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 love this cake !! delicious, thank you so much for the amazing recipe !do you know if this chocolate cake freezes well? i made it with gluten free ingredients, sugar free and soy free .
Yes, it does freeze well! So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Terri, are you able to share how you made it sugar free?
I made this cake and the lemon cake for a work potluck. Wow, they were both a hit with my non-vegan co-workers. This chocolate cake is so delicious. And it’s true, it does get better after a couple days! Thank you for sharing this!
Can this recipe be used to make cupcakes?
Yes, it will just make quite a few cupcakes! You may be interested in my Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes recipe, which is quite similar.
Excited to make this! How long would I bake this in a 13 by 9 pan?
It will probably take 45-55 minutes. I would check with a toothpick in the middle, when it comes out dry (not wet and liquidy) then it’s done. Thanks!
Would this recipe work in a bundt cake pan?
I think it would but I haven’t tried it myself. I’m sure it would need to bake longer, probably more like 45 minutes to an hour.
First time ever making a vegan cake for my daughters birthday. Is it suppose to rise? Mine looks dense but the frosting turned out great.
Yes it should rise and be quite fluffy, soft and moist. Did you make any substitutions? Hope you enjoy it!
Wow. This cake rocks. Seriously. I made this for my vegan sister-in-law. I was nervous about it because I’d never baked anything without eggs before, but we all loved it. The only issue I had was that it made sooo much frosting. One and a half cups of butter is 3 sticks. I wonder if you meant 1 1/2 sticks because I definitely had enough frosting for two cakes. Anyway, the cake was very tasty and easy to make. Great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed the cake! That is correct for the frosting (3 sticks), but if you want minimal frosting on the cake I’m sure half of that would be enough. I hate running out of frosting though and I like it layered quite thick on the cake. You can freeze leftover frosting if it’s too much as well. Thank you!
Best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten
Do you have a printed cookbook with your recipes?
No I don’t yet, sorry! I hope to one day!
Tried out this recipe before actually making it for my daughter’s birthday and it is so good. I have another delicious vegan chocolate recipe as my go to, but this by far is the winner. It’s definitely way more sweeter than I normally prefer but it’s for a birthday so it’s all good. Glad I made it before the actual birthday because I learned few things I did that I can avoid for next time. My frosting came out thicker so I had a bit of a hard time spreading it on the cake, so I know next time to add a little more almond milk and whip it some more. I will also move the cakes out of the pans as gently as I can! Oh did I mentioned how easy it is to actually make for a vegan cake? It was nice only using one bowl for the mixing and even better if you have a mixing stand to do the work for you. Thank you for the amazing recipe and I can’t wait to play with the icing and do some decorating.
So glad you enjoyed the cake! Yes, don’t be afraid to add a little more almond milk to the frosting until it’s a good consistency. If you start with pretty cold vegan butter, your frosting will be thick and you may need more almond milk. Thank you so much!
I’ve made the chocolate cake 4 times now. Everyone loves it because it is so moist and great. Made the vanilla cake yesterday and it tastes great but it’s no where near as moist and tender as the chocolate. I’ll make it again and use a machine to foam the garbonzo liquid. It’s the only thing I didn’t get the way I thought it should be. I’ve been cooking and baking for more than 60 years so I do have lots of experience in making great cakes. As I said we do really like the vanilla and will try it with different frostings and fillings.
Thank you! The vanilla is great, but it’s true it’s just not as moist as the chocolate cake. I still think it’s very moist and tender, but in a different way than the chocolate. Aquafaba definitely helps!
This cake was so well recieved by everyone that a non vegan asked me to make it for her birthday. Was very soft moist and chocolatey.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the cake, thank you!
I tried many online recipes, and this is the best one I’ve tried. The cake came out delicious and moist. All the cakes I made before always came out dry, even though I followed the directions step by step. The secret to it it’s really the boiling water at the end! Thank you Nora! I also added 1 teaspoon of instant coffee to improve the cholate flavor. I’m glad I found your page.
Question- Would you please share what brand of cocoa powder you use?
Thank you!
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you liked the cake! I usually use Trader Joe’s cocoa, but sometimes I’ll use Hershey’s or another brand.
I have been making this cake for a year now! It’s by far my family’s favorite. I do put my own twist on it. I use bob red mills gluten free flour & coconut milk so my celiac family members & nut allergy can all have cake!
I have made it for people who say “alternative cakes suck” and they all tell me mine is really good and make a brownie cake!
So great to have an allergy friendly cake, glad you enjoy it!
April–I saw you replaced the almond milk with coconut milk due to a nut allergy–did you find the cake tasted like coconut? My family does not care for the taste of coconut at all but almond milk is not really an option. Thanks.
Hi Kaitlin! You could also use soy, oat, hemp or even rice milk.
Every time I make this dessert, people tell me it’s the best vegan or non vegan cake they’ve had, hands down. Thank you so much for your recipes!!
Could I use a nut free alternative to almond milk?
Yes, soy, coconut, oat, probably even rice milk would work just fine.
I use whole coconut milk & gluten free flour it’s delicious
Looks fab. Where I live you cannot buy vegan butter. Any suggestions for butter frosting without butter? ?
Do you have access to vegetable shortening? If so, that would be your next best bet!
I totally love this cake. I’m not Vegan buts as good if not better than a cake with dairy. My only problem is keeping the Icing firm. It starts out firm but with time gets soft and gooey does it have to stay refrigerated to stay firm?
Thanks Jackie, I’m so glad you like the cake! I generally like to keep leftover cake in the refrigerator, to keep the icing very firm. But this will depend a lot on what kind of vegan butter you use in the frosting (some use coconut oil, which tends to melt quicker at room temperature), as well as how warm it is in your home. If you want it to be firmer even in warm environments, you can use half vegetable shortening and half vegan butter. Hope that helps!
I made your chocolate cake recipe for my husbands birthday . It was fantastic, very moist not too sweet. Dark deep rich chocolatey fudgey flavor. The frosting was also amazing I will use that on cupcakes in the future . Thank you for yet another delicious recipe .
Such a Wonderful recipe!! Wanted a yummy chocolate birthday cake to make for my daughter, this recipe really came thru! Moist, dark chocolate cake with fluffy chocolate frosting! One change I did to the cake part was to add 1 cup of boiling coffee instead of boiling water which added another flavor element. Thank you for this recipe, my daughter was both impressed mom made her a vegan cake and that is was incredible!!
Thanks for the recipe! I am going to try it. I am new in a baking business but more and more customers want no flour, no dairy, no eggs, no sugar cakes. It’s a bit challenging.
I hope you find success with the recipe!
Amazing! The best vegan chocolate cake recipe I’ve found, it never disappoints! 🙂
Thank you Celina!
This really is the best vegan chocolate cake. We’ve made it numerous times and it’s always a hit. We’ve only used 9.5” round pans and we’re thinking about doing a triple layer cake using 8” pans. Is the bake time still the same at 30 mins?
Thank you, so glad you are enjoying it! It will probably take around the same time, but I would start watching it after 20 minutes because if you over bake the cakes, they can crack. Do the toothpick test in the middle to check if they are done.
This cake is absolutely amazing! I’ve made it for the third time tonight. I have company coming tomorrow (non vegan) and wanted to show her how amazing vegan food can be without dairy and eggs and this cake will do just that. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious recipes! BTW the first time I made this I used semi-melted coconut oil and it came out like a dense fudge cake. The second time I used canola oil and it was super light and fluffy. Both were delicious – thanks again!
Thank you Tina, I’m so happy you love the cake!
Loooved this cake! I want to make something just as tasty but pumpkin spiced flavour. I was going to base it off the carrot cake recipe and use puree pumpkin instead of apple sauce but I see that the boiling water isn’t in any of the other cake recipes. Is there a reason it’s in the chocolate recipe but not the others?
Thank you! The boiling water works well in this cake, not necessarily others. For some reason it just works really well for the chocolate cake! You might want to check out this recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Cake Bars, it’s basically pumpkin spice cake. You could bake it in 2 pans for a layer cake. Thank you!
Hi this recipe looks great can’t wait to make it!
Can I sub boiling hot water for espresso for that more in depth chocolatey flavor? or will it change the outcome of the recipe?
Thanks in advance! 🙂
I think that would be fine and probably really good! I’m pretty sure some commenters have tried this with good results. Enjoy!
This looks great! I only have one baking pan so I can only bake one later at a time.
I see there is some chemistry with the boiling water at the end. Can the second half of the batter be set aside while the first layer is baking?
Hopefully it will work out ok, I haven’t actually tested it so I can’t say for sure. It may affect it a bit, but hopefully not too much!