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 chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday and it was amazing. I added blueberry filling and watched a video on YouTube how to icing a cake.
That’s so great!
Please help, I’ve tried baking a chocolate cake twice and followed the directions exactly, I keep getting an undercooked grainy cake. What am I doing wrong.
This time it came out to moist on top and I baked it for 50 min. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. Desperately trying to please my husbands sweet tooth, would appreciate future suggestions. Thank you!
Never one to leave comments, but I just made this for my Birthday Quarantine and it made my whole day! It was delicious! I was so proud! It was my first time ever baking anything from scratch. Thank you so much for this!
You’re welcome!
The cocoa powder you have linked is for Hershey’s “special dark 100% cacao” powder. I have Natierra organic cacao powder, can I use what I have, or would it change the taste? I’ve tried making hot chocolate with the cacao powder that I have and I did not like the taste… I wouldn’t want the same thing happening to happen when I try your mouth watering recipe!
You don’t have to use dark cocoa powder, but if you don’t like the taste of the one you have, it could possible ruin the cake for you. But generally any cocoa powder is just fine to use here. I hope you enjoy it!
Oh my! Made this today for my isolation birthday tomorrow. I used organic turbino sugar, flax eggs instead of applesauce and Red Mills organic whole wheat flour (healthier lol) and it is absolutely the richest cake I’ve had!! I didn’t have round cake pans but wanted the layers so I cut the 13 x 9 slab in half and rounded it. Which meant I had leftovers to try;). Thank you! Will definitely save this recipe.
Hi! How many flax eggs did you use to replace the applesauce?
What is the alternative to canola oil? All looks absolutely amazing but I’m not a fan of canola oil.
Melted coconut oil works, or any other neutral flavored oil.
I am planning on making this cake. I was hoping to make cupcakes instead of a cake will the recipe work just the same?
Thanks,
Asjia
Yes, it works great! Just bake them for less time, more like 20 minutes until done. Thanks!
Hey, I just looked at this recipe and I’m so excited to make it! I don’t have apple cider vinegar so could I use lemon juice as a substitute? Also do you think coconut milk would work instead of almond milk? And my last question haha, I wanted to make a light frosting with this cake, do you have any whipped frosting recipes? Thank you so much!! :))
Yes, you can use lemon juice and coconut milk. As far as frosting goes, I have a vegan vanilla frosting if that’s what you are looking for. Hope that helps and you enjoy it!
This looks absolutely amazing! My husband is gluten free. Would this likely turn out similarly with an all purpose gluten free flour?
Thanks!
It works pretty well with a quality gluten free flour. Thanks!
Can I substitute apple sauce for coconut yogurt?
I bet that would work!
Hi Nora!
Can I freeze this cake?
Yes, it can be frozen.
Hi Nora,
This looks great! I want to make this ASAP. I have everything except the applesauce, but I do have an apple! Could I purée an apple and use that? Or sub with a chia egg?
Thank you!!
You probably could, or yes I would say 2 chia eggs would work.
One of the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. Loved loved it ?
This cake is amazing! Hands down the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. I’ve made it four times, I’ve used different vegan milks interchangeably, and swapped out different fats, and it’s still come out perfect every time. It’s a family favourite now. Thanks so much!!!
You’re welcome!
This has become my go-to chocolate cake recipe, vegan or not! I make it for everyone’s birthday and they can’t believe how moist and flavorful it is. Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re welcome!
This is my fav recipe bc its easy, delicious AND economical!
Thanks!
You’re welcome!
This recipe was perfect! Everyone loved the cake and it was light and fluffy.
I followed a different vegan recipe from another person at Christmas for a black forest cake and it didnt work at all.
So happy that this cake was a hit!! I’m saving this recipe ?
I’m so glad to hear that!
Hi Nora! Recipe looks gorgeous. Thinking about doing this for my friend’s birthday. Is vegan buttercream going to be firm enough to pipe and play around with? If not, will it just need to chill or do I need to add something to it for extra hold? Thanks in advance!
As long as you start with vegan butter that is not TOO soft, it will be pipeable. The other thing you could do is sub half the vegan butter with shortening to make it more sturdy.
Ok, listen… my husband and I went vegan a couple years ago and cakes are his favorite desserts, to the point where my promise to always make them for him made it into our wedding vows. Unfortunately, most recipes for vegan cakes are eh at best and they’re difficult to find already made outside of speciality stores. Recently, as is required by matrimonial law, I was planning on making him cake when I found this recipe and all of its amazing reviews. OH MY GOD it’s better than our wedding cake (which wasn’t vegan and is the only part of our wedding day anyone still talks about). I double the recipe and make half sheets of this regularly. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!
You’re so welcome! Thanks so much for the wonderful comment!
Wow wow wow!!! Some friends made this for my birthday and it was beyond amazing! Definitely made my day, excellent recipe I can’t wait to make it myself.
That’s so great to hear!
This is the best chocolate cake recipe that has ever been writen.
Thanks!!
Hi, thank you for the recipe my babies(twins) are going to be 1 year old and one of them is allergic to milk and eggs, so I have to do my homework to find a cake for them, and OMG is so good and moist, this wkd I’m going to try the frosting and the vanilla cake. Thank you.
You’re so welcome!
Can you substitute white vinegar for apple cider vinegar?
Yes, that is fine.
Oh my goodness!! Not only the best vegan cake, but probably the best chocolate cake I have ever had/made!! I’ve been trying to find the right recipe for years and am so happy I came across this. As someone who has a major sweet tooth, I have had my fair share of chocolate cakes — nothing comes close to this! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. Not only does it taste delicious [win] but it’s vegan [double win!]. Saving this recipe as I know I will be coming back so much in the future to make. Amazing.
Thanks so much for the great comment!
We are all home baking now so I thought tonight I would try a chocolate cake.
This recipe is excellent! So moist and delicious. I did cut the frosting amount in half and it was just enough for a thin layer of frosting on both cake layers.
I did have one question. Being we already use applesauce, can the oil be omitted? I may try that next time. What do you think?
Thanks for the great recipe!
Stay safe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake! I would not omit the oil, as the cake will taste rather “fat free” and gummy potentially. If you really wanted, I would replace the oil with more applesauce, but it will greatly change the taste of the cake itself.
This was by far the best vegan chocolate cake I have ever had. It’s a must that I make this again for my family. Thanks for sharing
You’re so welcome!