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).
The best! Absolutely amazing and delicious! Everyone at the party raved about your cake.
I doubled it and made 4 layers.
Hi Nora! I tested this cake out today to see if it would work for my chocolate-loving toddler’s birthday. He loved it! Moist and yummy. Can I make the cake into a 6” layered cake? If so, how many tins and what bake time would you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Michaela. I’m thrilled your toddler loved the cake! Yes, one recipe will work for three 6 inch pans. They will probably only need about 20 minutes in the oven, so watch them closely. I hope this helps, and happy cooking! Happy birthday to your son!
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Best vegan Chocolate Cake ever! My little girl who is fussy when it comes to desserts and is Anaphylaxis to dairy and egg loved it.
You are welcome, Jay! I love that your daughter was able to have cake, and that it was a hit with her! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Hi, Nora – I plan on making this for my granddaughter’s birthday and wanted to add vegan chocolate chips. Do you think this will be a problem? Thanks for all the great recipes!
Hi Kim. I have not added chocolate chips, however, other bakers have indicated that they have and it turned out great! Happy cooking, and happy birthday to your granddaughter!
Hi, Nora! I love your recipes and am anxious to make this since our favorite cake before we became vegans had boiling water as its secret ingredient. If I want to make AND frost this cake the day before serving, can it be at room temperature or does it need to go in the refrigerator? Thanks so much for your help! Debbie
Hi Debbie. I think you’ll love this cake! It can be stored on the counter or in the refrigerator. My favorite way to store it is in the refrigerator. It will last a bit longer that way as well. Happy baking!
Hi Nora! You were right…I LOVED this recipe. Unfortunately, so did my family (I was hoping I could have it all to myself!) Thank you so much for another fabulous recipe that vegans AND non-vegans can all enjoy!
Finally there’s a vegan cake that’s out of this world ! So glad to have found this one. The only down side was
stabilizing the finished cake after icing it. The layers tended to slide around. Your input would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks! If the layers were sliding around, my guess is the cakes were not completely cooled all the way through. If they aren’t cooled properly, the frosting will melt slightly, making the layers unstable.
Hi Nora. I made this great cake which was amazing! However, it was a bit wet in the middle. I used 8″ baking tins which I guess could be the reason. Would you recommend cooking longer or reducing ingredients? Would really like to get it spot-on. Thank you for a lovely recipe. 🙂
Yes, 8 inch pans work fine but you will need to bake the cakes longer. Probably around 10 minutes, but use a toothpick to check the center. When no wet batter comes out on the toothpick, you know it’s done.
I am going to make this cake tomorrow. I copied down all ingredients and directions. Then i went back to check my ingredients and see that the 1 Tbsp of vanilla has a check mark in the box and the tbsp of vanilla is crossed off. How did this happen?
You must have accidentally clicked the box, it will “check” it off as you are cooking/baking, if you click inside the box. It’s just a feature of the recipe card itself. To uncheck, just click inside the box again. Thanks!
I want to make this asap! How much aquafaba would you recommend as a substitute?
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it, you could probably swap the applesauce for aquafaba 1:1.
This is quite literally the best cake I have ever eaten. I first made this a couple years ago during lent (we go vegan) for a friend’s birthday party. I didn’t even get to try the cake it was gone so fast! I have made it as cupcakes several times since then and they are always a huge hit, no one believes they’re vegan! I 100% recommend trying this recipe, I will never make another dairy full chocolate cake again, ha! Also, I typically cut the frosting recipe in half for cupcakes and it’s perfect.
This cake was amazing! I made it for a co-workers birthday and everyone went crazy for it. So easy and so good. Vegan or not, I will make this again.
I made it, but used metric units and I’m pretty sure something is off here. I bake a lot so I was able to adjust the recipe, but I used almost 200 g of sugar less than it’s required here, and the cake’s still on the verge of being way (way!) too sweet. Apart from the miscalculated weight of ingredients, it’s great! Very easy and impressive looking.
The amount is correct (350 grams, or 1 3/4 cups sugar). But you can always lower it somewhat if you want.
Made this some time ago and planning to make again. Can I use soy milk or only almond milk?
You can use soy milk or another milk. Hope you enjoy it again!
Came out terribly 🥲 Is it cos I have a gas oven? I otherwise followed the recipe pretty much identically. For so many good reviews I’d imagine the recipe to be ‘fool proof’. The sponges were flat and the cream was excessively sweet. We dont have earth balance butter in the UK so i used ordinary vegan butter. I think maybe the measurements are unclear (eg I was googling what ‘1 cup’ meant in grams for different types of ingredients – should I have just used any cup?). I have a feeling it may be the gas oven so Im going to try again but only 1 sponge at a time.
I’m not sure what went wrong, but it sounds like you weren’t quite sure how to measure the ingredients, so that probably has something to do with it. I do have a metric button above the ingredients you can push. I’m not sure is UK cups are the same as US cups. It could also be the oven, but I’m not sure.
Don’t have regular flour will cake flour work?
I don’t recommend it. I’m afraid the chocolate cake will be too delicate using cake flour, as it’s already so moist and fluffy.
Can this recipe be tripled? This is the best chocolate cake recipe I’ve come across it’s amazing!
I’ve never tried tripling it, that would be a big cake! It might work… I’m so glad you like it!
I have made this cake twice and it turned out amazing both times! My husband said it is the BEST cake he has ever had and now it will be his birthday cake every year! Thank you!❤️
You bet, Linda! I’m thrilled your husband loved the cake! Happy birthday to him! This is a well loved cake in our home as well! Thanks for your stellar review and feedback!
My cakes came out flat ….what have I done wrong 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Oh no! I’m not sure what happened; did you make any substitutions at all or forget an ingredient?
Best cake ever. Doesn’t last long in our house. I knew it was going to be good when I saw boiling water – that is a must for cake batter!!
Hello! This recipe looks amazing.
Can you freeze this cake while already frosted? I need to make it in advance and am trying to sort out the best way to make ahead. Thank you!
You could freeze it with the frosting, though I actually think it’s better to freeze the cooked and cool cakes, wrapped well. Then make the frosting fresh once you thaw the cakes. But if you need to freeze the whole thing, it will work.
I only gave this recipe 5 stars because there’s not an option for 10. Nora, this dairy-and-egg intolerant gal is incredibly appreciative for all you do! You make life worth eating again.
I’ve made this cake a bunch of times and I’m always blown away by how fookin’ GOOD it is. I substitute canned pumpkin for the applesauce (cause the first time I made it I didn’t have any), and I do every time now. This is the cake I tried to make all my life. It is always well-received and raved over! Thank you thank you thank you, and keep up the good work! I appreciate you!!
Thanks Toby! 🙂 This is the kind of feedback that makes my day a little brighter.
I made it twice, this first time it turned out amazingly. The second time the buttercream was very gritty from the sugar any recommendations on how to fix this. Or thoughts on why this happened?
Did you use a different kind of sugar the second time around? If you use powdered sugar, it shouldn’t be gritty, unless you got a bad batch or something. It’s very smooth.
I accidentally added the milk and boiling water at the same time, will this impact the cake at all ???
I’ve never done that, but hopefully it will turn out just fine.
Do you have a vegan vanilla cake recipe ?
Yes: Vegan Vanilla Cake.
I make this for my vegan sister’s birthday and no one can tell it’s vegan! I cut the vegan butter (Earth Balance) in half and everything else is as written. An all time winner! Thanks, Nora.
I made this for my son’s birthday as he requested chocolate cake. It turned out amazingly good! I added vegan chocolate chip cookie dough scoops on top of the cake to make it a little more fun for a kids birthday cake. But the cake itself was definitely the best part.
Made the cupcakes a few months ago and they tasted amazing without the icing. Going to make them again next week, but opting for whip cream and strawberries
What a fabulous topping choice! Thanks for your wonderful feedback! Happy baking!
Can you please share your vegan recipe so i could have a list to cook for mg family thanks so much
Thanks for this recipe Nora. I made it and it was amazing! Everyone loved it! I will definitely be saving the recipe.