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).
I made this cake for a birthday party. My daughter has some special dietary needs. I used gluten free 1:1 flour. The cake was a huge hit! It is delicious! Great flavor and unbelievably moist. I will make this again and again.
I’m so glad it was good!
Hi, Nora! Getting ready to make this for boyfriend’s 40th birthday next week! Wondering if cake flour would work well in this recipe?
I’ve never tried it, but it’s really not necessary here. If it’s all you have it might work, but I’m not sure. I hope you all enjoy the cake!
As i was waiting for my cake to finish baking I started to look at the comments and read that almond flour wasn’t a good substitute. Here I am now not wanting to take them out of the oven because I know that it’s just going to be a mess. I’m sure that with the good ingredients it must be really tasty though!
This really is the BEST chocolate cake!
My daughter has several food allergies, so I was on a mission to find the perfect recipe. This recipe was the winner! Everyone in my family loves it! Even my children without food allergies request this cake for their birthdays.
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
You’re so welcome! I’m so glad it’s a winner!
I’m currently baking this cake. It has been in the oven for about an hour and the toothpick hasnt come out clean yet. It smells great but has anyone else experienced this issue? How long did it take for you?
That’s a really long time, I feel like something may have gone wrong here. What kind of pan or pans are you using?
Is it possible to make this cake the night before?
Yes, that is not a problem.
So I made, this cake for my colleagues birthday. I live in Malaysia where Icing sugar is not Vegan. (And i don’t have a processor to make icing sugar from pure cane sugar 🙁 .) I found a recipe to make buttercream without icing sugar.
Very similar to yours.
1) Stir two cups of almond milk with half a cup of flour until you have a custard like mixture.
2) Mix 2 cups of granulated sugar with the butter.
3) Little by little mix in the custard. It becomes the same fluffy buttercream.
I added in the cocoa later so I could keep some white icing apart for decorating.
The cake turned out Fantastic and very birthday cake like as they are used here. Thank you so much. I wish I could include a picture!
Woops forgot to say that you have to stir the almond milk and flour in a pan over heat. 😉
So glad it came out great!
Can a bundt pan be used?
Probably but I still haven’t tried it. I think another commenter has but I can’t quite remember. I think it would need a little longer in the oven. Thanks!
Hi Nora,
Can I use regular butter sticks instead of vegan? Thank you!
You can, but of course it won’t be vegan anymore. 🙂
Thank you, looking forward to making it, looks so delish!!
Can I used something other than powdered sugar and regular sugar without it affecting the cake? This recipe has a lot of sugar?
For the frosting, you could try using something like Swerve Confectioners Sweetener, but it does need something to provide bulk to the frosting. You could likely use less sugar (or sugar sweetener) as long as your vegan butter is not too soft and you don’t add any kind of milk. It would take some playing around with, so I can’t guarantee the results. Again if you are looking to not use sugar at all you would have to use some sort of sugar substitute in the cake as well, I have never tried it. This is not a cake that claims to be healthy, it is the best chocolate cake for a reason. 😉
Hi Nora,
I wanted to thank you for this fabulous cake recipe. I followed it exactly and this cake is beyond delicious and super moist.
I have to say that the icing and cake flavors are a perfect blend!!! From now on, This will be my go to cake recipe.
Thank You so much for sharing ?
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you love it!
Do you think coconut milk would work
Yes.
Hi Nora,
I have tried this recipe twice now, once for making cupcakes and once for cake, and both times, it hardly rose and came out to be very dense and gooey. I’m also not on a high altitude which I know has an impact on the rising. I did halve the recipe both times and used smaller cake pans but kept the ratios of the ingredients the same. What could have gone wrong?
Oh I’m sorry, that does not sound right at all! I’ve never tried cutting the recipe in half, and sometimes with cake recipes it’s not that easy to cut in half or double and expect the same results. I would try making the recipe exactly as written and see if you have better results. It’s hard to know exactly what went wrong without being there with you in the kitchen!
I understand, I’ll try that. Thanks!
Any idea how I can make it gluten free and turn out like yours?
For best results, use a gluten free flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour). Don’t sub almond flour; it has to be an all purpose gluten free flour. It will work quite well, though the texture will be a bit different. Thanks!
Has anyone tried this with oat milk?
Yes, works well with oat milk!!
Thank you!
I am new to vegan baking. I’ve tried other vegan cake recipes that were terrible and super disappointing. This recipe is AH~MAZING!! It turned out moist, delicious, and not too dense. It was a total success and my family loved it. My husband has already asked when I can make it again. Thanks for sharing! <3
You’re welcome! And thanks for the great comment!
Hello, can this recipe be used for cupcakes?
Yes, it can. You will see instructions for this in the recipe notes.
Can I substitute almond milk for soy milk?
Yes.
Nora!!! Please help! (As best you can through the Pinterest ether lol) The icing – Perfection, but in my amateur baking attempt, I perhaps ruined your wonderful recipe. The cake, split into two pans, began to boil at 350(!). I used a different vegan butter, and substituted almond baking powder for regular all purpose flour. Your thoughts?
The reason the cake didn’t work is because you used almond flour, which can not be substituted for all purpose flour. It does not absorb moisture in the same way at all, and it just won’t work here. So follow the recipe exactly as written, and you will have success! Hope that helps.
I just made this cake for my dairy-allergic fiancee and it turned out fantastic! The only things I did differently was baked in a 9×12 glass pan and used Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil (sticks). It still turned out fine. Also, I mixed the wet ingredients altogether before mixing with the dry ingredients and before adding the boiling water but it didn’t mess it up, thankfully. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it really is the BEST chocolate cake!
So glad you liked it!
So this is truly the best cake I have had! I made it for my vegan daughter and she actually didn’t believe that it’s vegan. ( I have been known to cheat now and then ?)it really made her Valentines Day. It’s been three years as a vegan since she has had chocolate cake. Thank you thank you.
p.s. any chance of a calorie wise version ?
I’m so glad you and her both loved it!
Hello. This cake looks amazing!!! I want to make it but my husband is allergic to apples. Is there a substitute I can use instead of applesauce? Can I just use oil? If so how much?
You could probably substitute more oil but I would only use an extra 1/4 cup, I’m afraid it will get too oily otherwise. Or use 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds mixed with 5 tablespoons water (flax eggs). Either of those should work. Hope that helps!
The flaxseed in place for the applesauce – is this flaxseed *meal? Can you sub chia seeds for the flaxseed mixture? Will either of these come out the same as if we used unsweetened apple sauce? Currently cant find unsweetened apple sauce here.
Yes, ground flaxseeds, also known as flaxseed meal. Whole chia seeds will probably ruin the cake, as you will have whole chia seeds throughout the cake, not yummy! You could grind them into a powder (maybe using a blender or coffee grinder) then mix with water like the flax and that would probably work. I haven’t tested it though. Hope that helps!
Is this cake very crumbly?
Thanks!
Madeleine
Do you mean dry? It’s very moist and fluffy, not crumbly.
Hi Everyone,
The first time I made this cake, it turned out amazing! It really did live up to the hype: THE Best Chocolate Cake ever! The second time I made it, it was reasonably good but not as tasty as the first time for some reason. The third time made it, it flopped entirely. It didn’t rise very well and stuck to the pans even though they were well-greased and non-stick. I wanted to make mini cakes in 5″ diameter pans, so I thought that the different pan size had something to do with it not turning out. Today, I tried again. I doubled the recipe because I wanted to make a three layered cake and one single layer cake. The cake did not turn out. It is spongy and pretty tasteless. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! Perhaps it is incorrect to substitute the Almond milk with Soy Milk?? That’s the only ingredient I changed. The first time i used Almond Milk and all subsequent times I used Soy.
Hi Cat! I’m sorry you are having trouble. I would say follow the recipe exactly, and don’t double it. I’ve never tried doubling it but I think that could certainly ruin the cake. I would make the recipe but in two separate bowls, if that makes sense, instead of just doubling the recipe in 1 bowl. I’ve used almond milk and it works just fine, so I don’t think that’s the issue. You can also put a small piece of parchment paper in each cake pan, I always do this to avoid sticking. It’s kind of hard to know what else could be going wrong without being right there with you! But I hope you can enjoy this cake again, as it’s amazingly delicious!
This is the best cake EVER! Including non Vegan cakes! This had become my go to dessert for everyone. My vegan daughter, allergic and picky grandson and my chocoholic husband agree… this is the best cake ever!
It has tied with my non Vegan cheesecake for fave dessert at family parties. So I usually make both.
Thank you for this genius recipe!
You’re welcome!
Excited to try this cake! Would you decrease the time in the over if you were making cupcakes?
Thanks.
Yes, the instructions for this are in the recipe notes section. 20-25 minutes. Thanks!
What if you don’t have unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened applesauce? Can you use regular?
Sure, that’s fine. If your applesauce is cinnamon though it will come through in the cake.