts. You can even get away with reducing a bit of the coconut oil in the base a little and adding a more dried fruit instead if you prefer (the coconut oil helps it solidify into shape better). So feel free to use your favorite carrot-cake add-ins and have fun exploring ;)
Raw Carrot Cake
Beautiful spiced raw carrot cake cups with chopped walnuts, raisins, and topped with the most delicious vegan frosting.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 cupcakes
- Category: Cake
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Cake:
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 cup walnuts
- 4 small carrots, coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup coconut oil, softened
- ¼ cup maple syrup*
- 1-2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- dash salt
Frosting:
- ¾ cup coconut manna coconut butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup, at room temp
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, at room temp
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk of your choice, at room temp
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- cinnamon for sprinkling
Instructions
- Line a muffin pan with 6 cupcake liners and set aside.
- Place all cake ingredients into a food processor and process into a finely crumbled/sticky mixture (be careful not to over-process into a paste though). Divide this mixture between the 6 cupcake liners and use your fingers to press into a cupcake shape (I flattened the tops of mine by simply pressing them down evenly to create a smooth surface for the frosting, but you can always shape yours into little domed cakes). Place the tray in the freezer and allow to set for at least 3-4 hours or until firm.
- Make sure all frosting ingredients are at room temperature, when ready to frost, place all frosting ingredients into a high power blender (I used my Vitamix for this) and process into a smooth consistency. Transfer to a piping bag and frost the cupcakes. Sprinkle with a hint cinnamon and enjoy!
Notes
*Note: maple syrup is not technically a raw sweetener. If you want this recipe to be fully raw, use a raw liquid sweetener like raw agave, raw coconut syrup, etc.
Storage notes: store leftover cupcakes in the fridge. Let them sit out for 10 minutes after refrigeration to allow the frosting to soften up a touch (it will really hold its shape infinitely though and continue to look just as it did when you first piped it -- just gets a little firmer when chilled).
Kristina says
Omg. These were DELICIOUS!! I love carrot cake so I knew when I saw these, I had to make them!! Thank you for sharing! I’ll be making them again for sure! Saved 😍
The Real Person!
So happy these hit the spot :) Thanks so much for the feedback!
Becky says
I want to make these, but was hoping to make a day or two early. It sounds like I should store in the freezer vs the fridge?
The Real Person!
Hi Becky. I usually store these in the fridge. They keep well for a few days with no issues for me usually. If you prefer though, you can freeze them and thaw out in the fridge the night before. Enjoy! :)
Hannah says
Can I make these into a cake instead? How would I go about doing that?
The Real Person!
Hi Hannah, yes, you can just shape it into a cake rather than cupcakes. You can use a non-stick springform pan (6" diameter) for the purpose. That's probably the simplest solution.
Or alternatively if you have a large silicone insert for a regular cake pan (6" pan) or bread loaf pan (medium-sized) can use that too. I just wouldn't recommend using a straight up regular cake pan or container without any kind of silicone lining since it'll probably be hard / near impossible to get the cake out of there!
olesyafedorova111 says
Very very delisious carrot cake )))
The Real Person!
Hi Olesya. Thank you so much for the feedback -- I'm glad you enjoyed the cake!
Amber Powers says
These were a delicious hit for an Easter party. My only recommendation would be to eat them the day they are made. The two extra that I saved in my refrigerator were crumbly the next day ( but still delicious with a spoon). They might have been a better texture if I’d stored them in the freezer. Overall though, these had amazing flavor & were easy to whip up.
The Real Person!
Hi Amber, thanks for the lovely feedback and for sharing your freezer vs. fridge tip! I'm glad to hear they were a hit :)
Ona W. says
Hi Audrey. These were/are REALLY good. Better than I ever expected.
I had your recipe in my bookmarks for many months, maybe longer than that. Now my tastes have changed away from the extremely rich, fatty, sweeter things I was used to (think a lot of cashew cheesecakes and raw nut/date brownies) to somewhat lighter, still decadent, but far less sweet things. Time for your carrot cakes.
For that reason, I did completely omit the maple syrup in the cake, using medjool dates in place of half the raisins instead. I also used flax meal in place of the coconut flakes, to save on fat and calories. I couldn't believe how delicious it was right out the processor. Totally didn't need the icing, but that turned out to be a nice touch.
I will note that my carrots are local, and local veggies always provide a more intense (and, in this case, sweet) flavor. Thanks so much for this great recipe. I'll have to investigate more of yours. :)
The Real Person!
Hi Ona, thanks so much for sharing your swaps -- I'm glad the recipe led you to a treat that works for you :) And I'm sure others will appreciate hearing about your substitutions as well.
Tracey says
From someone who actually made these, they are delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
The Real Person!
Hi Tracey. Thanks so much. I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Cassie Thuvan Tran says
This recipe is absolutely gorgeous! I actually never would have guessed that these carrot cake cupcakes were raw because of the well-decorated frosting on top! Not gonna lie, I wouldn't complain either way--I love carrot cake both raw and in conventionally baked form! But then again, your name speaks "Unconventional Baker", so I always seem to expect extraordinary and beautiful recipes from your blog!
The Real Person!
Thanks so much, Cassie :)
Beth says
I'm confused! The recipe says it is AIP, but cashews, which are listed as the AIP sub for walnuts, are not permitted on the AIP diet. Is there a different ingredient you can sub to make it truly AIP?
The Real Person!
Hi Beth, sorry for the confusion. I shared this recipe some years ago. I’m not on the AIP diet myself, but at the time, since I was already creating recipes that fit specialized diets, I was invited to create treats to share with a specific AIP community and was given their guidelines. Cashews (and other nuts) were a permitted food on their list after the initial 30 days elimination diet. I noticed a little while back an article I stumbled across discussing how cashews are not an AIP food, and when I looked around I saw that that seems to be the consensus these days. I’m not sure to be honest if this is a new thing, or if cashews are still AIP, but as a result I’ve decided that I’ll just need to take off all mentions of AIP on my website because I can’t keep up with a changing diet and definitely don’t want to make any false promises. I just haven’t gotten around to making updates on all the recipes. In short, I guess it depends on the AIP guidelines you are following.
If you’re curious, here’s the AIP group I’m referencing above: http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/05/19/what-is-the-paleo-autoimmune-protocol/
And here’s their explanation about nuts and seeds specifically: https://www.thepaleomom.com/the-whys-behind-the-autoimmune-protocol-nuts-and-seeds/
Beth says
Thank you for the reply, Audrey! Great articles, too.
Val says
Hi! Love this recipe, I have been dying to find a raw vegan version of carrot cake. Quick question, what exactly is coconut butter? Can it be substituted with anything else? Coconut cream maybe? It's just because I do not have access to Amazon in my country and I have never seen it in stores.
Thank you for posting such amazing content!
The Real Person!
Hi Val,
Coconut butter is blended coconut. It has a very particular consistency and it firms up nicely into a frosting -- something you can't really achieve with coconut cream. You could however do something like a cashew-based drizzle instead, like the one from this recipe. Or go for a chocolate frosting (without the espresso).
I'm not sure if iherb.com delivers to where you are, but I use them a lot when I travel as they have a wide worldwide delivery option and they have some really good products on there. Might want to check them out, if you haven't already :)
dodie says
I was so excited when a friend sent me your link! Unfortunately, I'm highly allergic to coconut. :( Perhaps one day you can make a coconut free recipe for folks like me? That would be so wonderful.
The Real Person!
Hey Dodie, sorry to hear about your coconut allergy. The good news is that although this particular recipe might not work out, there are heaps of coconut-free recipes on this blog. I just added a special coconut-free section, so if you go to the recipes page: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/all-recipes/ you can select all the categories that apply (including "coconut-free") and it should pull up some things you can enjoy :)
Jill says
Hello. Do you recommend soaking dates before using in the recipe?
The Real Person!
Hi Jill,
Do you mean if using dates in place of raisins? If so, I think you're good without soaking if your dates are on the fresh side or if using medjool dates.
Soaking is fine too if they are older/very firm but it will make the texture a little more "blended", or "less textured" because of the soaked up water content, but I'd say it's not a biggie. It's a pretty flexible recipe in many ways, so go with what you've got :)
Sha says
I made this yesterday and tasted one piece today. This is seriously 5 star stuff.
I hope it's no offence to Audrey but I did make a few subs due to availability and preference.
I subbed flax meal for the unsweetened coconut as my homemade shredded coconut was still frozen (forgotten to thaw it beforehand) and I really wanted to make this NOW at the time so I figured out why don't I try flax meal instead?
I also used almond flour in place of the walnuts. Omitted maple syrup but used stevia instead, although I'm pretty sure maple would take this to another level because, maple (yum) but I wanted to keep this on the lower side of the sugar level hence the stevia.
I also omitted the coconut oil but upped the vanilla extract. The carrots were grated using a box grater so I just mixed everything by hand.
I followed the recipe for the frosting but did not include maple or any sweetener as I felt the coconut butter was already sweet on its own.
I'll be making this again and next time I'll be sure to thaw my shredded coconuts first before starting the recipe. Another keeper from Audrey.
The Real Person!
Thanks for sharing all your subs, sha! Interesting to hear what worked :) and it's my kind of baking too (just making use of what's on hand and not being afraid to "play" or experiment).
Sha says
HI Audrey,
I would love to try this as now my oven is out of commission :D but how much in cups, are 4 small carrots? Carrots come in variable of sizes here so...
The Real Person!
Hi Sha,
Good point ?. The carrots I used I'm pretty sure were somewhere around 50-60 grams each (about 5 1/2" - 6 1/2" each), so something like that would work well (this recipe doesn't require extreme precision on that point so long as you're in the ballpark). Not sure how many cups that would be, since it depends on how small you chop them...
Sha says
Thanks Audrey that helps a lot in giving me an idea how much carrots to use. I'm pretty new to your site, but haven't stopped looking at your recipes since last week, every day! LOL.
I really appreciate that you take time to reply to every question posted, something I look forward to when frequenting a site coz most times the comments section provide a lot of help in troubleshooting what can go wrong or expectations when trying to substitute due to (in)availabilities of ingredients.
You're very responsive and I truly appreciate that. ♡♡♡
The Real Person!
Thank you so much, Sha! I do try to respond to each comment, even though sometimes it takes me a little while to get a reply up because there are so many ?? -- because I agree, I think they are a good place to get additional information, substitution ideas, and so on based on things people do or want to do in their kitchens. I learn a lot from them myself :)
McJ says
Thank you! I've been AIP for ~5 weeks now and thought I wouldn't get a satisfying birthday cake. This was soooo yummy! Different than a normal carrot cake, sure, on account of it's being cold and having a texture more similar to a dense tres leches. So, here are the options I went with for the coconut/fruit combo: I did 1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut, 1/2 cup dried apricots, 4 slices dried pineapple, 4 small slices dried mango. My fruit came from Trader Joe's and was all unsweetened. Additionally, I added the zest of the lemon to the cake, and used honey in the cake (but still maple syrup in the frosting). So good! Next time, and THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME, I'm going to make them as mini cupcakes or cake balls because they are so rich! My frosting skills aren't on par with yours, so they came out... with great personalities. ;-) But still a success! Oh, and I loved the bonus of getting to suck the extra frosting out of the baggie while they set up in the freezer. JK, of course I didn't do that (sheepishly glances away).
Jasmine says
Hello! I got so SO excited seeing this recipe!
I am on a special diet for a severe case of candida. I've been on this diet for 5 months and let me tell you, it gets old!
I can only eat organic meats, vegetables, coconut oil, fresh coconut, and berries. For sweetener, I am permitted stevia and monkfruit.
This is the first recipe I have seen that I could actually modify to eat, because it is free from all flours and milks!
That being said: although berries are on this special diet, dried berries have more sugar. Is there anything I could sub for dried fruit? Could I possible use fresh fruit? (even thought I know it would go bad sooner)
And secondly, how could I sub monkfruit for a liquid sweetener? Should I just add water or more coconut oil and the sugar substitute?
Any help would be so deeply appreciated! :)
The Real Person!
Hi Jasmine,
Oh, I know how it feels when your diet gets narrow.
I responded to your question on another recipe just now about monkfruit and how I don't really have experience with how it acts in a recipe since we don't have it here. BUT I'm pretty confident you can easily replace the raisins and maple syrup here with some. The issue for me is not so much how quickly they'll go bad, but how soft they'll get. I think just do 1/2 a cup monkfruit and 1/4 cup more nuts in place of the 1/4 cup maple and 1/2 cup raisins. If for any reason it gets way too liquidy, just add a bit more coconut oil to help it solidify better in the freezer. But otherwise fresh fruit isn't a problem at all.
P.S. On the recipes page, you can select the grain-free tab or the raw tab up top to get all the flourless recipes. I know they won't all fit the bill, but lots of options and I'm always happy to help with substitution ideas.
Holli says
Hey! So I'm really excited to make this but I'm wondering how you think it will hold up in a sheet cake? Was it fairly sturdy? It's for a bday party so it will be frosted and cut into a shape from the sheet but I'm super nervous it's going to crumble. Any advice before I go for it?!
The Real Person!
Hi Holli,
Thank you so much for your comment and so sorry it took me so long to reply (juggling a lot atm!). I haven't tried it as a sheetcake, but something tells me there's a chance it might crumble if you try and cut it into too intricate a shape -- just because it's got those chunks of nuts in there, etc. If it's a simple shape, it should work just fine. Just make sure it's fully frozen before you start cutting, and run the knife under hot water in between cuts. That should help it hold together better while you're working on it.
Alternatively, this carrot cake makes a nice slieceable sheet cake that would work great for something like that.
Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Sus @ roughmeasures.com says
Wow, these look INCREDIBLE! I found your site via We Heart Living, it's beautiful! Can't wait to give these a go! Happy Weekend! xx
The Real Person!
Thank you so much, Sus! I appreciate it ♥
Shaun Hoobler says
Raw carrot cake. Yum!!!
The Real Person!
Indeed :)
Suzanne says
This looks absolutely AMAZING! Yum! I'm not sure how it ended up in my Pinterest feed, but I'm so glad I stumbled across it! Pinning to my own board now. :)
Lesley says
Do you really set these in the freezer? Or do you mean in the fridge?
The Real Person!
Hi Lesley, yes, I put the base in the freezer because it just works a little faster. You can let them set in the fridge too, but my guess would be you'll need to wait about 5-6 hours.
Once I frosted them, I stored the leftover ones in the fridge though -- no need to put them back in the freezer.
Terje says
As I said on FB already, they look damn gorgeous! <3 And the frosting really reminds me of marzipan because of the frilly edges. I was actually just thinking about making coconut butter, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that was the main ingredient in this frosting! Once I feel like having raw cupcakes again, these are definitely on my to-do list ^^
The Real Person!
Thanks Terje -- I thought you'd like this recipe ;)
Just a note, if you're making your own coconut butter, you'd want it thicker for this recipe. I've seen some homemade versions that are a little runny {still delicious I'm sure}, but for a stiff frosting like this you'd want a stiffer coconut butter base too. Anyways, I hope this inspires you to make more raw cupcakes sometime -- I loved your chocolate topped ones so far!
angelica says
Hello - Do you think these would work as a bite or ball... I know some preschoolers who may really like these at snack time...minus the frosting though...but will save the lovely idea for another time. Thanks!
The Real Person!
Hi Angelica -- absolutely! This recipe would make great cookie balls. You can roll them in some coconut or some finely chopped nuts in place of the frosting too for variations.
Gluten Free Vegan Pantry says
Okay so this looks amazing! I just ate dinner and suddenly I'm hungry again! Yum!
The Real Person!
Second dinner then? It's got carrots in it... ;)
genevieve @ gratitude & greens says
Oh my gosh raw carrot cake. I've been meaning to try making one forever! These are so adorable and I love all the ingredients in them- so wholesome, totally my kinda carrot cake!
The Real Person!
Thanks so much, Genevieve! Well, if you're craving carrot cake but don't want to invest a lot of effort or ingredients, you can always make a single serving with this recipe by dividing the ingredients by 6... ;)
Amanda Paa says
love! carrot cake is one of my favorites.... i'm working on one right now that is AIP friendly too, (not raw) and the dates have worked so well. i love all the flavors you added to these with just real ingredients. and I am obsessed with coconut manna! it has been my savior, a little sweet and so creamy.
The Real Person!
Thanks so much, Amanda. I can't wait to see the cake you come up with! And yes, coconut manna is a miracle ingredient for AIP frostings :)
Raia says
Yummm, I cannot wait to make these. I LOVE carrot cake!
The Real Person!
Thanks Raia! Enjoy it -- happy {un}baking :)
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit says
The first time I saw these on IG I completely missed the word 'raw' and never would have guessed them to be. The frosting is so perfectly piped and the cake looks like it just spent 20 mins in the oven not 2 minutes in the food processor! Amazing!!
The Real Person!
Thanks Natalie -- I know, right? I don't know if I would have believed it myself if I didn't make 'em ;)