The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake- A quick and easy recipe, made in 1 bowl! This really is the best chocolate cake ever, vegan or otherwise. It’s super moist, rich and full of chocolate.
My birthday was a few weeks ago, so what did I do? I asked my mom to watch all 3 kids for a few hours so I could create and photograph the BEST EVER Vegan Chocolate Cake. Pretty great birthday if you ask me! 😉
For some reason, every time I get a vegan piece of cake out (such as at Whole Foods or elsewhere), I am disappointed. The frosting is usually yummy, but the cake part is either 1. strange tasting OR 2. super dry, not moist at all. Seriously disappointing.
I’ve also made a few of the vegan chocolate cake recipes out there, but even those weren’t quite moist enough or perfect enough for my taste. So I did a little thinking and experimenting and I finally came up with the best, most perfectly moist and delicious vegan chocolate cake recipe!
The frosting is a mouthwatering, ultra rich chocolate buttercream. I recommend using earth balance vegan buttery sticks, I haven’t found another brand that tastes quite as good.
If you are looking for a lighter alternative, check out this Chocolate Cake with Cashew Vanilla Frosting. There is nothing “light” about this Chocolate Cake! It is a full on indulgent recipe. And I’m okay with that.
What is the secret to a super moist vegan chocolate cake?
A couple of things make this cake super moist. The applesauce helps (don’t worry, you can’t taste it). But the BIG secret is to add a cup of boiling hot water to the cake batter right before baking. It makes such a difference!
The batter will appear runny when you add it, but don’t worry, that is completely correct and exactly what it should be like. It results in the most moist, delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted!
If you are craving a chocolate fix about now, or are new to being vegan and miss good tasting cake, give this recipe a try! It’s easy to make and hard to mess it up.
OR if you are wanting to try something other than chocolate, give this Vegan Lemon Cake a go! It’s one of my most popular dessert recipes, and impresses people every time I make it.
Recipe inspired by Add A Pinch.
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk or almond
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil or melted coconut oil
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups vegan butter, softened baking sticks, not the tub
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk or almond
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 8 or 9-inch cake pans (8 inch pans will result in taller cakes). I also line them with parchment rounds for easy removal of the cakes later.
- Measure 1 cup unsweetened 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 and milk/vinegar mixture. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer (or stand mixer with the paddle attachment) until well combined.
- Lower the speed and carefully pour in the boiling water, 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 30-35 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 Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Add the cocoa powder to a large bowl (I just wipe out the cake bowl and use it for the frosting). Whisk well to remove any clumps.
- Add the softened vegan butter and mix with a hand mixer until creamed and well combined.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and half of the milk, and mix until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Mix starting on low, and turn to high. Mix until fluffy and combined.
- If the frosting seems too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon or two at a time. If the frosting seems too wet and doesn't hold it's shape, add more powdered sugar until it thickens up.
- Frost the cake using an icing spatula or just a butter knife.
Video
Notes
- For cupcakes, fill liners half full and bake for 20-25 minutes. The whole recipe will yield approximately 24 cupcakes.
- Double the recipe to make a 4 layer cake, or cut in half to make a 1 layer round cake. You can also make a bundt cake, simply bake for 45 minutes. Or a 9 x 13 inch cake, baking for about 35-40 minutes.
- Don't like a lot of frosting? Cut the frosting ingredients in half. The recipe as written makes enough for thick layers of frosting.
- No applesauce? Substitute 2 flax eggs (2 tbs ground flax + 5 tbs water), whipped aquafaba or another egg replacer such as Bob's Red Mill (2 eggs worth).
This is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted in my life. Vegan or otherwise. The icing was like a smooth chocolate mousse. That was the fastest I’ve ever seen a cake disappear in my house.
This is the best chocolate cake. I make three layers and use Nora’s peanut butter mousse in between with chocolate frosting for the outside. Everyone always loves it.
Hi Joel. Thank you for sharing your recipe experience and terrific review about the chocolate cake! I love your idea of peanut butter mousse in between the cake and the frosting! Wishing you happy cooking!
Can I bake these in advance and freeze them to frost later?
Yes, this cake freezes really well! Make the cake layers, let them cool completely, then wrap well and freeze. When ready to frost the cake, let the layers thaw at room temperature for a few hours before frosting.
Hi Nora!
I love this cake! I am a huge fan!
I have a question as I am going to make it with a 9.5 inch pan as its all I have on hand. Would it be better to make the recipie as is and make some cupcakes as well. Or better to halve the recipie? Last time I made two 9.5 inch cakes but they were quite thin so I would prefer to just make one cake (to save a bit of time too).
Would love any guidance! And thank you for all that you do, you are a legend in our house.
Hi Gemma, and thanks for being a fan! For a 1-layer cake, you could make the recipe as written, and make some cupcakes with any leftover batter. It would be best to NOT cut the recipe in half, since you will end up with a pretty thin cake. You could fill your cake pan 1/2-2/3 of the way full. It may need a little longer in the oven, perhaps an extra 10 minutes or so. I hope that helps!
This cake is delicious!
Is it salted or unsalted butter for the frosting?
I always use salted vegan butter as I can’t usually find unsalted sticks anyhow. You can use unsalted, but I’d add a little pinch of salt if you do. Thanks!
How do you store this cake and for how long?
You can store it on the countertop for 3-4 days. Cover the cut part, so it doesn’t dry out. It can also be kept in the fridge for about 5 days or so, but it does dry out a bit faster and the cake won’t be as tender, so I don’t prefer that option.
Nora, this recipe was my introduction to your blog and it made me your biggest fan!! Every time I make this cake – with or without frosting – it’s a crowd favorite. I also make it for myself whenever I want a quick sweet treat.
I use oat milk as my plant milk, and I add 5-10g of instant espresso powder to add more depth to the chocolate flavor. Absolutely wonderful and my most repeated bake!
This is my go to cake recipe for birthdays
I made this for my work colleagues and they said ‘I cant even tell its vegan’
🤦🏻♀️
can i sub cake flour? n thank u for these recipes 🙂
Cake flour is a bit too light for this particular cake. I wouldn’t recommend it. Hope you enjoy the cake!
This was the best cake I have ever had it was moist and it was just chocolate and I loved it. We made it for my mom‘s birthday. It was delicious such a big hit. Thank you so much.
Can I use normal cow milk?
Thanks
I have never used dairy milk, as it is not vegan. I believe that it should work. Happy baking!
This is genuinely one of the best cakes I’ve tasted, can’t believe I made it too!
Will be making again
Can you make this cake ahead of time?
Yes, you can make it a day or so ahead of time. It’s best not made too far in advance though.
The first time my husband had a vegan staff member over, all I could offer him was pineapple. I just made this cake for his second visit, and he was over the moon. The non-vegans loved it too. I used oat milk rather than soy or almond, and it was fine.
Can this be made with gluten free flour?
This looks delicious! Could I use oat milk instead of soy or almond?
Yes, oat milk will work fine. Enjoy!
Question, I have a sensitivity to corn so I don’t use baking power, I make my leavening agent with baking soda & cream of tartar-do you think I will need to add the baking your recipe calls for as well? Or will that be too much baking soda?
That might take some trial and error on your part, as I haven’t tried it personally. Hopefully it will work quite well! That may be too much baking soda if you also add what I call for, but again I’m not 100% sure.
I’ve made this twice. My 11 year old picky nephew now asks for just the vegan chocolate cake and not the regular one.
It’s incredibly sweet, even though I used a little less sugar than the recipe calls for. It might be just as good with half the sugar.
HI. I haven’t baked many vegan recipes yet. This sounds amazing. Should I use dutch process coco powder?
Thank you, Nicole
I usually use natural unsweetened cocoa powder, but you can use dutch processed if that’s what you have. Either works, just with slightly different results. Enjoy!
This is my go-to recipe for vegan chocolate cupcakes but I only realized today that the flour conversion for metric isn’t accurate. I was wondering why my cupcakes were coming out flat but I accepted it because they tasted so good. Today I used the 2 cups of flour (because the 150g really did seem too little, and especially with the ratio of 350g sugar) and used the scale out of curiosity but it was around 300g. But it is proof that this recipe is pretty forgiving! Still using it as my go-to!
I personally love the Dutch process cocoa powder best or special dark if that’s more readily available to you.
Great cake, I split the batter between 3 7inch cake tins and do 3 layers. It works really well. Just reduce cooking time by 5-10mins. So moist and every time I’ve made it I get new requests to make it again from those who’ve had a slice. I Really mash the apple sauce as I had one with chunks in, first time I got bits of the apple chunks in the cake it Didn’t affect taste though.
The ABSOLUTE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE IN THE WORLD! Made this for my daughter’s golden birthday and it was a hit. Everyone loved it, and it was super yummy! Now the rest of my family is requesting it for future birthdays. Thank you, Nora!
Thank YOU, Grace! I’m thrilled the cake was a hit for your daughter’s birthday! It is a favorite of many, for sure! Thanks for your glowing review! Wishing you happy cooking!
I have never done a homemade cake before and I’m not a gifted baker so I was a bit nervous making this as it was for a birthday. I doubled the recipe which REALLY scared me 😂 it turned out absolutely gorgeous. Nora has thought of everything. I can tell I will be coming back to this recipe again and again.
We made this vegan chocolate cake for my birthday party yesterday and it was popular with everyone! Moist and dense.
Hi Nora,
Would gluten free flour substitute ok with this recipe?
While it’s possible to simply substitute a gluten-free flour mix, it won’t be quite the same. However, I created a slightly different version of this cake: Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cake. It’s almost identical, but it comes out much fluffier with a better texture. Hope that helps!
Can I use chocolate chips in the cake? So excited to make this for my boyfriend for his birthday!
Sure, you can throw some chocolate chips in the cake if you want. Hope you both love it!