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 just made this cake today for my husband’s birthday. My husband and the entire family (who are not vegan) loved it! It really is an amazing recipe and the best cake (vegan or not) ever that I have ever made. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us. It is a keeper. My 8 -year old daughter wants you to know that she loves the frosting.
I halved the recipe and made 12 cupcakes. They are delicious! I had cookies and cream cake from Whole Foods and wanted something similar cake wise, and this hit the spot! Great taste, super moist, and just the right amount of sweetness with the frosting. Thanks for sharing!
Great Recipe! My daughter is Vegan and I needed to find a good recipe. This was easy to prepare and tasted delicious. Thanks for posting!
This cake is absolutely fantastic!! My sister just made it for a Super Bowl / birthday party and everyone LOVED it!! I’m not vegan and actually not a huge lover of cake but LOVE chocolate ☺️ This incredibly chocolatey, moist, and somehow kind of fluffy and fudge-y at the same time… Amazing recipe, Nora!
She also made your Vegan Lasagna and that was really another winner. So glad I was able to take a piece home for leftovers! ☺️
Hi,
Thank you for the great cake. I tried to make the cake with less sugar, but then it does not taste so good. Do you have any alternative for the loads of sugar? I was thinking using Bananas to sweeten. Thank you! Sylvia
This recipe is very rich and sweet, and I wouldn’t recommend cutting the sugar too much. You would probably be happier using this recipe for Oil Free Chocolate Cake with Cashew Vanilla Frosting, because it has much less sugar. Of course, it doesn’t taste anything like this recipe, but it might be what you are looking for!
Hello, I just made a half recipe (1 cake pan) and making half cake for me and my daughter! Icing it tomorrow 🙂 So good to have a cake recipe I will be using for future gatherings (& w fruit filings etc)! I try keep a low sugar intake in general besides fruit sugar..so wondering if there are any sugar substitutes you have tried like maple or Coconut Sugar? -THANKS
Hi Jessica! Fruit fillings for this chocolate cake sound delicious. 🙂 As far as sugar substitutes, this is quite a sweet and rich dessert. You could try simply lowering the amount of sugar called for, or you could replace it with coconut sugar in the cake itself. Of course it will affect the flavor, but if you don’t mind that I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I would not sub maple syrup as it’s a liquid and would affect the overall structure of the cake. The frosting is more difficult, as powdered sugar is kind of essential. You might want to make the cashew frosting from this recipe instead if you need a low sugar frosting. Thanks so much, enjoy!
Hi Nora!
Considering this for a birthday. Can I cook and freeze? Should I wait for the cake to defrost go do the icing? Or can I freeze it with draining? Thanks
Hi Annie! I would cook the cake layers and freeze those, wrapped very well. When you’re ready to serve the cake, make the frosting, and let the cakes defrost a bit before icing it. You can also make the frosting a day or two ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. Simply let it sit on the counter for 15-30 minutes before icing because it will get very firm in the fridge. Hope that helps!
Could I use gluten free flour? The recipe sounds so amazing . Would you change amounts of anything if doing it with a different flour?
I haven’t tested it with gluten free flour, but it might work. I’m honestly not sure without testing it myself, but you may want to leave out the boiling water step, that may be too much moisture for a gluten free cake. Use a quality gluten free flour such as Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. I’ve heard good things about it! Thanks!
I tried this recipe last night and it was a hit! Everyone love it , it was for my hubbys bday and he told me to give smaller slices to our guests lol . I want to try all the desserts recipes now !
This is a fabulous cake! I hate to say, it’s almost better than my mom’s homemade recipe! I did use a bit less of the sugar and it still turned out delicious. And the vanilla vegan frosting was perfect for it! Thank you for a keeper!
I’m making this cake today for my son’s birthday, but I don’t want chocolate icing. Can I just omit the cocoa powder?
I would make this Vanilla Vegan Frosting instead of just omitting the cocoa powder. Enjoy!
We made this cake for my sister – who is vegan – and we ALL absolutely loved it!
I’m so glad to hear it!!
Hi Nora!
Do you think I could use less sugar in the cake batter and sweets applesauce instead? Making for a child who hasn’t been introduced to sugar yet.
Thank you!
Absolutely! Just reduce the sugar, even by half would be fine if you want it less sweet.
This cake is just fabulous. Rich, decadent and super moist. I served it to a crowd of meat eaters for my husband’s birthday last night and they were gushing over it. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep dreaming about it… Thank you for a truly wonderful recipe that I will certainly keep in my repertoire!
Today was my first vegan birthday and my mom and I made this cake. No one but us knew it was vegan but everyone went crazy for it. There were only 7 of us and there’s barely any left. Definitely my go-to chocolate cake!
This is THE best, most moist, and decadent vegan cake I’ve ever made and tasted! To be truthful, it’s the only vegan cake I’ve ever tasted. I made it as a birthday cake for my grandson for his second birthday and he had never eaten cake before. He is vegan because he is allergic to dairy, eggs, basically stuff that comes out of any mammals. I am so happy I found your recipe. He was tentative to touch it or taste it, but after helping me frost the cake (what an experience!) he found that it was as amazingly awesome as I did. All I can say is, THANK YOU!!
We recently found out my son is allergic to dairy and eggs. Today is his 4th birthday and I had been searching for something to make him. I made this for his pre school class and it was a hit! I couldn’t use almonds due to his school’s restrictions, so I subbed coconut milk which worked fine! I also used 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar, and walnut oil (my favorite oil in baked goods- not a coconut oil fan). I used canned frosting instead of your chocolate recipe, but I’m making the whole thing again tonight! Can’t wait to try the chocolate frosting. This was the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever had, including non-vegan!
Omg amazing! Super moist. I also added a packet of vegan pudding mix to make it even more moist. The recipe is awesome. Thank you!!!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
hello,i am Nur from Malaysia?what if I dont have applesauce? maybe there is
some replacement for applesauce? tq
Hmmm I’m not sure, perhaps another pureed fruit, such as prunes? Or you could make your own applesauce. Pureed pumpkin or squash may also work!
Made the cake-very good, super moist. My family liked it. Major mistake on my part DO NOT use butter for the frosting instead of the vegan sticks-it just didn’t work the same, the frosting came out drippy and unusable 🙁 I felt badly wasting all that product. But, we are still eating the cake! took the old frosting off and re-frosted it.
This reminded me of the decadent chocolate cakes that were big in the 80’s-90’s super rich, dense and often served by slice on a pool of raspberry sauce and a big blob of whipped cream (or vegan substitute) I am going to try it that way next time.
I am interested in your vanilla cake also if its anything like this, it will be great. Thanks!
Just made this cake as our daughter is allergic to wheat, cow’s milk and egg… I used Bob’s Red Mill One To One Flour and rice milk but otherwise followed your recipe exactly, and you were absolutely right: no one would ever know it’s vegan! Came out moist, rose great, and other than requiring a slightly longer bake time than prescribed it came out just as you described. It was fantastic! After trying 3 or 4 other recipes, this will be our go-to!
That’s so great Jennifer! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the cake!
My birthday is coming up, and back in my pre-vegan days, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting was always my first choice. So, despite the fact that I’m no longer much into cake, I thought I’d give this a try. I make most of my own food from scratch and this sounds delicious and fun to do, plus I’ll share it with friends and family. I do have a question for you. I make my own vegan milk and prefer cashew milk. Is there any reason to use almond milk? I’d have to make it special.
Happy (early) birthday! No, you can use cashew milk, or any other non-dairy milk for that matter. I hope you love the chocolate cake, and it’s everything you hope for. 🙂
Nora, I love this recipe but for the last 2 times I’ve made it the center of the cake doesn’t get cooked. I’ve followed the recipe step by step but itge results are the same . Help as the 1st time I made it everyone loved it.
Oh no! It may have something to do with the temperature of your oven being off, or perhaps your the altitude where you are at. Try using only 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup of the boiling hot water. That should help if you are having trouble!
My non-vegan daughter-in-law asked me to make a vegan birthday cake for my non-vegan son so that I could also partake. I found this recipe using a Google search. This one is a keeper. The cake was fantastic. I used whole wheat pastry flour and baked it in a Bundt cake pan. I had to increase the baking time to 75 minutes. I topped the cake with a melted dark chocolate bar. The cake was great the first night and improved with age.
That sounds amazing with the melted chocolate bar on top! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Hi Nora- is like to try your recipe…it sound delicious!! Are the calories for the ne slice?
Thank you
Yes, for one slice. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!