Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cake
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!! Or a better description would be… a creamy dreamy, drool inducing, pillowy soft on the tongue, belly happy, sinfully rich, angelic piece of heaven!
I actually made this cake months ago for Valentine’s Day. That slice you see above was a couple of days after baking, but look how tender it still is. And look at the melt-in-your-mouth luscious filling, and that chocolatey rich ganache frosting! (Ummm, maybe I should go stand by the air conditioner. haha)
Yes I really should have taken more photos, especially of the whole cake, but I was in the midst of packing. (We moved at the end of March.)
Then of course I had to unpack, and since then I’ve been spending lots of time walking everywhere and also seeding new plants for the house and garden.
It’s been such a much needed break for me, so please forgive the lapse in keeping up with you guys.
But oh boy, even that one picture makes me wish I had set aside some time to bake this cake again.
It is honestly one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to savor… But of course I really should try more cakes to make this a really good comparison. 😂
Check out some of ones I want to make next.
Chocolate Layer Cake with Chai Cashew Buttercream Frosting
Ok, but back to this yummilicious treat. It started out with a recipe by Half Baked Harvest.
It was Tieghan’s “Vegan Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Almond Butter Buttercream.”
Yeah, it started out that way… BUT it changed somewhat when I realized that I was out of some ingredients.
Well I wasn’t actually out of them, but I had already packed them up in anticipation of our move.
Yes, I do preach that you should always check your ingredients before making a recipe, but yeah oops. haha
Here’s another BEST Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients weren’t the only missing factor though. I had also packed up my 9″ cake pans, and the only ones I had out were some shallow 8″ ones.
NEVER, EVER use those to make this cake! Well I needed to do an oven clean before the move anyway. 🤦🏻♀️
So lets see… I subbed ingredients, had a lava flow in oven from using shallow pans, dropped a pan while trying to stem the lava flow, did an improv frosting…
AND YET… This was and is the very, very best chocolate cake ever!
Sooo soft, but also lush and decadent, and yep I had a slice for breakfast. (#chocolatecakeday starts early in this house.)
Above is what the cake should look like, and will look like, if you follow the directions.
Although I didn’t follow the original recipe, it still turned out very pretty and very delicious.
Try out either one, or both, and I know you’ll fall in love with this amazing chocolate cake too.
More Vegan Food Bloggers to Follow
BTW, Here’s a recipe for burgers to eat before the cake (or after lol).
These Black Bean Burgers are fantastic year round, but they are even better on the grill.
Yep, they really are grillable and perfect for summer. We’re having them tonight, and ugh I really, really need this cake too!
Creamy Dreamy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Print RecipeIngredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 for 1 gluten free)
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder (or carob powder)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 cups non-dairy milk, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup melted coconut oil (or neutral tasting oil)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups organic cane sugar (or coconut sugar)
- Creamy Filling:
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin purée (not canned pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (or carob powder)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
- Ganache Frosting:
- 1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
- 16 ounces very good quality non-dairy dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups organic powdered sugar
Instructions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
While the oven is preheating, add the vinegar and milk together in a small bowl. Stir together and set aside for 5 minutes.
Lightly coat two round, 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray or lightly grease with coconut oil, and then line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper; set aside
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder or carob powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Once the vegan buttermilk is ready, add it to another mixing bowl. Whisk in the coconut oil, vanilla, and sugar.
Add about a third of the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix them together with a spatula or whisk. Add another third, and keep mixing for a few moments, and then add the final third.
Mix until just combined, do not to over mix the cake batter.
Evenly divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 20-25 or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the pans to a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Carefully remove the cakes from the pans, and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
Creamy Filling: Add the pumpkin purée, 1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder, maple syrup, and almond butter to a food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth. Scrape into a covered container and place in refrigerator until ready to frost the cake.
Ganache Frosting: Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan until barely simmering, remove from heat and stir the chocolate in. Set aside for 5-7 minutes until the chocolate is melted.
Scrape the chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Beat in 1 and 1/4 cups of the powdered sugar. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove from fridge and beat again. If the frosting is too runny, beat in more sugar (1/4 cup at a time) until you're able to frost the cake but the ganache isn't too thick or fluffy.
Assemble the Cake: Once the cakes are cooled, place one of them onto a cake stand or plate. Gently spread the creamy filling over the cake layer. (I didn't use all the filling, so I scooped the leftover amount into a freezer safe container to store for later use.)
Carefully place the other cake layer over it, and spread the ganache over the entire cake and around the sides. (I didn't use all the frosting either, so I scooped the remaining amount into another freezer safe container to store for later use.)
Transfer to a refrigerator to set for at least one hour. Remove from fridge, slice, and enjoy this luscious and wonderfully decadent treat!
Notes
I made some adjustments to Tieghan's Vegan Chocolate Cake, but you can find her recipe at THIS LINK. I also made a completely different frosting, but I think either would taste wonderful.
2 Comments
Sarah
June 13, 2019 at 11:00 am
Hey lovely! Have you been okay? No luck with getting back om instagram hey?
This cake looks like a dream!
Sarah
Katherine
June 14, 2019 at 6:51 am
Hey Sarah!
It’s soooo good to hear from you, and you really made my day! I hope everything is going great. Are you still on Instagram and enjoying it? I don’t have any problems with IG anymore, but I just haven’t been on. Always something else going on. But who knows, because that could always change in an instant. I’m still in touch with other people via e-mail, and I’ve heard they’re having the same problems or aren’t in love with new additions that IG decides to throw in. I hope that you aren’t experiencing any of that.
How’s the weather up there? We’re having a gorgeous spring, so that’s another reason to keep me away from Instagram. Hope summer is the same, but if it’s hot and humid then I may just pop in to say “hey” to everyone.
Have a very lovely weekend!
Katherine
P.S. And yes the cake tastes like a dream too!