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    You are at:Home»Dairy-Free Recipes»Alisa's Favorite Dairy-Free Recipes»Basic Carrot Cake with Lemon Glaze (No Pineapple, Raisins, or Nuts!)

    Basic Carrot Cake with Lemon Glaze (No Pineapple, Raisins, or Nuts!)

    1
    By Alisa Fleming on May 7, 2022 Alisa's Favorite Dairy-Free Recipes, Dairy Free Desserts, Dairy-Free Recipes

    My most popular carrot cake recipe is wonderful. It’s packed with all of those goodies that make carrot cake so unique. But I’ve repeatedly received inquiries for no pineapple, no raisins, and no nuts, in addition to no dairy. So I baked this basic carrot cake recipe that’s stripped down and easy to customize.

    This beloved dessert is pineapple-free as is, so there’s no need to worry about moisture levels. It’s also made without nuts and raisins, but I’ve included options should you want to add either, or both, back in. And the delicious glaze is made without dairy OR dairy alternatives of any kind. Yes, this is a naturally dairy-free dessert!

    Basic Carrot Cake Recipe with Lemon Glaze - No Pineapple, Dairy, Raisins, or Nuts! Gluten-Free Option.

    Basic Carrot Cake with Lemon Glaze, but without Pineapple, Dairy, Raisins, or Nuts!

    This is a nice moist carrot cake that’s full-flavored, and complemented by a delicious sweet-tart glaze. It bakes up quite like a seamless box mix cake, but with a definite homemade taste. I have just a couple recipe notes to expand on:

    Leavener: The original recipe uses 3/4 teaspoon baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, as still listed in the recipe. I’ve also tested this recipe with 1 teaspoon of each, and it rises up more like a sweet bread or pound cake, but is still moist and delicious. If making loaf or rectangular cakes, and you want a higher rise, use 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and optionally increase the baking the baking soda to 1 teaspoon. But make sure to use dark brown sugar – the extra molasses in dark vs light brown sugar reacts with the baking soda. With light brown sugar, you might taste the baking soda a little in the end cake if you use too much. The image below represents the loaf cake texture made without increased leavener (just 3/4 teaspoon each).

    Pan Sizes: My most recent test was in a limited kitchen with just a convection oven and two 8×6-inch square baking dishes. I had to bake the cakes for 55 minutes. In a regular oven, it would have been much faster, but the time would still be a little longer. Make sure to keep a close eye on the cakes if baking in different size pans and/or in a smaller oven. The cake should be fully risen, appear golden, and be slightly firm to the touch. The toothpick test will confirm that it’s ready.

    Basic Carrot Cake Recipe with Lemon Glaze - No Pineapple, Dairy, Raisins, or Nuts! Gluten-Free Option.

    Special Diet Notes: Basic Carrot Cake

    By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, gluten-free option, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegetarian, and pineapple-free!

    For egg-free carrot cake, see this Vegan Recipe or Hannah’s Vegan Carrot Crumb Cake.

    Basic Carrot Cake With Lemon Glaze
     
    Print
    Prep time
    25 mins
    Cook time
    20 mins
    Total time
    45 mins
     
    This simple recipe skips the pineapple, raisins, and nuts, to avoid common carrot cake aversions. But we've included options for adding raisins and/or nuts, if desired. The bright lemon glaze adds wonderful contrast to this perfectly sweet cake. It's downright addictive!
    Author: Alisa Fleming
    Recipe type: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Serves: 1 two-layer cake (14 slices)
    Ingredients
    Basic Carrot Cake
    • 2½ cups all-purpose flour (see gluten-free option below)
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ¾ teaspoon baking powder (see leavening note in post above)
    • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
    • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
    • ¾ cup sugar
    • ¾ cup dark brown sugar (can sub light brown sugar)
    • 4 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1½ cups oil
    • 1 pound carrots, peeled and grated
    Lemon Glaze
    • 3 to 5 cups powdered sugar
    • ¼ cup lemon juice, or to taste (see Lemon Note below)
    Instructions
    Basic Carrot Cake
    1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
    2. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper cut to fit. (See below for other pan sizes.)
    3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.
    4. In a mixing bowl, beat the sugars, eggs, and vanilla with the whisk attachment for 3 minutes.
    5. Lower the speed and slowly add the oil, while beating. The egg mixture will become thicker as the oil is added. Continue to beat for another 5 minutes.
    6. Gradually mix in the flour mixture. Fold in the carrots.
    7. Scrape the batter into your prepared pans.
    8. Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the pans and bake for another 5 to 15 minutes, or until the cakes seem firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean.
    9. Cool the cakes on a wire rack.
    Lemon Glaze
    1. In a medium bowl, beat the lemon juice and 3 cups powdered sugar on low speed, until smooth.
    2. If the glaze seems too runny, mix in more sugar. If it becomes too thick, mix in little more lemon or water (if it is too tart for your taste).
    Cake Assembly
    1. Turn the cakes out onto a plate or cake circle.
    2. Coat the center of one cake with lemon glaze.
    3. Top with the second cake layer, and allow the remaining glaze to coat the top and run down the sides.
    Notes
    Lemon Note: The original recipe uses fresh-squeezed lemon, but we've used a real lemon squeeze with delicious results. The concentrates are a little bolder in flavor due to lemon oil added.

    Loaf Cake and Rectangular Cake Options: Grease three 8x4-inch loaf pans or two 8x-6-inch pans, and line them with parchment paper overhanging on two opposite sides (to easily lift the cakes out). Increase the baking powder to 1 teaspoon, and optionally increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon (but only if using dark brown sugar). Bake the cakes for 20 minutes, rotate, and bake for 20 to 35 minutes more (we had variation by oven types), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean.

    Raisin Option: You can stir in 1 cup raisins (dark, golden, or a combination of the two) with the carrots.

    Nuts Option: You cn stir in 1 cup chopped walnuts with the carrots.

    Gluten-Free Option: My friend René tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour and it was "a big hit!"

    This recipe is adapted from the The Art of Dessert by Ann Amernick.
    Nutrition Information
    Serving size: 1 slice Calories: 492 Fat: 24.9g Saturated fat: 3.5g Carbohydrates: 64.7g Sugar: 45.3g Sodium: 194mg Fiber: 1.5g Protein: 4.2g
    3.5.3229

    More Dairy-Free Desserts for Carrot Fans

    Dairy-Free Carrot Cake Ice Cream

    Dairy-Free Carrot Cake Ice Cream with Galaxy Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative

    Chocolate Carrot Cake

    Chocolate Carrot Cake with Chocolate Frosting (Recipe) - dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free deliciousness!

    Carrot Cookies

    Dairy-Free Carrot Cookies Recipe - like little bites of carrot cake! Great for tea, coffee, Easter, Christmas, spring, or summer treats.

    Alisa Fleming
    • Website

    Alisa is the founder of GoDairyFree.org, Food Editor for Allergic Living magazine, and author of the best-selling dairy-free book, Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living, and the new cookbook, Eat Dairy Free: Your Essential Cookbook for Everyday Meals, Snacks, and Sweets. Alisa is also a professional recipe creator and product ambassador for the natural food industry.

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    1 Comment

    1. Debbie on August 9, 2019 3:54 pm

      I want to try this glaze on my carrot cake. I don’t believe that’s a glaze in that photo. Some people might not know this.

      Reply

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