This easy vegan chocolate cake is rich, chocolatey, and completely decadent. And you won't believe how easy it is to make in under an hour!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m all about balance. I love green smoothies, but definitely not just green smoothies.
Sometimes all I want is a thick slice of cake, and that’s exactly what I have today. The process of baking a cake is also a lot of fun, and definitely not as intimidating as it sometimes seems.
So, this brings us to this decadent, rich chocolate cake. Yep, this beauty is made with no oil/butter, eggs, or dairy! And no would ever know.
I actually started testing this dessert recipe right before Christmas, and when we made it on Christmas Day the cake disappeared within a couple of hours! Yes, it really is that yummy.
This vegan chocolate cake is:
- Incredibly yummy and flavorful.
- Very chocolatey. And we all know that the more chocolate the better.
- Fluffy and moist.
- Gluten-free.
- Oil-free.
- Easy and beginner-friendly. Trust me, you need no baking experience to make this!
- Perfect for sharing. (Although, you probably won’t want to).
- Great for special occasions.
So let's get baking!
Tips & Tricks
I think the thing that really takes this cake to the next level is the addition of peanut butter. You might wonder how to achieve a wonderful spongey and moist texture without eggs, butter or dairy- and the peanut butter is that secret ingredient. But if you don't care for peanut butter, you can substitute another nut butter, like almond or cashew butter, instead.
I used a mix of rice flour and buckwheat flour for this cake, as store-brought gluten-free mixes are all so different and give varying results. Making one yourself leads to the best consistency. I wouldn’t recommend swapping these as the final result may be different in terms of flavor and texture.
You can certainly use regular all-purpose flour instead, but be aware that it may change the consistency of the cake batter, requiring a bit more or less moisture. So be ready to experiment a bit.
The cake is sweetened with coconut sugar (my favourite sweetener at the moment) and is super chocolatey thanks to cacao powder. Feel free to add fold in some vegan dark chocolate chips to up the chocolate factor even more!
The frosting is probably my favorite thing about this cake. It was quite hard not to simply eat all of it by itself. And it’s ridiculously simple, requiring just two ingredients, which are coconut cream and vegan chocolate.
Super decadent, super indulgent, super creamy frosting. Because this coconut frosting is so versatile, you could add it to other treats too, such as vegan brownies or cookies.
This cake keeps well in the fridge for up to 4 days.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Cake
This cake couldn't be any easier to make! Here's a quick summary of the steps, or scroll down for the full printable recipe with detailed instructions.
Firstly, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Whisk together the dry ingredients (coconut sugar, rice flour, cacao powder, buckwheat flour, baking powder and baking soda).
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Start with the peanut butter, then gradually add the plant based milk, using a handheld whisk to break apart any clumps. Then, add the apple cider vinegar and flax eggs.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix them together really well, before transferring to two 9-inch round cake tins. Bake in the preheated oven for around 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the frosting (don't forget to leave the coconut cream in the fridge for 24 hours beforehand). Drain away the liquid from the coconut cream, then whisk using a handheld electric whisk while pouring in the melted vegan chocolate.
I used a mixture of sweet dairy-free chocolate and dark chocolate to achieve a good balance of flavor, but you can adjust this depending on your preference (e.g., using no dark chocolate will result in a very sweet frosting).
If the frosting looks too liquid-y at the end, leave it in the fridge for around 10 minutes.
Once the cake is ready, allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes before frosting and decorating. It should be room temperature before you try to frost it!
To arrange, spread a thick layer of the frosting on one of the cake layers. Place the other cake layer on top followed by another layer of frosting. Then frost the sides!
Decorate as desired (I added chocolate chips and fresh berries) and serve immediately.
More Vegan Desserts
If you love this vegan chocolate cake, be sure to check out these other delicious vegan desserts:
- One-Bowl Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Raw Vegan Strawberry Chocolate Dessert Pizza
- Berry Almond Polenta Cake
Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake
- ½ cup coconut sugar + 2 tbsp
- ⅔ cup rice flour
- ½ cup cacao powder
- ½ cup buckwheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup peanut butter room temperature
- 1 cup plant based milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
For the frosting
- 1 cup coconut cream canned, refrigerated for 24 hours (measure just the solid part)
- 5 oz vegan chocolate of choice melted just before using
For decorating - optional
- dark chocolate chips
- fresh berries
Instructions
- Firstly, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C. Lightly grease two 9 inch round cake tins. You can also line them with parchment paper (optional), if you often have trouble with cakes sticking to your pans.
- In a small bowl, prepare the "flax eggs". To do this, simply soak the ground flaxseeds in ¼ cup water for 5 minutes
- Whisk together the coconut sugar, rice flour, cacao powder, buckwheat flour, baking powder and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Start with the peanut butter, then gradually add the plant based milk, using a handheld whisk to break apart any clumps. Then, add the apple cider vinegar and the flax eggs.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix them together really well, before transferring to the two cake tins. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. First, melt your chocolate. You can do this in a double boiler or simply melt in the microwave. (I microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until it's melted.)
- Drain away the liquid from the coconut cream, then whisk using a handheld electric whisk while pouring in the melted vegan chocolate. (Remember to leave the coconut cream in the fridge for 24 hours beforehand, and only measure the solids!)
- If the frosting looks too liquidy, leave it in the fridge for around 10 minutes to thicken up.
- Once the cake is ready, allow it to cool to room temperature. Spread a thick layer of frosting on one of the cake layers. Place the other layer on top followed by another layer of frosting, and frosting the sides. Decorate as desired, and serve!
Michelle says
Strange comment - and I’m sure this cake is amazing- but I had a different chocolate cake recipe saved to my phone (an absolute favourite!) but the link now brings me here? The other one from memory was just plain flour, no peanut butter and it had red wine vinegar in it I’m pretty sure! Can you please give me the link 🤣