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.
Sign-up to get new recipes by email and receive a FREE 5 Day Family Friendly Vegan Meal Plan! SUBSCRIBE NOW.
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).
This cake was awesome! My 5 year old and I made it for my husband’s birthday. Some notes: I used oat milk…it didn’t “curdle,” but worked fine.
I made half a recipe to just make one 9″ layer since it’s just three of us. The individual cups of apple sauce were the perfect size!
I used Myoko’s butter for the frosting, it tasted delicious! It does come out slightly “broken” looking, but tastes great.
We all loved it and my husband and daughter have both asked when we can make it again! I’m thinking to make the cake and add chocolate chips and bake out as a “snack cake.” Thanks for the great recipe Nora!
You’re so welcome! Glad you all enjoyed it!
Hi I was just wondering if this would work as one big deep cake as I only have 1 cake tin but would like a tall cake?
The recipe looks incredible!
I’ve never tried it in one 8 or 9 inch cake pan, but I’m pretty sure it would overflow out. You could cut the recipe in half for 1 small cake, or bake it all in a 9 x 13 inch pan if you have one. Hope that helps!
I tried it in a super deep 8 inch and it turned out incredible. This was my brother’s birthday cake and we made an Oreo icing for it and topped with Oreo biscuits. The cake was so moist and had an amazing chocolatey flavour. I subbed the apple cider vinegar for regular vinegar and swapped the apple sauce for soya yogurt and it worked perfectly. Thanks so much!
You’re so welcome! Glad it turned out great!
I made this for my daughter who is not vegan, but my other daughter is, so I didn’t tell the family and they all saud it was the best cake ever, thank you so much
You’re welcome!
Best cake I’ve ever made! You’ll never know it’s vegan!
Thanks so much!
Hi Nora, can I substitute the sugar with date paste?
Sorry, I don’t think it would work. You could try it though!
Oh my gosh thank you for this recipe! We are an egg-sensitive and low-no dairy family. I made this cake yesterday for my Husband’s birthday. It is fantastic! I had to sub unsweetened soy milk and for the frosting I used half the recommended powdered sugar (we like it less sweet). Everyone loved it! I am going to write this one on an old-fashioned recipe card and put it in my actual recipe box?. My MIL had requested one for her June birthday.
That’s so great to hear!
I was craving a great chocolate cake and this did not disappoint! Moist, chocolatey and delicious. This cake is aces.
Thanks so much!!
This was an amazing recipe, tasted great and so soft even after being in the fridge for 2 day this will be my go to recipe from now on, even my kids loved it and they aren’t found of a lot of vegan recipes.
I love hearing that. Thanks!
Birthday cake win for my non-vegan family. One cake for everyone! Now for a vanilla version 🙂 Thank you.
You’re welcome!
OH MY G O S H!!! This cake is amazing! No one would ever know it’s vegan. My son loved it! I used macadamia nut milk and a stevia blend and it was still amazing! The frosting is soooo good!
I’m so glad to hear that!
This recipe is lovely.
i forgot to put the oil in the cake. completely accidental. and it still came out great! So it seems ‘you can’t mess it up’!
That’s great to hear!!
Last time I tried this I definitely did something wrong because I didn’t like it. Tried it again today and it was the best cake I’ve ever had. I don’t know what I did wrong last time but it seems like I will continue to use this recipe because it’s amazing
So glad to hear that!
This was absolutely amazing. My family and I went vegan a couple years ago, too. This was delicious! I substituted pureed avocado for the vegan butter, and it turned out great(: We are excited to try your other recipes!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Wow. I made this cake for my husbands birthday yesterday and its definitely the best vegan chocolate cake recipe out there! My son is allergic to eggs and I can’t tell you how many recipes we’ve tried.. Its super moist and full of flavour. For the buttercream I melted some chocolate and added in as well ( it made the buttercream slightly looser in texture but tasted great). Thank you!!!
You’re so welcome!
I made this cake for my boyfriend because we are both lactose intolerant and craving a deliciously fudgey chocolate cake and THIS IS THE CAKE! So easy to make, I didn’t even have a hand mixer and I had no issues making it. My “frosting” was more like a glaze or ganache since I didn’t have an electric hand mixer and couldn’t whip it fast enough but I personally liked it better. This is hands down the best chocolate cake I have ever had and you would never know it’s vegan!
Thanks so much for the great comment!
Hi Nora
I made this cake tonight and baked it all in one tin for 1hr 10 mins. There was a tiny bit of crumb on the skewer when I took the cake out of the oven but now having allowed the cake to cool, it hasn’t cooked right through and seems a bit solid. Do you think my mistake is that I should have baked the cake in 2 pans as you recommend? We loved the raw mixture so I am disappointed.
Yes, you should have baked it in two pans. It’s too much batter for one small pan.
I made this cake today (cupcakes) and the flavor was awesome but sadly they sunk in the oven 🙁 Has anyone else had this experience? I googled it and most every site said the oven was too hot. But the flavor was to die for -the sunken cupcakes were super moist and fudgy! I made frosting using canned coconut cream that I whipped with sugar free confectionery sugar and it was really good. I also cannot eat sugar so I replaced the sugar with a sugar substitute (xylitol) and am not sure that had anything to do with my cupcakes sinking in the oven. I would give it a five star rating had they not sunk. I plan to make these again. <3
Replacing the sugar with xylitol was likely the issue here, as omitting the sugar will change the structure of the cake. Cupcakes from this recipe made with sugar are light and fluffy, definitely not fudgy.
Hello. Do you think adding espresso powder would negatively affect the recipe (the way it bakes)? I like a dark chocolate-tasting cake. 🙂 Thank you!
No, I think that would be good!
Hello, I want to do a 2 layer 6″ inch cake for mother’s day and was wondering if I should halve the recipe and how long should I cook it for and for what temp? thanks so much
I would probably cut the recipe in half, but I haven’ never tried it. If not it might overflow in the 6 inch pans. If you made a triple 6 inch cake it would be perfect as written. The bake time will be similar, but I would check with a toothpick in the middle to make sure they are done. I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried it.
Nora, this is with out a doubt the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever had! End of work week when my sis and I lived in San Francisco in our 20s (we’re 70s now) we would treat ourselves to chocolate cake at Blums in the downtown I Magnins store. It was outrageous and anything but vegan…this cake is more that as good plus better for us. Darn, I’ve made 3 in 2 months! My husband and I have to ration it – but I sneak more. Thanks!
You’re so welcome!Thanks so much for the lovely comment!
Hi there ?
This cake looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it. My birthday is next week so it will be my birthday cake. I am hoping it will be the best ever ?
I don’t have a pan for layering. Is it ok if I use all the batter at once with a pan with a hole? Will it work out? Maybe if I leave it in the over for an extra 10 to 15 minutes?
Thank you so much for sharing these treasures ?
I think you are talking about a bundt cake? If so, yes! I have made it in this recently. It was amazing. 🙂 You are right on, leave it in the oven an extra 10-15 minutes until done.
Hello,
Was wondering if I could make this int a 3 layer cake, would it fall apart or slip apart due to the cream?
I actually have made a 4 layer cake with this recipe before and it worked well. I do recommend keeping it in the refrigerator though to help it not slip.
Thank you, I made the cake into 3 layers. I have another question though, this is the second time I’ve made a vegan cake. I find them to be very heavy and in this case the cake rose well, but when I was letting it cool, I saw it slowly shrink and it became heavy and looked like it wasn’t cooked. I stuck a toothpick in it before I pulled it out of the oven, it was fine. I actually let it bake for an additional 5 minutes and when I pulled it out it was light and airy. I was a bit disappointed in the finally result. It tastes great, but I can’t understand why it would slowly sink. My baking powder isn’t old, I just find that all vegan cakes do this because of the lack of eggs? Can you shed some light on this for me?
I’m not sure why your cakes sunk, that is not something I usually experience especially with this cake. If you look on Pinterest under this recipe, or all the Instagram re-makes, you will see fluffy chocolate cakes that are quite tall. Did you double the recipe, and make it in 3 pans, or make thinner layers? When made in two 8 or 9 inch pans, they cake layers are quite tall and fluffy. If made in 3, they will obviously be much thinner.
Thanks for easy recipe!
I made this with my vegan butter and the cake and buttercream frosting came out perfect separately. But the thing is…As soon as i put on the buttercream frosting on the cake it started melting like butter… i was shocked?? i cooled down the cake enough but dont know what’s the problem.. help me !!!!
But for sure it can be really healthy chocolate cake i’ve had so far! ?
Hi! It sounds like even if you though your cake was cooled enough, it wasn’t. If the frosting was fine and started to melt when you put it on the cake, then your cake wasn’t cooled completely. Next time, stick it in the fridge if you need to, to make absolutely positive the cake is cool.
My son has been on a vegan kick and yesterday was his birthday. I asked him a couple of days ago what kind of cake he wanted and his reply was “a vegan cake”. So I looked for a vegan chocolate cake recipe and came upon Nora’s website. Me and my daughter made the cake. Oh my gosh!!! The cake was absolutely delicious!!! I had all the ingredients except applesauce so I looked up a recipe without sugar, found one, cooked the apples, used the bullet and I made the best homemade applesauce. I also made the frosting but didn’t make the entire recipe since I was short on cocoa powder so I adjusted it a bit and it was just as delicious. I covered the top of the entire cake and had just enough to add a little extra to the edges allowing it to drip down the sides. The cake by itself would have been just as scrumptious!! My husband has a birthday in 22 days and he’s already put in his cake request:). Can’t wait to try some of the other cake recipes. Thank you Nora!!!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the great comment!
can you mix by hand? or does it not work?
You can mix the cake by hand, it works pretty well. A whisk can be helpful near the end.
My son’s 2nd birthday is tomorrow and he told me he wants a chocolate cake! This was the first one that popped into my head! The only thing- during Quarantine, I was only able to pick up self-rising flour. Do you have any suggestions on how to modify using that? Should I omit the baking powder and soda from your recipe or perhaps lessen the amount? :-/ stuck on this! Thank you so much!
Hmmm I haven’t tried it but I think you probably could leave out the baking powder at least. I would keep the baking soda in the same amount. I hope that works! Happy birthday to your son!
Thank you SO sooo much for replying to this!!! I’ll let you know how it works. (Although, I did just send my husband out on a hunt for flour!). I’ll DM a pic of him eating it tomm 🙂
I am not a baker at all but this cake turned out so well and so delicious. It was easy, too. Thank you for this! It is my new favorite. Also non-vegan approved! ❤️
You’re welcome!
Thinking about making this for. My birthday. Have all the ingredients bar the apple sauce. Can you recommend a substitute and also what does the apple sauce do? Is it a binder. Thanks so much
Sure! The applesauce is in place of eggs and helps to bind the cake. You could use another egg substitute, like 2 flax eggs, or mashed banana.