Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

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?

Ingredients:

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

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:

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Expert Tips & FAQ:

Other sweet recipes you’ll love:

• Strawberry Crumble Bars
• 10-Minute Peanut Butter Almond Bars
• Vegan Cashew Chocolate Mousse Cake
• Chocolate Chunk Vegan Blondies

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For more amazing recipes:

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.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Course Sweet Treats, Kid Friendly, Dips & Spreads

Servings 10 -12 pieces

Calories 473 kcal

Ingredients

  

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For the cake:

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups almond milk any vegan milk will work
• 2 cups brown sugar*
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 + 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• large pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil**
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 cup boiling water

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

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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!

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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

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