Easter carrot cake recipe

Spring is one of my favourite times of the year. The blossom is starting to bloom, bunny rabbits are hopping around and of course…EASTER!

Easter is only a hop, skip and jump away.

I’ve created this beautiful (and extremely moorish) vegan Easter carrot cake, with light vanilla buttercream topped with a coconut nest and golden eggs.

I topped the cake off with Peter Rabbit cake toppers from Baking Time Club, taking inspiration from the new Peter Rabbit movie!

This cake is really easy to make, absolutely scrumptious and really cute!

I love the soft blue colour of the frosting along with the golden eggs. A simple splatter of cacao transforms this cake into an Easter spectacle!!! 

I made a cute little birds nest on top of the cake using desiccated coconut mixed with some cacao powder to make it look more earthy and painted some vegan dark chocolate eggs with edible gold paint. They look really effective and bring interest to the whole cake!

The cake itself is light, spongy, moist and most of all…delicious!

Carrot cakes are one of my all time favourites and this cake does NOT disappoint. The flavours are spot on.

This cake includes real grated carrot along with cinnamon which works beautifully together to make the most perfect tasting carrot cake which is not too strong or too spicy.

This cake is a must make if you love carrot cake, like me!

Happy Baking!

Preparation- 30 minutes

Baking time- Approximately 28-30 minutes

Serves- 15-20

Level- Medium

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Ingredients for the cake

• 480ml of dairy-free milk
• 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
• 425g of self-raising flour 
• 480g of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 2 & 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 150g of grated carrot
• 50g of ground walnuts
• 120g of coconut oil (melted) or sunflower oil

Ingredients for the frosting

• 400g of dairy-free butter 
• 650g of icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• Dairy-free milk (if needed)
• Green & blue food gel

Decorations

• Cacao powder 
• Vanilla extract
• Desiccated coconut
• Vegan chocolate eggs painted with edible gold paint

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Method (cakes)

Step 1- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line three 8inch cake tins with grease-proof paper.

Step 2- In a bowl, combine the almond milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.

Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.

Step 3- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground cinnamon, grated carrot and walnuts.

Mix well to combine.

Step 4- Add the melted coconut oil into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.

Step 5- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.

Step 6- Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins.

Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.

Step 7- Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 28-30 minutes.

You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

Step 8- Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully. 

Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (buttercream)

Step 1- In a bowl/stand mixer, cream the butter on high then add in the icing sugar, and vanilla bean paste( or vanilla extract).

Add in a splash of dairy-free milk if too thick. 

You want the buttercream light and fluffy.

Step 2- Add a drop of both green and blue food gel into the buttercream and mix.

Step 3- Stack and fill the cakes with buttercream, then crumb coat the whole cake and pop into the fridge to set.

This will take around an hour.

Step 4- Once the crumb coat is set, apply another coat of buttercream and level until smooth. I use a cake scraper and a large pallet knife.

Watch this amazing video on how to perfectly crumb coat a cake.

Step 5- In a small bowl, mix together some cacao/cocoa powder and vanilla extract until a paint.

Step 6- Using a food-safe brush, dunk it into the paint and flick on splatters on the cake.

You may want to practice first.

Step 7- Mix together some desiccated coconut and cacao/cocoa powder together and place onto the middle of the cake and add on the golden eggs.

I popped some leftover buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle and added on high swirls and added on thePeter Rabbit cake toppers. how cute are they!?  

Serve fresh or store in a sealed container, the buttercream will firm up at room temperature. 

Best eaten within a few days of making!

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