The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake

Name: The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup dairy free milk; 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 2 cups vegan cane sugar; 1 cup cocoa powder; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 cup neutral oil; 1 1/2 cups boiling hot water; 1 1/2 cups dairy free butter, (softened); 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; 5 cups powdered sugar; 1/2 cup dairy free milk; 2 tsp vanilla extract

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The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake is perfection! Moist, rich, chocolatey, and divine! Paired with a vegan chocolate frosting for an absolute treat.

This is hands down the best vegan chocolate cake that we have ever made.

We set out for a goal to make the best chocolate cake, vegan or not, that we have ever tasted. But, it had a stipulation also. We wanted it to be easy. A lot of bakery-style recipes are not easy and we wanted something that was easy enough for the everyday baker but those who are intimidated by baking also.

Next, we wanted this to be allergen friendly. Everyone deserves cake that wants it and chocolate cake at that.

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WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED TO MAKE THE BEST VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE?

Below are notes about the main ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make vegan chocolate cake:

While this dairy free chocolate cake does need what seems to be a lot of ingredients, it’s still an easy chocolate cake recipe. In order to make this cake without eggs and without dairy, you need a bit of creativity and chemistry. The end result is so perfect. For this cake you’ll need:

Dairy Free Milk – Using milk instead of water adds more flavor into the recipe. We have tried this with both oat and almond and there’s not much of a difference honestly. Use either unsweetened plain or unsweetened vanilla flavored milk, but you don’t want any sweetened milk in this already sweet recipe.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Since there are no vegan buttermilks on the market, we use acid to mix with the dairy free milk to make a vegan buttermilk. Acid helps tenderize gluten and therefore making a softer cake.
Flour – The star of the show, we only used all-purpose flour here because we wanted this recipe to be as accessible as possible for everyone.
Vegan Cane Sugar – Cane sugar is what we are using. If you want to learn more about why your sugar may not be vegan, you can learn more by clicking on the link.
Cocoa Powder – Obviously needed to make a delicious chocolate cake. You want to use an unsweetened cocoa powder here.
Oil – You want to use a neutral oil – canola or vegetable. Oil helps the moisture in your cake but also helps by slowing down the formation of gluten that yields a very tender and fluffy cake – isn’t that what we all want!

SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:

Dairy Free Milk – Any dairy free milk that you like can be used in this. The important thing is just not using a sweetened milk in this already sweet recipe.
Acid – You can use white vinegar or lemon juice if that’s all you have
Flour – Cake flour could be swapped for all or half of the all-purpose flour. Also an all-purpose or 1:1 gluten free flour could be used.
Vegan Cane Sugar – While we haven’t tried, you could replace this with a coconut sugar or date sugar
Oil – Melted coconut oil could also be used here and it is normal for it to resolidify when mixing. It will melt back down again when baking. Alternatively, you could use applesauce (same amount) of even half oil, half applesauce if you are trying to reduce your oil consumption.

Tips for how to make the best vegan chocolate cake:

See below tips and tricks for making this vegan chocolate cake perfect!

Follow the instructions pretty please. Cake baking is a science, especially when making a dairy free/vegan cake. Every step has a purpose to ensure the perfect vegan chocolate cake.
While we don’t do it in the video or the recipe, if you are not comfortable baking, we highly recommend sifting the ingredients into the bowl. This loosens the ingredients and make sure there are no clumps leading to a more airy cake.
Make sure to line with parchment paper and grease your pans. No one likes a cake that can’t come out of the pan. It’s one of the most frustrating things and doing these two things will helps.
Make sure that you evenly distribute the cake batter into the three cake pans. You can use a scale to make sure that they are all within a small range of each other.
When the cakes are cooked, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to allow the cakes to cool evenly.
Let the cakes cool to touch. DO NOT RUSH. Let it cool completely.
When ready to make the cake – use a cake leveling tool to make sure there’s no uneven tops.
Place a small amount of frosting down first on a rotating cake stand, then your first layer. The frosting acts as a glue so the cake won’t slip.
Use a piping bag and a large round tip and pipe frosting in a circular motion from the outer edge completely in to the middle.
Use a cake spreader to gently even out layer of frosting. Place next layer and repeat. Step back and see if there is any gaps in between the layers. If there are, place enough frosting in those areas to get frosting to the edge.
Use a cake scraper to go around the cake and ensure evenness around the entire cake. This step is really important. Place frosting on the top of the cake and more on sides if needed and frost evenly. Using a spreader on the top and the scraper to even evenness.
Get creative. If you can’t get as smooth as you want or even as you want – you can also add toppings like crushed nuts or chocolate shavings, or drizzle chocolate syrup along the edge so people focus on that. Plus it looks better either way.
*Bonus Tip: If you want to frosting the cake but keep a clean cake stand, cut four 7″ pieces of wax paper and overlap them before placing the first layer on the cake stand. When you are completely done frosting the cake, carefully remove the four pieces of wax paper.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I make this a gluten free dairy free chocolate cake?

Absolutely! Did I just make your day? You can swap out the vegan all-purpose flour for Gluten Free Cup for Cup flour. You can also swap out the cake flour with a gluten free version. All the other ingredients that we use in this recipe are naturally gluten free and no swaps are needed.

Can I make this a Top 9 Allergen free chocolate cake?

Besides the flour, that you can use gluten free as recommended above, the only other ingredient is the vegan butter which typically contains soy.
Just choose a soy free vegan butter like Flora Plant Butter. Any dairy free milk can be used that is safe for your allergens.

How do you make a moist vegan chocolate cake?

This vegan chocolate cake is rich in chocolate while still remaining moist. The right amount of fat (oil) combined with making our own dairy free buttermilk (acid) and adding in leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder) all act together to insure this will not be a dry vegan chocolate cake.

Also, the importance of minimally processing the ingredients together. We only mix until combined. We do this because the longer you mix flour, the more gluten forms making for a not so great cake.

Can I make this into vegan chocolate cupcakes?

You can absolutely make this into dairy free chocolate cupcakes. Simply make the recipe as normal and then instead of greasing cake pans, spray a cupcake pan or liners. Fill each one up 3/4 of the way. You’ll want to reduce the cooking time to 15-20 minutes.

What is the purpose of the dairy free “buttermilk”?

By adding some acid to your batter, you are creating a vegan cake that is moist and delicious. It helps to break down the tough gluten strands, yielding in the most delicious vegan chocolate cake recipe. Don’t skip this step!

Can I make this oil free?

Yes. You can make this oil free. Replace the full amount of oil for applesauce. It is very important to know that using applesauce does lead to a more dense cake.

Is vegan chocolate cake healthier than regular cake?

A vegan chocolate cake is better for animals and the environment; however, we still use flour, sugar, and oil in this recipe. We are not claiming that this is a healthier alternative to a cake that contains dairy based milk and traditional eggs.

Do vegan cakes taste good?

We’ll let you in on a little secret. You can’t even tell the difference. In fact, we’ve served vegan cake to many non-vegans and they had no idea!

What does bloom the chocolate mean?

When you get to the step about boiling the water and adding, you may be tempted to skip that step, but don’t. It’s very critical to do so in order to make this perfect vegan chocolate cake.

You add the boiling water in order to help the cocoa power “bloom”. When cocoa powder is mixed with a hot liquid (you can do this with water, coffee, milks, etc) it allows the powder to dissolves and release flavor particles. Essentially, it brings out all the flavor in the cocoa powder, ensuring you have the best vegan chocolate cake ever.

What if I only want a 1 layer vegan chocolate cake?

We know that not everyone has the desire to make a layered cake. Fortunately, we have great news! You don’t have too and we have two options for you!

First – you can make the recipe as directed and then freeze one layer so you have a cake already ready the next time you want cake. We’d recommend eating within 3 months of freezing. To do this, when the cakes are cooled to touch but still slightly warm, remove from the pans and wrap them with plastic wrap. Wrapping them while warm allows the moisture to continue to stay inside the cake and not be dry. Place in a freezer safe container or bag after wrapping in foil.

Alternatively, you could just reduce all the ingredients in half to only make one layer.

Can I make this a sheet pan cake instead?

Yes! You can use a 9×13 cake pan in order to make this cake. The batter should work well to fill the cake pan but keep in mind that you should not fill the cake more than 3/4 way full. If you have too much you can use for mini cupcakes!

What other frosting ideas could I use on this vegan chocolate cake?

We highly recommend use our vegan chocolate frosting recipe below; however, we know that some people want other options than chocolate on chocolate. Other ideas for how to frosting a dairy free chocolate cake are:

Using Dairy Free Whipped Topping (Homemade “Cool Whip”)
Vegan Vanilla Frosting
Vegan Strawberry Frosting
Vegan Buttercream Frosting

What are other dairy free chocolate desserts I can make?

Whether you are having a chocolate bar of delicious at your next get together, or you just want to have even more amazing chocolate dairy free desserts, we recommend you trying out some of these delicious non-dairy desserts:

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