The BEST Vegan Chocolate Cake

Looking for the BEST Vegan Chocolate Cake in all of the land? Look no further because you have found it!

Well, kids, today I’m bringing you something amazing you can bake for the one you love on Valentine’s Day. Or Saint Patrick’s Day. Or Mother’s Day.

Someone’s birthday? Yes, this is the cake you need!

Whatever the day, when you need a Vegan Chocolate Cake, I’ve got the recipe for you.

Whenever I have a special day that calls for a no-holds-barred chocolate cake, I will typically make Beatty’s Chocolate Cake from Ina Garten. That recipe has never let me down.

Then I had a request for a vegan chocolate birthday cake. Could I veganize Ina’s iconic chocolate cake recipe? (That baby has over 2,000 positive reviews, it’s a tried-and-true classic.)

The bigger question: would it be just as good? 

It took some tinkering and trials (waaaay too much chocolate cake has been consumed at my house in a two week period…) but I have landed on a recipe for the BEST Vegan Chocolate Cake.

Nobody will even know it’s vegan if you don’t tell them.

How to Make Vegan Chocolate Cake from Scratch

It is 100% worth it to make your vegan chocolate cake from scratch. I promise you that it’s worth the extra effort. The substitutions are probably ingredients you have, if not, they are easy to get.

The buttermilk was easy to replace with a simple vegan buttermilk substitute. It’s just unsweetened almond milk with vinegar added. You can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

The eggs were trickier, but applesauce ended up being the best substitute in terms of not altering the flavor and lending the best texture. Other ingredients I tried made a more dense cake, so I definitely recommend making your vegan chocolate cake with applesauce.

As I was testing recipes, I tried different ways to make it a healthier chocolate cake, also. (Vegan doesn’t automatically mean it’s healthy. Sugar is usually vegan. ;-)) Here’s what I found:

• Whole wheat pastry flour works just as well as all-purpose flour, with hardly any noticeable difference in taste or texture.
• I tried Swerve ( erythritol, a sugar alcohol which is natural and has no calories or sugar) as a replacement for the sugar and it worked well.

The winning cake was light, moist, and had intense chocolate flavor. You’ll notice there’s coffee in the recipe and that’s what help bring out the chocolate flavor. You don’t taste even a hint of coffee. 

I used this vegan chocolate ganache recipe for the frosting and it was amazing! I love a deep, fudgy chocolate frosting recipe over a too-sweet buttercream any day of the week.

Feel free to use a different frosting recipe if you prefer. I also added some crushed freeze dried strawberries to the top for their pop of color since it does happen to be Valentine’s Day week when I’m publishing this. It was an easy way to add some prettiness to the cake since my cake-decorating skills are null.

Ready to do this?!

How to make the Best Vegan Chocolate Cake

If you love vegan desserts, you should try this Vegan Chocolate Pie! It’s also gluten free.

I recently found another recipe for a vegan chocolate cake I’m intrigued to try. It uses olive oil! Check out the chocolate cake recipe and let me know if you try it!

Would you like more inspiration for living a happy and healthy life? I would LOVE to keep in touch! Follow Happy Healthy Mama! Find me on:

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

If you make this Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe, or any Happy Healthy Mama recipe, I would LOVE to see it! Please take a pic and share it on Instagram or the Happy Healthy Mama Facebook page and tag me @happyhealthymama ?

Also, if you try it, would you mind rating the recipe with stars when you leave a comment? It’s VERY helpful for me and other readers if the recipes have ratings and reviews. I appreciate you!

The BEST Vegan Chocolate Cake

---

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Author: Maryea Flaherty | Happy Healthy Mama
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x

Print Recipe

Print Recipe

Description

This is the BEST Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe–moist, intensely flavored, and perfectly light.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• coconut oil, for greasing pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups sugar or erythritol
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, plus 1 tablespoon vinegar, mixed together and allowed to sit for a few minutes before using
• 1/2 cup avocado oil
• 2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use coconut oil to grease two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line the pans with parchment paper, and then grease with more coconut oil and dust with flour.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the unsweetened almond milk with vinegar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. After cooling in the pans for 30 minutes, turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. The two layers may be frosted once the cake is completely cooled. Enjoy!

Notes

*Nutritional information is for the healthiest way to make this cake, which is whole wheat pastry flour and erythritol. Note that it will change if you use regular sugar and all purpose flour.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 piece
• Calories: 235
• Sugar: 0.3 grams
• Fat: 15.7 grams
• Carbohydrates: 84 grams
• Protein: 5.2 grams