Vegan Peppermint Mocha Cake – With a moist, peppermint and coffee infused chocolate cake, to die for peppermint frosting and crushed candy canes! The perfect cake for Christmas.
This Vegan Peppermint Mocha Cake tastes like a peppermint mocha in cake form! If you’ve made my Best Vegan Chocolate Cake, you will be happy to hear this cake is very similar.
Instead of adding hot water, I subbed hot coffee plus a little peppermint extract. The incredibly delicious frosting is a version of my Vegan Vanilla Frosting recipe, with peppermint extract added.
Sprinkle some crushed candy canes on top and you are ready to celebrate!
Want more vegan cake recipes?
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
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Vegan Peppermint Mocha Cake
Vegan Peppermint Mocha Cake - With a moist, peppermint and coffee infused chocolate cake, to die for peppermint frosting and crushed candy canes! The perfect cake for Christmas.
Ingredients
The Cake
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or soy)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup hot coffee
Peppermint Frosting
- 1 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons almond or soy milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/4-1/2 cup crushed candy canes
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 8-inch cake pans. I also line them with parchment rounds for easy removal of the cakes later.
- Measure 1 cup unsweetened almond milk and add the tablespoon of vinegar to it. Stir slightly and set aside to curdle.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to combine.
- Now add the oil, applesauce, vanilla, peppermint and almond milk/vinegar mixture. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer until well combined.
- Lower the speed and carefully pour in the hot coffee, continuing to mix into the cake batter until combined. The batter will seem very runny at this point; that is how it should be, trust me!
- Divide the batter evenly between your cake pans. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. After 10 minutes of cooling in the pan, carefully remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting & Decorating
- In a large bowl, beat the vegan butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until all the powdered sugar is mixed in.
- With the mixer on low-medium speed, add the non-dairy milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla and peppermint as well, and increase the speed to high. Beat for about 30 seconds, until light and fluffy.
- If the frosting seems too thick, you can add more non-dairy milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. If the frosting is too thin and runny, simply add more powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
- Frost the cake and decorate with crushed candy canes as desired. I like to put a sprinkle of crushed candy canes in the middle layer of the cake as well. Enjoy!
Notes
- I recommend using dark cocoa powder, such as Hershey's Special Dark if you can, it makes the cake darker and so pretty. But regular cocoa powder will work as well, your cake will just be lighter in color.
- I used Earth Balance brand of vegan butter. I prefer the sticks, but the tub will work. You could also use another brand such as Melt, Miyokos or even vegetable shortening if you can't find vegan butter.
- I found crushed candy canes in the bulk section at my local store, but you can crush them yourself using a ziplock bag and something heavy, like a cup. Just pound away until you have little candy cane pieces.
Nutrition
Calories: 393kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 365mg | Potassium: 140mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 539IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
Would the frosting recipe work if I substituted coconut oil, olive oil or apple sauce for the vegan butter?
I’m sorry, none of those will work for the frosting. You could use vegetable shortening if that is easier to find than vegan butter. Hope that helps!
Do you do weight measurements? Cups can be such different sizes around the world….
No, I use cups. I have metric measurements for all my recipes, but it is an automatic conversion and I don’t bake that way.
This was a huge hit at thanksgiving this year! I used gluten free flour and it was amazing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this peppermint mocha cake! I’m making it for Christmas for sure. 🙂
This recipe made a delicious birthday cake for my sons 21st birthday.
That’s so great!
Best cake ever! It was so delicious and moist, the perfect amount of sweetness and peppermint!
Thanks so much!
How is it whenever I look up a recipe, you have one? My savior, I’ve never made a recipe of yours I didn’t like.
That’s so wonderful to hear!
Everyone loved this cake!! The frosting is amazing
Can these be made in cup cake form?
Sure! They will probably take 20-25 minutes to bake.
I couldn’t wait to make this and it did not disappoint! Thank you for another fabulous recipe!
You’re so welcome!
This recipe was a hit, like all of Nora’s other recipes! I brought this to family Christmas and everyone was amazed it was vegan. My 8 year old niece was so excited about how it tasted like her girls out thin mints! (Her mom was aware of the coffee) I baked mine for about 5 minutes less for an extra moist cake. Such a wonderful recipe for the holidays.
So glad it was enjoyed by all!
I mainly made this because I though the kids would like it because of the crushed candy canes. I thought it might be to sickly sweet for us adults. I was very wrong. Maybe because the dark chocolate balances everything out, I don’t really know but adults and teens alike loved it. It wasn’t to sweet at all and so moist and delicious! Your ability to get flavor and texture perfect is amazing.
Thanks so much for the comment and compliment! I’m so glad you all loved it!
Turned out AMAZING!! This will definitely be a cake we make again, and again, and again! Thank you!
You’re welcome! So glad it came out amazing.
I made this for Winter Solstice. I used mashed banana because I was out of applesauce and realized too late. I used Bob’s 1:1 gluten free flour and added the candy canes on top of the frosted cake. Everyone loved this cake. It was so good!!
I’m so glad it came out great!
I have been looking for a Christmas dessert recipe and this looks amazing! Is there another oil that you could recommend subbing for the canola oil?
You could probably use coconut oil, avocado oil or another fairly neutral flavored oi you prefer.
So so good. I followed the recipe entirely but ended up making 12 cupcakes and an 8×8 cake for a holiday party. They are so moist and delicious. Thank you, Nora!!
You’re welcome! Glad they were delicious!
This is truly the most delicious, moist, chocolaty cake ever! I have made it several times with and without the mint extract! I love the candy cane version! I also leaving the mint extract out and topping it with your chocolate frosting! Every recipe I’ve tried of yours is seriously amazing! Thank you!!
You’re welcome, and thanks for the wonderful comment!
Looking forward to making this for a dinner party soon! Can I make it the day before and leave it at room temperature? Thanks-I enjoy your recipes so much!
Yes, that will work just fine. I hope everyone loves the cake, thank you!
Can this be made with gluten free flour?
It likely could, though I haven’t tested it. Make sure to use a good quality gluten free flour mix, and it should work.
Could I use flax seed instead of applesauce? If so what would the amount being replaced be?
I haven’t tested it, but it should work. Maybe 3 tablespoons of flaxseeds and 7.5 tablespoons water.
Thank you so much I’m making today’s and will tag you in the pictures..
This is SO GOOD!! Thank you.
You’re welcome! Glad you liked it.
Just wondering if this’ll be enough frosting ?i like to have enough not dry?on picture looks amazing ?
If you want a lot of frosting, try 1.5xing the recipe or even doubling it though that would be a ton of frosting
Do you think I could make and freeze for Christmas?
Yes, I think that would work quite well!
Hi Nora! This looks delicious!! Can I possibly swap out the reg flour for GF flour? Thanks in advance!!
I think it would work, but I haven’t tested it. I would use a quality GF flour mix, simply using almond, oat or coconut flour will not work. Thanks!
Just popped it in the oven. OH EM GEE does that batter taste heavenly. The dark chocolate is decadent and the peppermint is perfect—present but not overpowering. I can’t wait to take the finished product to a party tomorrow. Thanks!
You’re welcome! I hope everyone loves it tomorrow!
I don’t know if it’ll make it to the party, lol. I cut a little off the first layer to make it flat (and have a sample). This is the PERFECT dessert to serve to non-vegan friends, where you wait until everyone is raving with mouthfuls of yummy cake and you drop that bomb that it has no animal products.
I totally agree!
This is my plan too muhahahaaaa.
Hi Nora. Does this have a strong coffee taste? I can’t stand the smell or taste of coffee. Thanks.
It doesn’t, but you can certainly just swap hot water for the coffee, no problem!
Hi Nora,
Any adjustments if making cupcakes instead of cakes?
Hi! Cupcakes will work fine, they will just need less baking time, more like 20 minutes. Enjoy!