Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Nov 6, 2017 (Last updated Sep 12, 2021) by Hannah Sunderani
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Hi everyone! Say hello to this rich and decadent Vegan Chocolate Cake! I recently hit 20K followers on Instagram and wanted to make something extra special for the occasion. What’s more celebratory than a classic creamy chocolate cake!? Actually I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to create a chocolate cake for the blog. Typically I’ve been more swayed to the frozen cakes, but as the weather is cooling a classic and fudgey chocolate cake seemed much more suited.
I can’t take full ownership of this cake recipe though. It was adapted from Minimalist Baker’s Simple Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. Although I love to tinker about in the kitchen trying new recipes with various flavours and seasonings, baked goods is a science, and one that requires a lot more ‘sticking to the script.’ Perhaps that’s why I find baking so intimidating? If something goes wrong there is no way to fix it. No adding a little more spice, or some cream to balance out the flavours. As a result you’ll find my kitchen is fully stocked with gadgets for cooking: like high performance blenders, food processors, spiralizers and mandolins. But, sparse with baking gadgets. I only just got a hand blender for Christmas last year. And it’s used so infrequently that it’s still in the box it arrived in! I didn’t even have two cake pans to make this two-tiered cake. Since I only have one I had to cook the cake in two rounds. Baking the first half of the batter, then waiting for the cake to cool to remove it from the tin, and then adding the second half of the batter bake! Hence why the cake tiers are not even. (Perhaps this Christmas I’ll ask for cake tins to accompany that hand blender of mine?). I blame my unfriendly and unapproachable high school science teacher for this aversion to baking. Perhaps if he had been a little nicer I would be more open to kitchen blowups without judgement? But given this fear it’s all the more fitting that I adapted Minimalist Baker’s Simple Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe to create the cake interior. I love how her ingredients and steps are so, well…minimalist! It was a one-bowl-recipe making it so simple and easy. I think baking should be fun. Not daunting, and I’ll tell you every moment of baking this cake was a joy. (Which would only have been heightened had I two baking tins instead of one, Santa are you listening?).
I’ve then decorated the cake with a gorgeous chocolate mousse frosting, which much to my preference was made up on the fly; adding a little rum here, some vanilla there, and cocoa powder to make it rich, chocolatey and smooth. The frosting is light, creamy and fluffy, so any leftovers can be eaten on its own like a mousse. Enjoy licking the bowl clean. 😉
I’ve also used Ecomil’s coconut milk as my plantbased milk for the cake and chocolate mousse. I love Ecomil products, and their coconut milk is by far my milk of choice. They had contacted me about sending some free products to try, and a couple packs of their coconut milk was my first request! Although their products are more pricey than others the quality is top notch, and this milk worked so beautifully in my chocolate cake and mousse frosting to give a light and creamy texture.
Overall this cake was ultimate bliss. I can’t believe how chocolatey and perfectly sweet it turned out. I’ll be honest in telling you that hubby and I don’t have much of a sweet tooth when it comes to cake (I know that’s a crime to most). But being plant-based we often find that super sweet treats like cakes and pastries leave us feeling really heavy and lethargic. But this chocolate cake didn’t feel too heavy at all! It was light, while still being rich and decadent. Even Mitch’s, “I’m not a big cake person” colleagues agreed. Given there’s only two of us and this cake could feed at least 10 I made him bring some into work. These anti-cake colleagues were totally converted with this perfectly balanced cake, and also astounded to the fact that was vegan baking was DEEELISH!
I’m sure this Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake will blow you non-sweet tooth or vegan skeptics away too! It’s rich and decadent, all the while being light and smooth for the perfect balance. And I’ll tell you that nothing felt more sweet than slicing into this chocolatey cake to celebrate 20K in Insta. It really is a dream to be able to share my plant based recipes and I’m so incredibly grateful for all your love and support. My heart is feeling SO full. So here’s to you for all the love. Good things come to those who bake.
Now, who wants a slice?
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups almond milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1.25 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 0.5 cup strong brewed coffee
- 0.66 cup neutral oil (melted coconut or avocado oil)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1.33 cups light brown sugar dry
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.25 tsp salt
- 0.25 tsp sea salt
Chocolate Mousse Frosting
- 1 cup semi-sweet vegan dark chocolate (100 g/1 bar) chopped
- 1 tsp neutral oil (coconut or avocado)
- 1 package silken tofu (300g)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp dark rum
- 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 0.25 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/176C and lightly coat two round cake pans with oil (I used two 7-inch pans). Dust with cocoa powder, shake out the excess, and set aside.
- Mix together almond milk and vinegar in a large mixing bowl, and let set for a few minutes. Add the neutral oil, coffee, vanilla extract, and applesauce. Beat until foamy.
- Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt slowly over wet ingredients while mixing with a hand-held or standing mixer. If you don’t have a sifter, simply mix dry ingredients in another bowl and add to the wet mixture while beating by hand. Beat until no large lumps remain. It should be smooth and pourable.
- Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: Add 2 inches water to a medium sized pot and bring to a simmer. Place a large glass bowl on top making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Add dark chocolate and oil to the bowl to melt, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
- In a food processor combine melted chocolate with silken tofu, maple syrup, cocoa powder, rum, vanilla, sea salt and coconut milk. Blend until completely smooth and combined. Refrigerate.
- Once the cake is cooled, frost generously with chocolate mousse frosting, adding a thick layer between the two tiers.
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