Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe | FoodByMaria

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Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

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Prep

20 minutes

Cook

35 minutes

Yield

10 -12 pieces

This super Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe is to die for. Made with healthier alternatives than your traditional cake, and loaded with chocolate, your whole family is going to love this vegan dessert.

Oh baby! I think I truly outdid myself with this Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. I’m telling you, this will NOT last in your house for very long.

Why you’ll love this Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe:

  • Quick: You can make it in under an hour. Who has time to bake for anymore than that?
  • Healthier: I’ve substituted as many unhealthy ingredients in this recipe with healthier alternatives
  • Plant-Based: It’s vegan and plant-based, but even your non-vegan friends will love it
  • The Icing: The frosting is so damn creamy and delicious (and made with cashews) for this recipe and seriously one of the highlights
  • Chocolate: So much chocolate goodness… do I need to say more?

Close-up of a slice of moist Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe garnished with cashew frosting and blueberries.

Slices of Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe scattered on white plates on the countertop.

Ingredients:

For this  Vegan Chocolate Cake you’ll need the following ingredients:

Ingredients for vegan chocolate cake

Ingredient Notes:

Cocoa Powder: This is the good stuff that makes the chocolate cake, well, chocolate! What many people don’t know is that cocoa powder is rich in theobromine which helps reduce inflammation and can protect you from diseases. It’s actually low in fat and sugar too, so it’s not as bad as you think it would be!

Plant-Based Milk: I used almond milk for this recipe but any plant-based milk will work. Finding your favorite plant-based milk can be challenging as the benefits, texture, taste are all so different, but when you use it within recipes like this you can’t tell the difference. If you aren’t vegan you can also substitute this for regular dairy milk.

Cashews: I love to use cashews in sauces and frosting. It’s a healthy way to make creamy goodness and they are loaded with benefits. Cashews are low in sugar and rich in things like fiber, healthy fats, and plant protein.

How do you make vegan chocolate cake?

I’m not one to drop you a super complicated recipe, and this Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe has “easy” in the title for a reason. All you have to do to pull together this perfect dessert is:

Greased and lined baking pan

1. Lightly grease a 9-inch baking tin with vegan butter and set aside

2. Preheat your oven to 350F

3. To a small bowl, add your vinegar, and plant-based milk. Vinegar may seem weird in a cake, but this is actually how you make a plant-based version of buttermilk with ingredients you likely have right in your house. Note that it’s meant to curdle here, so don’t stress

Dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

4. To a large bowl add your brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk all this together until there are no lumps.

Wet ingredients being added to dry

5. To the bowl add the oil, vanilla, and milk mixture. Using your hand mixer or whisk, whisk this all together for around 1-2 minutes. The mix should be lumpy.

Adding wet ingredients to dry

Ingredients being mixed in a bowl

6. Gently add the boiling water and whisk for another 30 seconds.

Cake batter being added to a baking pan

7. Transfer mix to the baking tin and bake for 32-35 minutes before removing & letting it cool in the baking tin.

Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake with 2 slices removed and on plates with forks, ready to eat.

Icing vegan chocolate cake

How do you make vegan chocolate frosting?

The frosting is always the best part, isn’t it? For this frosting, all you do is add all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend for 1.5 minutes. Place the frosting in the fridge for ten minutes to let it set before frosting the cake.

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For this frosting, I used soaked cashews that help you achieve that creamy texture that we all love in frosting. To top off this cake and really make it look beautiful and summery, I added some fresh berries I had on hand. You can get creative here and add whatever fruit you have in your fridge or want to use up. You can even decorate it further with edible flowers or mint.

Serve this vegan cake recipe with your favorite plant-based ice cream and you are set with the perfect summer chocolate dessert that your whole family will love.

Side angle shot of a vegan chocolate cake that is topped with blueberries and fresh herbs.

Close-up of fresh blueberries and flowers that top the vegan chocolate cake.

Expert Tips & FAQ:

Sugar: If you do not have brown sugar white sugar will work just fine.

Do I need to use coconut oil? If you do not have coconut oil on hand, melted vegan butter will work just fine

Storage: The cake will last up to 1 week in a tightly sealed container on the counter at room temperature. Any leftover icing will last up to 1 week in a sealed container in the fridge.

Non-Vegan Version: Note, if you are making this cake and are not vegan, you can use regular milk and regular butter but I highly suggest you try this cake as it is. It’ll really show you just how easy vegan baking can be!

Other sweet recipes you’ll love:

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Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

5 from 19 votes
This super Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe is to die for. Made with healthier alternatives than your traditional cake, and loaded with chocolate, your whole family is going to love this vegan dessert.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course Sweet Treats, Kid Friendly, Dips & Spreads
Servings 10 -12 pieces
Calories 473 kcal

Ingredients
  

  •  

For the cake:

Chocolate Frosting

  • 2 cups raw cashews soaked in cold water for a least 1 hour then strain and rinse
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup icing sugar
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. if needed almond milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • pinch of salt
Shop Ingredients on Jupiter

Instructions
 

  • Lightly grease a 9-inch baking tin with vegan or non-vegan butter and set aside.
  • Preheat your oven to 350F.
  • To a small bowl, add your apple cider vinegar and plant-based milk.  Stir to combine and set aside.  Do not worry about the curdling, this is meant to happen.  It is essentially cream!
  • To a large bowl, add
    your brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk till well combined and there are no lumps.
  • To the bowl, add the coconut oil, vanilla and milk mixture.  Using a hand mixer or whisk, begin whisking for around 1-2 minutes or until combined.  The mixture should be lumpy. Gently add in the boiling water and whisk for another 30 seconds.
  • Transfer mixture to the baking tin and bake for 32-35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let the cake cool completely in the baking tin.
  • For the frosting, simply add all your ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Place the frosting in the fridge for 10 minutes before frosting the cake.
  • Enjoy with fresh berries or some vanilla ice cream or both!

Video

YouTube video

Notes

If you do not have brown sugar white sugar will work just fine.
If you do not have coconut oil on hand, melted vegan butter will work just fine
The cake will last up to 1 week in a tightly sealed container on the counter at room temperature.
Any leftover icing will last up to 1 week in a sealed container in the fridge.
Note, if you are making this cake and are not vegan, you can use regular milk and regular butter but I highly suggest you try this cake as it is.  It'll really show you just how easy vegan baking can be!

Nutrition

Serving: 12 | Calories: 473kcal | Carbohydrates: 69.2g | Protein: 7.5g | Fat: 21.2g | Saturated Fat: 10.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.2g | Sodium: 639mg | Fiber: 3.5g | Sugar: 39.5g
Review This Recipe Let us know how it was!
Jeanne Cli

5 stars
Great recipe! Can I make cupcakes and if so how long is baking time and at what temp? Thank you Jeanne

Maria Koutsogiannis

Hey Jeanna! I haven’t made them into cupcakes but I would do the same temp I think and around 12-14 minutes but monitor them with a toothpick!

Ana Paula

Isn’t the coconut flavor from the oil too strong in the cake? I usually find it overpowering in baked goods… I would love to hear your thoughts before swapping for a different ingredient..

Sounds amazing tho, can’t wait to try it

Maria Koutsogiannis

Hey Ana, thanks for your question. The coconut oil is not too strong in this recipe. I would have called it a coconut chocolate cake if it was too overpowering. I have not tested this recipe with any other oils so please consider that if you do swap it!

Janine

5 stars
I love simple great and quick recipes 🌷

Maria Koutsogiannis

Thank you so much, Janine!!!!

Halimah C

I made this last night using all the ingredients you listed in this recipe.
Wow! I couldn’t even tell that this was a VEGAN chocolate cake!
I’ll make more today.

Maria Koutsogiannis

That makes me so happy! Thank you!!!

Talia Levi

Such an amazing vegan chocolate cake.

Made it over the weekend and everyone loved it! We didn’t have blueberries so I topped it off with strawberries instead. Still delicious, thank you!

Maria Koutsogiannis

Amazing! Thanks for the love, Talia! Can’t wait to hear what you make next and please leave us a star review next time! You’re the best!!!

5 from 19 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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