• Total Time: 55 minutes
  •  Yield: 16 servings 
  • Diet: Vegan

The BEST vegan chocolate cake you’ll EVER make!! Super moist fudgy and full of chocolate with an easy healthy dairy free ganache frosting. All 5 star reviews from my readers! They love this cake recipe!

INGREDIENTS

WET INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup unsweetened non dairy milk, I like cashew, soy milk or almond milk
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar (could sub apple cider vinegar)
  • 200 grams dark chocolate, broken up, I use 2 Great Value dark chocolate bars from Walmart (Canada) or the equivalent of dairy free chocolate chips
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil plus 1 tbsp, I use grape seed oil (not coconut oil)

DRY INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, I use Demerara sugar
  • 2 tsp instant coffee powder, reg or decaf ( espresso powder)
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICING:

  • 350 Grams dark chocolate, broken up, I use Great value dark chocolate from Walmart (Canada) or the equivalent of dairy free chocolate chips
  • 1 (400 ml) (14 fl oz) can coconut cream (not milk), I use Savoy brand from Walmart
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350° Lightly grease 2- 9 inch round non stick cake pans. I also line my pans with parchment paper rounds and lightly grease them.
  2. In a small bowl add the plant milk and vinegar, this is your “Buttermilk mixture”, stir and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl add the dry ingredients and stir to combine, set aside
  4. In a large mixing bowl add the chocolate pieces, and boiling water, let sit for a minute. Now add the cocoa powder and whisk it until smooth. Then add in rest of “Wet Ingredients” including “Buttermilk mixture”, whisk it until it’s combined.
  5. Next add the dry ingredients and whisk until it’s smooth. Do not over mix.
  6. Pour the cake batter into your 2 prepared baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Cool the cakes in pans for 10-15 then remove cakes from pans and cool completely on racks before icing.
  7. Dairy free Chocolate ganache:  Add chocolate pieces to a large DRY mixing bowl,
  8. Heat the coconut cream on stove until hot, don’t let it simmer. Pour the cream over chocolate mixture. Let it sit for a minute then add the cocoa and vanilla. Whisk it until smooth.
  9. Refrigerate for 1 hour, whisking after 30 minutes. If the icing seems to soft after 1 hour leave it in the fridge and check every 15 minutes until you have a good consistency.
  10. Ice the cake: Once cake is completely cool, frost the cake! Enjoy!

NOTES

  • for vegan gluten free chocolate cake: a few of my readers have said they have made this recipe using a gluten free flour blend and it turned out great. I personally have not tried it.
  • You can use any unsweetned plant milk you like, soy for nut free, etc.. (soy milk curdles the best for ‘buttermilk’)
  • I bake my cakes for 35 minutes
  • If you leave icing in fridge for to long, just remove to counter until spreadable.
  • If wanting cupcakes bake for 20- 25 minutes
  • I use Great value dark chococlate bars from Walmart (Canada) for a lot of my dessert recipes. They are excellent quality and super affordable.
  • I wouldn’t use a really dark chocolate for this recipe or your icing won’t be sweet enough.
  • The cake does not take on any coffee flavour from the instant coffee, it just adds a richness to the cake. I highly recommend adding it.
  • Prep time doesn’t include cooling time for cakes or chilling time for icing.
  • This cake will keep covered in the fridge up to 5 days. If using vegan buttercream frosting you can store the cake covered on the counter.
  •  To freeze cake: Wrap unfrosted pieces with plastic wrap. You can freeze cake for up to a month.

Serves 16Serving Size: 1Calories Per Serving: 457

Total Fat 23.6g 30% 1%Cholesterol 1.7mg12%Sodium 284.5mg21%Total Carbohydrate 57gSugars 36g10%Protein 5g23%Iron 4.1mg7%Niacin (B3) 1.1mg