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.
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Recipe inspired by Add A Pinch.
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 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 preferred
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 9-inch cake pans. I also line them with parchment rounds and lightly flour 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 and almond 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 almond 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.
- Nut allergy? You may substitute soy milk or another milk for the almond milk, any non-dairy milk will work here.
- 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).
Made this today and it was absolutely amazing!!!! So glad I came across your recipe!!!
I’m glad you came across it too! 🙂
Hello, I made it again and while I’m sure it’ll be delicious, it didn’t rise much if at all. My baking powder and soda are new. Do you know what else would cause this? Over-or under-mixing? My oven was also running too low I noticed.
I’m sorry to hear that! If your oven was running low on temperature that was probably what went wrong.
Thank you. It was still delicious.
I’m all out of apple sauce, any substitutes?
You could try using a couple of flax eggs (2 tablespoons flax + 5 tablespoons water) or pumpkin puree would work as well.
We didn’t have any apple sauce so we used ripe pureed banana and it worked really well. We loved the recipe so much it is know our go to cake.
That’s great, I’m glad it worked!
5 star rating for sure! My grandson has a severe dairy allergy so regular cake is out of the question. This cake is amazing! With frosting so delicious, my spouse licked the bowl clean. I do have pictures of the cake I made (with strawberries in the centre) but I’m not sure how to post them to you. Thank you and I will definitely be making more of your recipes.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad it worked well for you and your family. 🙂
Followed this recipe for my youngest daughter’s 19th birthday, she loved it!
We loved it…and we added raspberries!
Thank you sooo much!!
A family in Baden, Ontario Canada
You’re so welcome! Glad you all loved it!
The best chocolate cake I’ve ever had!!
Hi I just my are made my first ever vegan chocolate cake Nora ! It is 5 ⭐️ stars! Incredible. It’s moist And so rich and delicious . It was my son’s birthday and I wanted to try something different plus my family has lactose issues . This is amazing ! Thank you for the parchment and spray idea it works fantastic. I’m hoping to change my family over to vegan instead of meat eaters. Thank you ?, Angela .
You’re welcome! I’m so glad it came out great!
I’m just curious. Do you think you can substitute the boiling water for hot coffee??
Yes, I believe several commenters have done just that with good luck.
I plan to make this cake tomorrow. Can’t wait! However I plan to bake it in a 9×13 pan. Please advise on cooking time and temp. Thanks!
Same temp for cooking, but you may need to increase the cooking time to 40 minutes or so. Check with a toothpick in the middle to make sure it’s done. Enjoy!
Thank you so much, Nora. Made the cake tonight. My husband are 2 big pieces. It’s outstanding!
I love this recipe!! Hands down the best chocolate cake! One question I did have is.. how would you make this gluten free? I have a coworker that has requested them for her birthday but needs them to be gluten free.
I’m glad you like the cake! To make it gluten free, use a gluten free all purpose flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill. It works quite well. Thanks!
Hi!
My partner requested a chocolate cake with lemon curd for her birthday in September and our guests went absolutely nuts for this cake. It was absolutely demolished.
My question is– I’ve been asked to make a lemon cake with lemon curd for a party in a few days, and was wondering– could this be made without chocolate? The texture was just so good! Would you just add more flour in place of the cocoa powder?
Thank you!
Sorry, I’m not sure that would work as I haven’t tried it, but you might want to check out my Vegan Lemon Cake. Thank you!
I’ve made this type of cake frequently but with buttermilk and eggs and always loved it because it’s simple and delicious. I just tried this vegan version and liked it even better! This one uses less sugar and more flour than the one I used before. I did use espresso powder with the boiling water though. I’ll be making this version form now on.
I’m so glad to hear you liked it!
It came out excellent, looks exactly as pictured, I added shaved vegan chocolate bar to mine and it was perfect. WARNING THOUGH this recipe is extremely sweet! Way better than box cake but if your not into overly sweet stuff I’d cut the sugar down a bit. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
Have made this cake numerous times and people now request it for birthdays and special occasions. The flavor and texture are perfection . Thank you so much Nora 😉
You’re so welcome! It makes me so happy that people request it. 🙂
Nora, this chocolate cake was amazing! I made it for friends working through dinner at their non profit business. I made a vegan chocolate panache to top the cake as I was short on time. Next time I’ll try the frosting. My friends called me excited about the cake and said they ate it first, before the rest of the vegan meal I had made. They were surprised the cake was vegan, even though they have requested I only make vegan food for them! What a great recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it.
I’m so happy to hear that they loved it!
OMG! I made this cake tonight and my husband and I loved it! The cake was moist and chocolatey. The frosting was creamy but not overly sweet. The only problem I had was waiting long enough until it cooled! I did notice the tops of each cake had wet areas…. would that have disappeared if it cooled longer??
I’m glad you loved the cake! If they still had wet spots, you probably needed to cook the cakes a bit longer. It can be hard to wait until they cook to frost them, use the refrigerator to speed the process, I do it all the time. 🙂
Can this cake be easily molded and cut to make the cake into a number? I am making this for my sons 3rd bday and I want to make it Into the number 3. Any thought?
I have never made a cake like that so I’m not sure but it sounds fun! I imagine it should work much like any other cake.
This style cake tends to crumble easily but a number isn’t too hard. You should freeze it and then cut while still firm.
If I wanted to make it gluten free – what type of flour would you suggest ?
For best results, I would use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour. I believe some have made it with Pillsbury Gluten Free Flour as well with good results.
Could u use almond flour in instead of flour
No, almond flour will not work here. You could sub a gluten free flour blend.
Hi,
Interesting recipe. I can’t wait to try it. I’m curious tho, why add the boiling water at the end? Thanks.
It’s the secret to a very moist chocolate cake! Hope you enjoy it.
Oh my deliciosness!!! My 7 year old made this for us so it wasn’t the prettiest turnout 🙂 but she followed the recipe to the tee and it was the tastiest chocolate cake I have ever tasted. I couldn’t stop eating it even after they went to bed. Unbelievable!!
Wow, I’m so impressed that your 7 year old made it! Good for her! Glad it was delicious.
We use Ripple- unsweetend pea milk. Do you recommend oat milk over the pea milk?
No, either is fine. Whichever you prefer.
I forgot to mention I had to make a change to the icing. Not because it wasn’t good because it definitely is but I needed to be more stable. As I mentioned in my previous message I’m doing a wedding cake that will have to hold for hours. Using the butter alone is not enough. I used 3/4 cup vegan butter and 3/4 butter flavored Crisco. The taste is still awesome. Thank you again.????
That’s great to know! So glad it worked out!
Ms. Nora you are a gem. I tried one other recipe before yours and hands down this recipe is awesome. I’m doing a wedding cake and the bride is vegan. Most vegan cakes as you’ll mentioned are dry and we’ll plain nasty but this recipe is great. I can’t taste the difference. Even overnight it was still just as good. The Icing was good to. Thank you again I know the bride will be happy.???
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you like the cake recipe! How wonderful to hear.
Do you think I could use Rice milk instead, or reccomend another ? there is a nut allergry, so coconut.cashew, alpine are all out
Thanks!
Soy milk would be better than rice, but they would all work. Oat milk would work as well. Thanks!
AMAZING!!! This recipe makes the best cupcakes ever. I made them gluten free for one of my residents and had to fight off the staff!! They would not believe they were vegan or gluten free. Big thank you, Ms. Nora. I can’t wait to try other recipes.
xoxo
Glad the cupcakes came out great!
Wow! This cake is AMAZING. This was my first venture into vegan baking, and I’m so happy this is recipe I chose. Will definitely be my go to chocolate cake recipe from now on!
So glad you liked it!