This vegan chocolate cake is the bomb diggity!
Not only is it super easy to make, but I’m actually convinced it is flop proof! You’re going to love the simplicity of the ingredients and how well this cake comes out!
Now, there’s a particular word that I just have to use to describe it, but it’s a word that some people just hate, hahaha. That word is: moist.
Yes, this cake is moist. There’s just no other way to say it, and honestly it’s fantastic. You will just love how moist it is!
This is due to the oil in the cake which you’re able to keep to a minimum in this recipe, while still reaching that perfect state of moistness, which actually…..is just exactly what you want in a cake.
This cake is rich, tall (two layers), dark and pretty damn handsome too! Not to mention velvety and chocolatey.
Paired with a velvety vegan chocolate frosting and drizzled with melted vegan chocolate and lots of vegan chocolate chips, this is a cake you’ll remember – and so will all your friends!
This is the easy route to popularity right here! Just whip up one of these babies for your friends and you’re it!
And did I mention how EASY it is to make?
There are no unnecessary extra steps involved in this vegan chocolate cake. It’s just a case of throwing in all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl, then adding all the wet ingredients, and whisking them up together.
Then pouring the batter out into greased and parchment lined 7 inch cake tins and baking for 30 minutes!
As soon as the cakes are baked you just have to constrain your glee for a bit while they cool down, and then you get to do the super fun frosting part, and the even more fun part of throwing melted chocolate all over it in a messy (but gorgeous!) fashion.
You’ll love this vegan chocolate cake for so many reasons but particularly because it is:
- Ultra rich
- Moist
- Chocolatey
- Decadent
- Soooo easy
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay perfectly delightful for a couple of days, or covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week, though it’s at its absolute best in the first couple of days when it’s ultra fresh.
What do you think of this fabulous vegan chocolate cake? Please let us know in the comments and please do rate the recipe too as this is so helpful! Thank you!
For more fabulous vegan cakes, check out these awesome recipes:
- Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Vegan Coffee Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
And heaps more!
Sign up to our email list as well while you’re here, you’ll get a free awesome recipe ebook as well as being the first to know whenever a new recipe is posted to the blog!
Vegan Chocolate Cake
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Prep Time: 15 mins - Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
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Yield: 10 -
Category: Dessert, Baking -
Cuisine: Vegan
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Ultra rich and decadent vegan chocolate cake that is also so simple and easy to make! Moist, mega chocolatey and as totally divine as a chocolate cake can be!
Ingredients
For the Vegan Chocolate Cake:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (200g) White Sugar
- 1/2 cup (42g) Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup (240ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup (80ml) Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp White Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
- 1 Flax Egg
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- 3 and 3/4 cups (450g) Powdered Sugar
- 4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
- 3 Tbsp (45g) Vegan Butter
- 5 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For Decoration:
- Vegan Chocolate (Melted)
- Vegan Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (180 degrees celcius).
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of hot water and leave to sit for a minute or so to become gloopy.
- While your flax egg is waiting, add your soy milk (or other non-dairy milk), vanilla extract, olive oil and vinegar to your mixing bowl and stir.
- Add your flax egg and stir.
- Whisk with a hand whisk until well combined, but be careful not to overmix, just mix until large lumps are gone, small lumps are fine.
- Grease two 7 inch round cake tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Divide the batter evenly between the two tins.
- Place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting
- Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vegan butter, soy milk and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Start at low speed and then gradually increase speed until well mixed.
- If your frosting is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar, if it is too thick, add soy milk a drop at a time until you reach the right consistency. It should be very thick but still spreadable.
- Frost the cake and then decorate with drizzles of melted chocolate and chocolate chips (optional).
Notes
*My cake tins are 7 inches round. If you want to double this recipe just bear in mind that results are variable, it can be tricky to double a recipe and it doesn’t always come out right.
*Weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
*Chocolate Frosting is from this recipe.
*Nutrition information includes frosting but excludes melted chocolate decorations.
*Recipe inspired by Vegan Baking
*This recipe was updated – the original version contained whipped coconut cream in the center, but the cake recipe is identical. If you want to make it the way it was originally, all you need to do is use whipped coconut cream in the center, and make only half of the chocolate frosting recipe to use on top. Decorate the cake with fresh blueberries and dollops of whipped cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (of 10)
- Calories: 436
- Sugar: 64.2g
- Sodium: 310mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 84.4g
- Fiber: 3.1g
- Protein: 4.3g
Keywords: vegan chocolate cake
OMG. Best vegan cake ever.. Thanks for sharing the recipe..
★★★★★
Fantastic news!! Thanks so much! 🙂
Could I substitute the flax eggs for egg replacement powder?
I think that should be fine.
Did you try it with the egg replacement powder? If so, how did it turn out? I’m looking for the best recipe to make a birthday cake for someone with multiple allergies. Thanks!
Thank you Alison for this cake recipe! I have made this cake twice, and each time the cake comes out perfect! I am vegan and I love baking. I like to experiment with my own recipes. But this is my go to chocolate cake recipe. You are right it is so moist! Being vegan can sometimes be a challenge. But making your own food is rewarding and you can make sure only the things you want will be in your food.
★★★★★
Thank you Linda! So happy to hear it’s been a success! You are so right, it is SO rewarding to make your own food from scratch! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Hey @lovingitvegan!
1st thank you for sharing:D
2nd can I sub cocoa powder for cacao powder? Any measurement changes?
3rd can I sub flaxegg with applesauce instead? Any measurement changes?
4th can I sub coconut oil in place of vegan butter?
5th Thank you in advance!
Cacao powder should be fine as a sub. Applesauce as well, probably around 3 Tbsp of applesauce would be equivalent. I’m not a fan of coconut oil in place of vegan butter for frosting, it tends to get too runny at room temperature and too hard in the fridge, but others have used it and think it’s fine so that’s a personal preference thing. As with any substitutions though, sometimes what you think will be just fine can surprise you, so hopefully all these subs will be fine, but there’s always a risk when you change up a recipe. all the best!
First time trying the recipe – very nice! I will be adding this to my favourites 🙂
★★★★★
Whoop! So happy to hear! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Would chocolate soy milk work??
Sure!
Hi Alison,
I’m planning on making this recipe for my daughters birthday party, but want to use this recipe for cupcakes. How long do you think I should bake them for?
Hi Erin, check out my chocolate cupcake recipe based on this cake: vegan chocolate cupcakes. 🙂
Made this for my mom’s birthday. My mom and everyone else loved it.
The only problem was that the icing was kind of gritty. I made the first batch and noticed that, so I made another batch, sifted the cocoa powder and icing sugar, and it was still gritty – like you were chewing on some sugar granules. I’m sure this was my mistake somehow.
Nobody complained about that part. Everyone had seconds. The taste and texture of the cake was so awesome!
★★★★★
Hi Kari! So glad you loved the cake! I’m not sure what would have caused that with the frosting though, did you make it in an electric mixer? Sorry I don’t really know what to advise there as I can’t think what would cause it other than if you did it without a mixer. Thanks so much for your awesome review! 🙂
I mixed it with my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but I think I maybe didn’t let it go long enough? Next time I will use my hand electric mixer and see if that does the trick. I also made the icing sugar in my vitamix, so maybe I didn’t get it fine enough. Doesn’t matter though, it still tasted good!
Oh I see! Yes I am thinking that would be the issue, I have never tried making icing sugar myself, so I have no experience there, but I definitely think that it being a bit too coarse would completely explain the grittiness.
I don’t typically leave reviews but this cake is so decadent I just had to leave a note and tell you how much I love it. My whole family loves it for that matter. Incredible recipe!! Before we became vegan I had a killer chocolate cake recipe that used buttermilk and eggs and I never thought I’d be able to get a vegan cake that tasted as good as that one. You have proven me wrong. This cake is simply delicious. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!!
★★★★★
Stephanie, that is the best comment to read! Thank you so much! I am thrilled you love the cake and that it tastes as good as your old favorite. Thanks so much for your awesome comment and rating! 🙂
Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar? should I use the same amount or lowering at 100gr?
Hi Frederica, maple syrup is a wet ingredient so if you swapped the sugar for maple syrup the whole recipe would need to be adjusted, since I haven’t ever made it this way I can’t advise.
Looks amazing ! What type of sugar did you use? Can I use coconut sugar?
I haven’t made it with coconut sugar, but since it’s also a granulated sugar it should work fine as a straight swap.
Hi Alison,
Thanks for posting this. I am going to try to make this cake for my daughters birthday but we have 70 guests (30 are 5 and under) coming. I am planning to use 2 sheet trays, 12 x 18″ at 2 inch deep. This will be my first time baking a cake so i am not sure if i should do 2 inches or 1 inch for each layer. What do you recommend? (The temperature will be in the 90s if that matters). Also, do you know what the measurements would be for this size cake?
Thanks so much
Sorry! I just saw this link, https://lovingitvegan.com/chocolate-sheet-cake-with-chocolate-fudge-frosting/
Would the fudge frosting on the sheet cake be better than this frosting in 90 degree weather? I am personally not a fan of fudge because its too thick to my liking and would prefer this frosting but if you think it will hold up better in the high temperature, i would go with it. Thanks again.
Hi Ray, I think the fudge frosting would hold up better since it’s super thick, though both should really hold up especially since it’s a sheet cake so you’re not piping it or anything. Hope it goes super well! 🙂
We just made the cake! The cake was delicious and moist. Only critque we received was that the icing was too sweet and thick. Is there a way to make it less sweet and more airy?
Hello
I made this the other night.
I used apple sauce instead of Fax Egg
Apple Cider Vinegar instead of Vinegar,
Self Raising Flour instead of Plan Flour,
Brown rice syrup instead of Sugar,
Almond Milk instead of Soy Milk
Cacao Powder instead of Cocoa
The taste of the cake was bitter. Cake was moist though..
Can you please let me know why the bitterness.
Thanks
I made this for my daughters work, where majority of workers there are vegan, they couldn’t believe it was a vegan cake, many thanks and I personally loved the cake, I made three cakes to give it some height, covered in that gorgeous vegan buttercream ❤️Topped with strawberry’s.
That’s wonderful Linda, always so great when vegan cakes are indistinguishable from ‘regular’ cakes. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Could the recipe be doubled?
I need to make a large sheet-cake birthday cake for my daughter’special day…
This recipe looks really simple,which is what i want this year 😉
Hi, I have made a sheet cake version of this already! 🙂
hello again, i have a question as well for this one. why are you using flax egg in the chocolate cake and not using it in your white cake and vanila cake? whats the difference here? Can we skip it from this recipe? cant we use a little bit more of vinegar instead? thanks again.
★★★★★
I sometimes use flax eggs and sometimes don’t. They are not required in a cake recipe, but can be nice to use as well. When I have created a recipe that does use a flax egg then it is important to the recipe and can’t just be omitted without replacing with something else and then that’s at your own risk. 🙂 Definitely don’t use more vinegar though that wouldn’t be nice. If you want to try other replacements then something like applesauce can be a swap for this.
This recipe is amazing!
I made it for my pops b’day.
beautiful and fluffy. Moist perfect!
★★★★
Awesome, thanks Grace! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
I LOVE this recipe! I made it for my husband’s birthday! I’m not sure what size my cake pans are, but as I was filing them, it was really obvious there wasn’t enough batter for two layers. I quickly scraped it all into one pan. It baked with no issues, and came out a little over 2″ tall. After it cooled, I cut it in half with a serrated knife to make layers! I then filled the middle with chocolate hazelnut spread. To save calories, I made half of the frosting and only frosted the top of the cake. The frosting is WONDERFUL, but I hardly ever eat sugar, so less is better for me. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of white (it’s what I had) and used coconut sugar instead of white. Even with the whole wheat flour, the cake was light! So moist, too. I suggest splurging on a really good cocoa powder.
★★★★★
Hi Jackie, that sounds awesome, thanks for sharing your adjustments! 😁
Hi Alison and Jaye! I am Luciana from Argentina, but I am living in Toronto, Canada since one and half year ago, with my boyfriend and our doggy Luna. You are amazing guys! My argentinian friends will be happy to know you! ( We have a Whatsapps Group to share vegan recipes, the name is the Food Revolution haha) Thank you very much for who you are guys! with love, Lu!
★★★★★
Hi Luciana! Awesome to hear from you and glad you found our blog! Thanks so much for your kind words, very much appreciated! 🙂
I am doubling for 2 9” pans 2” thick .. how long to bake and will it work?
I think it should be fine. Baking time would be roughly the same or maybe a bit longer. You can also use just the cake recipe part of our Vegan German Chocolate Cake recipe which is for 2 8″ pans but the layers come out nice and thick so I think it would work great for 9″ pans too.
OMG this looks delish to say the least! I must make this! 😍😍