The best quick and easy vegan chocolate cake recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. Soft, moist, fluffy, decadent. This rich eggless cake is loaded with cocoa powder that can also be turned into a gluten free cake.
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If you are fond of these delicious Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes and these Fudgy Vegan Eggless Brownies, you will love today's dessert. It's so good that even non-vegans are fond of it and ask for the recipe!
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How to make easy vegan chocolate cake recipe from scratch? How to make eggless cake?
- Make vegan buttermilk- By stirring together vinegar and milk.
- Mix dry ingredients- This includes flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder.
- Add wet ingredients- This includes oil, vanilla extract, applesauce and the vinegar-milk mixture.
- Mix- Until combined.
- Pour batter- In two round cake pans
- Bake- Until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool cakes- Until room temperature.
- Ice cakes- Using a spatula.
Variations
- Decorate it- Use vegan sprinkles to elevate the cake and take it to the next level. It would be great for birthday parties too.
- Pipe frosting- Use piping tips to create frosting designs on top of the cake.
- Make cupcakes- Simply use this recipe to fill cupcake liners for individual portions. Please note that the baking time will be shorter.
- Make a layer/tiered cake- Double the recipe and create a layered or tiered cake. Be sure to use dowels for support, if necessary.
- Try other frostings- Such as vanilla icing, peanut butter frosting, or even whipped coconut cream. Just use vegan versions.
- Use a ganache topping- If you make thin chocolate ganache with coconut cream, you can use that as a vegan chocolate glaze for these cupcakes. Try this Chocolate Ganache recipe and use dairy free chocolate.
- Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake- Bob's 1:1 gluten free flour blend works very well. I don't know how other brands or homemade blends would work.
- Add cake fillings- Such peanut butter, almond butter and other nut butters. You can also try fresh fruits, vegan chocolate chips or this Vegan Chocolate Pudding.
Tips And techniques
- Why is my cake dry? This may be due to too much flour being added to the batter. Make sure to measure accurately. It can also be that the cake was over-baked, or baked at too high of a temperature.
- Why is my cake gummy and wet in the center? This can be caused by adding too much flour or over-mixing the batter. Either will result in a gummy, wet center even though the cake is cooked fully.
- Why did my cake collapse? Too much baking powder and soda can cause a build-up of gas. This causes the center of the cake to rise too quickly before the rest of the cake finishes baking, then the center deflates. It can also happen if you open the oven door halfway during baking. That causes the hot air to release, leading to a dramatic drop in oven temperature, which consequently leads to collapsing.
- How to keep cake from sticking to pan? Make sure to line the cake pans with parchment paper along the bottom and then grease and flour the sides.
- Why add espresso in chocolate cake? That's because it brings out the flavor of chocolate and makes it more intense!
- What vinegar to use? Distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar can both be used in this recipe.
- What milk to use to make buttermilk? Use coconut milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk or almond milk. Whatever is the preferred milk in your home should work well.
- Cool cake completely before icing- Otherwise the icing will melt and slide right off the cake into a sticky mess.
- What oil to use? Coconut oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, canola oil all work well. Please note that coconut oil would need to be melted if it's solidified and it can add a subtle coconut flavor to the cake.
- Use unsweetened applesauce- Because that prevents this cake from getting too sweet.
Storage
- Refrigerate- In a sealed container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze- In a sealed container for up to 2 months. Simply thaw in fridge overnight and then enjoy.
- Make ahead- This cake can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Moist Triple Chocolate Cake {From Scratch}
- German Chocolate Cake {With Cake Mix}
- Chocolate Cake Roll {With Cake Mix}
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cake {Heart Shaped}
- Chocolate Brownie Cake
- Chocolate Coffee Cake
- Chocolate Caramel Cake
- Chocolate Bundt Cake {From Scratch}
- Easy Chocolate Oreo Cake Recipes
Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Cake (Eggless Cake)
The best quick and easy vegan chocolate cake recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. Soft, moist, fluffy, decadent. This rich eggless cake can also be turned into a gluten free cake.
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Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 cups Milk Almond milk, coconut milk or soy milk
- 2.5 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups Granulated sugar
- ¾ cup Cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Espresso powder Optional, Enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake
- ⅔ cup Oil
- 1.5 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ cup Applesauce Unsweetened
- 4 cups Coconut cream chocolate frosting
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together vinegar and milk and keep aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder.
- Add oil, vanilla extract, applesauce and the vinegar-milk mixture.
- Mix until just combined.
- Pour batter in two greased and floured round cake pans (Dimensions: 8x2), lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely at room temperature.
- While cakes are cooling, prepare frosting.
- Remove cakes from pans and discard parchment papers.
- Place cakes on individual serving dishes.
- Use a spatula to spread icing on top of each cake in a rustic pattern. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 266kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 80mgPotassium: 148mgFiber: 2gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 39IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 46mgIron: 2mg
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
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Parsley Sage
I don't believe it. You can't have fat free chocolate cake! Mind...just...blown.
It looks stunning. By the way, I had one of the local bakeries make your adorable penguin cake for my husbands birthday yesterday. HE LOVED IT!
grace
you seem to be adapting quite nicely, though i'm sure it's no picnic. great cake--applesauce is a magical substitution!
Nazneen
special diets suck! I know! This cake looks incredibly moist and decadent to be fat free! Good job.
I hope you get your levels under control and can get back to eating real food again (mainly butter)
My diet is not going well, I keep cheating...
Tiffany
Yikes! Chica! Be careful and eat lots of oatmeal!!!! I can't wait to see the vegan creations you come up with! Wishing you and your family and a VERY Merry Christmas!
Eftychia
This cake is SUPER!! My dietitian will be thrilled. No fat!! Wow!!
lisa
Applesauce is like magic for replacing fat! And, you cake is so pretty with the poinsettias. Hope you had a great holiday season and Happy New Year!
saira
Nice demonstration of flower
jac
FYI, everything vegan is cholesterol-free, since cholesterol only comes from animal products. There are plenty of decadent and fatty vegan cakes that are still cholesterol-free, without being fat-free. If you're worried about cholesterol, try swapping butter in recipes with Earth Balance margarine (tastes like butter and you can get it at Whole Foods or grocery stores that sell natural products.) You will never know the difference. Also cow milk for almond milk or, even coconut milk. Eggs can be trickier, but if your recipe only has one or two, you can use a commercial egg replacer like Ener-G or use some flax meal mixed or cornstarch mixed with water. I even made mayonnaise cake vegan the other day with Vegenaise and it was superb! Also, check out Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz for easy foolproof cake recipes with no cholesterol.
Heather
There are two things that would help make this nice and moist and still healthy: replace 1 cup of applesauce with 1 cup 0% Greek yogurt (or 0% sour cream), and replace 1/2 cup flour with almond meal/flour. Almonds do have cholesterol, but it is the good kind. If you don't want the almond meal, even just the yogurt/sour cream makes a huge difference (it is regularly featured in many healthy baked goods that I enjoy making).
tara
IF this contains yogurt and egg whites it's not vegan..
Abeer Rizvi
You are absolutely correct. I updated my recipe last week and unfortunately, this recipe is not vegan any more but it's still slightly healthier than my original chocolate cake recipe