The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake- A quick and easy recipe, made in 1 bowl! This really is the best chocolate cake ever, vegan or otherwise. It’s super moist, rich and full of chocolate.
My birthday was a few weeks ago, so what did I do? I asked my mom to watch all 3 kids for a few hours so I could create and photograph the BEST EVER Vegan Chocolate Cake. Pretty great birthday if you ask me! 😉
For some reason, every time I get a vegan piece of cake out (such as at Whole Foods or elsewhere), I am disappointed. The frosting is usually yummy, but the cake part is either 1. strange tasting OR 2. super dry, not moist at all. Seriously disappointing.
I’ve also made a few of the vegan chocolate cake recipes out there, but even those weren’t quite moist enough or perfect enough for my taste. So I did a little thinking and experimenting and I finally came up with the best, most perfectly moist and delicious vegan chocolate cake recipe!
The frosting is a mouthwatering, ultra rich chocolate buttercream. I recommend using earth balance vegan buttery sticks, I haven’t found another brand that tastes quite as good.
If you are looking for a lighter alternative, check out this Chocolate Cake with Cashew Vanilla Frosting. There is nothing “light” about this Chocolate Cake! It is a full on indulgent recipe. And I’m okay with that.
What is the secret to a super moist vegan chocolate cake?
A couple of things make this cake super moist. The applesauce helps (don’t worry, you can’t taste it). But the BIG secret is to add a cup of boiling hot water to the cake batter right before baking. It makes such a difference!
The batter will appear runny when you add it, but don’t worry, that is completely correct and exactly what it should be like. It results in the most moist, delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted!
If you are craving a chocolate fix about now, or are new to being vegan and miss good tasting cake, give this recipe a try! It’s easy to make and hard to mess it up.
OR if you are wanting to try something other than chocolate, give this Vegan Lemon Cake a go! It’s one of my most popular dessert recipes, and impresses people every time I make it.
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Recipe inspired by Add A Pinch.
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil OR melted coconut oil
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups vegan butter, softened baking sticks preferred
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 9-inch cake pans. I also line them with parchment rounds and lightly flour for easy removal of the cakes later.
- Measure 1 cup unsweetened almond milk and add the tablespoon of vinegar to it. Stir slightly and set aside to curdle.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to combine.
- Now add the oil, applesauce, vanilla and almond milk/vinegar mixture. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer (or stand mixer with the paddle attachment) until well combined.
- Lower the speed and carefully pour in the boiling water, continuing to mix into the cake batter until combined. The batter will seem very runny at this point; that is how it should be, trust me!
- Divide the batter evenly between your cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. After 10 minutes of cooling in the pan, carefully remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely before frosting.
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Add the cocoa powder to a large bowl (I just wipe out the cake bowl and use it for the frosting). Whisk well to remove any clumps.
- Add the softened vegan butter and mix with a hand mixer until creamed and well combined.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and half of the almond milk, and mix until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Mix starting on low, and turn to high. Mix until fluffy and combined.
- If the frosting seems too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon or two at a time. If the frosting seems too wet and doesn't hold it's shape, add more powdered sugar until it thickens up.
- Frost the cake using an icing spatula or just a butter knife.
Video
Notes
- For cupcakes, fill liners half full and bake for 20-25 minutes. The whole recipe will yield approximately 24 cupcakes.
- Double the recipe to make a 4 layer cake, or cut in half to make a 1 layer round cake. You can also make a bundt cake, simply bake for 45 minutes. Or a 9 x 13 inch cake, baking for about 35-40 minutes.
- Don't like a lot of frosting? Cut the frosting ingredients in half. The recipe as written makes enough for thick layers of frosting.
- Nut allergy? You may substitute soy milk or another milk for the almond milk, any non-dairy milk will work here.
- No applesauce? Substitute 2 flax eggs (2 tbs ground flax + 5 tbs water), whipped aquafaba or another egg replacer such as Bob's Red Mill (2 eggs worth).
Hey I don’t have apple cider vinegar, is there anything I can replace it with?
Regular vinegar works, or lemon juice.
Did this recipe, the science behind this is sound and directions easy to follow. Ended up with a moist and fluffy cake. Don’t skimp on that first blending. Instead of boiling water I used 1C of coffee, really brought out the chocolate flavor.
My non-vegan 6yo loved it! She said this is what chocolate cake is supposed to taste like.
Hi Nora! Have you ever used GF flour or almond flour with this cake? I his is literally the only chocolate cake I use when baking but need a GF vegan cake soon. Thank you!
A gluten free flour mix works quite well, but almond flour would be a big mess and not work. I like King Arthur Flour or Bob’s Red Mill, they both work well! Hope that helps!
Has anyone made this with mint instead of vanilla?
This cake is to die for. I made it last year for my boyfriends birthday and I received texts from his family weeks after going on and on about this cake. My own birthday is next week and my boyfriend asked me to PLEASE make this cake for it haha. He can’t bake and in the quarantine we don’t want a store-bought one. ANY excuse to make this cake is a good excuse! If you’re on the fence, make it! The best cake I’ve had.
Thanks so much for the comment!
My buttercream is to runny. Anything I can do to fix it or do I need to start again?
You could add more powdered sugar. Next time make sure your vegan butter is not too soft, and/or start with less milk.
Made it and LOVE it!! Can I make the cake part in advance and freeze it? Thanks!
Yes, that should work!
I used the recipe to make cupcakes, I also halved the recipe ended up making 15 cupcakes. However, the cupcakes are coming out claggy/gummy, this has happened to all the vegan chocolate cupcakes I have attempted to make from different recipes. How can I avoid this?
Thanks
Made it, so easy to make. Loved it
Help!! I’ve made this cake several times as I absolutely LOVE it. However all of a sudden the middle is sinking and I have NO clue why! I’ve not made any changes but it’s so disappointing – any suggestions? 🙁
You might need to bake the cakes a little longer if it’s sinking in the middle. A little is not a big deal really, but if it’s sinking a lot it sounds like it’s not getting cooked long enough. Also make sure you are following the instructions exactly and measuring everything correctly. Hope that helps!
I don’t have ground flax or apple sauce what can I replace them with?
Perhaps mashed bananas, or another egg replacer. Perhaps even oil.
We had this cake at a birthday party and honestly the best tasting chocolate cake ever!!! It almost has a brownie like texture….delicious!! I’ll be making this myself.
Totally great! I made this for my vegan daughter’s birthday today. I followed the recipe exactly, and my family raved about it. I made the cake the day before and wrapped the two rounds in plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. This morning, I made the icing, iced the cake, and refrigerated it until we were ready to celebrate. It was amazing chilled! She is excited to take some with her to share with a few friends this evening. I will make this again. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
This was my first time baking a vegan cake and this recipe is true to its name- it is delicious!
I baked full recipe in one pan only and used half the frosting – it was still perfectly deelish ?
Will definitely use it again.
Absolutely delicious! It took a bit longer to bake in bundt than 45 minutes, closer to 55, but I kept checking every 5 minutes and finally turned off the oven, left the cake in for an additional 10 minutes with the door adjar. I am not vegan but wanted to try it and it did not disappoint. I used a chocolate glaze and fruit.
WOOOOW! I just love this recipe. My grandma has been making this cake for my birthday since 2016 FR, it’s so goood, everyone loves it. One of my best friends asked me to make her one for her birthday, and I would like to do half recipe. Which cake pan would you recommend Nora? And what about baking time?
Thank you! That’s so great to hear! You could half the recipe and just use 1 8 or 9 inch round cake pan. Or a square 8 inch pan. Baking time will be the same. Hope that helps!
I was a skeptic. I made this cake for my friends birthday following the instructions to the letter – it is SO GOOD. It’s magic. Maybe the best cake I’ve ever made.
I made this today to celebrate my wedding anniversary. We loved it! Super moist with a great chocolate flavor. I didn’t even frost it. I was going to but didn’t have a chance to make any so we just ate it plain. So yummy!
Hi! Is it possible to use a cup of hot coffee instead of the water? or do like half water, half coffee? I’ve found I really like adding coffee to chocolate cake 🙂
You could use all hot coffee, or half and half. It is really good!
Super cake. Easy to make. Thank you!!!
This cake is unbelievable! My husband and daughter recently found out they have a dairy allergy, so I’m relatively new to vegan cooking. This came out moist and delicious on my first try and my entire family (of very experienced bakers and foodies) were blown away by it. You don’t miss the eggs and butter at all. I used country crock plant butter bc I prefer the flavor over earth balance and the frosting was soooo good. Thank you, keeping this recipe!!
You’re so welcome!! Thanks for the comment!
Amazing, adding this recipe to my favorites, will make this on my birthday.
Hi, it’s hard to get applesauce or vegan butter or curdled almond milk where I live. If I were to use non-vegan substitutes, would the cake turn out ok? Thinking about using normal butter and milk. Of course it won’t be vegan but I do want to try this cake!!
Yes, I don’t think it would make a difference, but I haven’t made it that way.
I’m not a big cake fan but this was the best cake I have ever tasted