The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake made with simple ingredients in one bowl. It’s incredibly delicious, rich with chocolate flavor, and can be made gluten-free. The perfect dessert for any occasion!
For some reason, I could never imagine a world without chocolate! To me, personally, it’s always perfect – no matter which time of the day. You can have it for dessert, or just as a snack, or even for breakfast. For me, chocolate will always be something that lifts my spirits! Do you feel the same? If so, this Best Vegan Chocolate Cake is perfect for you, because is so chocolatey that it’ll definitely satisfy any chocolate cravings!
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe
Actually, I’ve been making this recipe for years, but for some reason, I’ve never shared it on my blog. Anyways, to me, it’s just the Best Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe ever, and I’m also convinced it is definitely fail-proof, so it will never let you down. It is intensely chocolatey, rich, soft and has a creamy frosting (but it also tastes super yummy without the frosting). I‘m pretty sure no one will ever suspect it’s vegan and even healthier than other chocolate cakes because it tastes like a classic homemade chocolate cake!
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
To make this Vegan Chocolate Cake, all you need are just a few simple basic ingredients that you may already have on hand. You do not require eggs or any dairy ingredients, so it’s dairy-free and egg-free. A combination of baking soda, baking powder + apple cider vinegar helps the cake rise, and also keeps it delightfully fluffy. All you need to do is to combine the wet with the dry ingredients. Simply melt chocolate, mix and bake. It couldn’t be simpler.
Use your favorite baking dish
There are several things you can do with this recipe. You can bake this cake in a round tin to make a layer cake as I did, however, this recipe works just as well in a loaf pan or in cupcake and muffin pans. The only thing you should pay attention to is the baking time. For chocolate cupcakes or muffins, it only takes about 15 minutes. A chocolate loaf, however, takes about 50 minutes. I always recommend doing a cake test during baking to check if the cake is done. Baking for too long is not good either because it dries out the cake.
Chocolate Cream Frosting
I like this cake best when it’s topped with a fluffy and creamy chocolate mousse and rich chocolate ganache, but you can also top it just with the ganache, or enjoy the cake how it is. When serving, you can decorate it with healthy berries, cherries or other fruits of choice. By the way, if you make this cake without the frosting, it also tastes delicious when you add some vegan chocolate chips on top and then serve your piece with a big scoop of vegan ice cream, dairy-free yogurt, or whipped coconut cream on top.
Anyways, this vegan chocolate cake tastes totally delicious! It is:
- Dairy-free
- Soy-free
- Egg-free
- Quick and Easy to make
- Fail-Proof
- Rich in Chocolate flavor
- Frosted with Chocolate Cream
- Can be made Gluten-free
- Can be turned into Cupcakes, Muffins
- Also, perfect to make a loaf
- My Best Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe
Want more Chocolate Cake Recipes?
If you want to try more tasty chocolate cake recipes, you can check out my
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
- Raspberry Chocolate Cake
- Black Forest Cake
- Best Vegan Brownies
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Vegan Chocolate Mousse
- Best Chocolate Cheesecake
If you try this Best Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe, please leave me a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you take a picture of your yummy Cake and share it on Instagram, please make sure to tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka , so I won’t miss your post! 😊
Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my new Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 cup non-dairy milk 240ml
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240g, or gluten-free flour*
- 1 cup cocoa powder 120g
- 1 1/2 cups sugar 300g, or to taste
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp instant coffee granules optional
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 3/4 cup neutral oil
- 1/2 cup apple sauce 120g, or 2 (flax)eggs (*see recipe notes)
Chocolate Frosting
- 1 cup non-dairy whipping cream or full-fat coconut milk, 240ml
- 12 oz non-dairy bittersweet chocolate chopped (I used 60% cocoa)
- 2-4 tbsp maple syrup or powdered sugar
Chocolate Mousse Filling (optional)
- 1/3 cup non-dairy whipping cream 80ml, room temperature
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup of the chocolate frosting 80ml
Instructions
(step-by-step pictures are in my blogpost)
Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line two 8-inch (2x20cm) cake pans.
- Stir the apple cider vinegar into the non-dairy milk and set aside to curdle into vegan buttermilk.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and mix to combine.
- Stir the coffee granules, if using, and vanilla extract into the boiling water.
- Pour the vegan buttermilk, oil and hot water mixture over the flour mixture. Also, add the apple sauce and stir with a spatula or handheld mixer on low speed just until combined and no large lumps remain (please do not overmix). (Adjust sugar to your desired taste).
- Fill the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. (If you want a moist chocolate cake, make sure not to overbake it.)
- Remove from oven and let cool completely. (Optionally, you can place the cakes in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight, as they will be easier to work with when well chilled.)
Frosting
- In a small pot, heat the coconut milk until just boiling (or microwave for about 2 minutes).
- Pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.
- Reserve about 1/4 cup of the chocolate frosting (to use in the chocolate mousse filling). Let cool remaining frosting until thickened into a spreadable frosting.
Chocolate Mousse
- Stir the reserved 1/3 cup of the frosting into the non-dairy whipping cream until you have a smooth chocolate cream. Then place in the fridge to cool.
- When the chocolate cream is well chilled, you can beat it with a hand mixer until fluffy and creamy. Also, add the powdered sugar while beating.
Assemble the Cake
- Place one cooled cake on a serving plate. Spread the chocolate mousse filling over the cake. Then top with the next cake, and spread the chocolate frosting all over your cake (top and sides).
- Decorate with fresh fruits if you like and enjoy! 😊
Notes
- To make this cake gluten-free, you can use a gluten-free flour blend 1:1.
- Instead of apple sauce, you can use 2 flax-eggs (stir 2 tbsp flax meal into 6 tbsp hot water. Set aside for 5 minutes until jelly), or use 2 regular eggs if you're not vegan.
- If you want to make cupcakes or muffins with this recipe, bake for approx. 25 minutes.
- You can freeze the un-frosted cake for up to 1 month. Just make sure to wrap each cake layer in a double layer of foil before putting into a ziplock freezer bag.
- I used this non-dairy whipping cream for the mousse because it gets perfectly creamy and stiff but coconut cream will do too.
- If making this cake without the chocolate mousse and chocolate frosting, you can top it just with vegan chocolate chips or enjoy the cake as it is.
- Please read my blog post for additional Information about this recipe.
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Meeega leckerer Schokokuchen! Kam bei meiner ganzen Familie total gut an und ich habe ihn schon das zweite mal gemacht und er ist immer schön saftig geworden 😍 nur zu empfehlen!
Das freut mich sehr zu hören, liebe Sarah! Vielen Dank für dein tolles Feedback! 🙂
Hi there! For the frosting you used chocolate that had cocoa butter already in the ingredients? I have some chocolate that is pure cocoa and sugar will this work or would I need to add a bit of coconut oil possibly? What do you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Jessica, I prefer using 70% chocolate so the remaining 30% is a mixture of sugar and cocoa butter. I’m not sure how it’ll turn out when you use coconut oil but feel free to give it a try! Can’t wait to hear your feedback.
YUMMY!!!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe! I’ve heard about your blog a couple of times and will now spend my afternoon reading 🙂
Hi Rose, so glad you found my blog! Hope you’ll enjoy my recipes! Lots of love, Bianca <3
Hello Bianca
Why are you using boiling water?
Hi Wania, I’ve mentioned in this blog post why I use boiling water for chocolate cake 🙂
This is seriously the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made! Even my 5 year old (who is extremely picky and doesn’t like frosting) devoured her slice! Will definitely be making this again!!!
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you for sharing your feedback! 🙂 Lots of love, Bianca <3
It was great! All my kids loved it didn’t know that there were no eggs, no oil, and non sugar sweetener. The texture was perfect. Used more apple sauce instead of oil. Great recipe!
So glad you liked this vegan chocolate cake recipe! Thank you for sharing your feedback! 🙂 Lots of love, Bianca <3
Hi! Will try this recipe tomorrow, but what is a neutral oil? Also can use any non-dairy milk (almond, coconut?) or you recommend one in particular ? Also your recipes always look so yummy, thanks for sharing!
Hi Ruth, neutral oil is actually vegetable oil such as canola oil or grapeseed oil. You can use your favorite non-dairy milk. I prefer soy milk, almond milk or oat milk. Thank you for your lovely feedback! Hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
Hi! Oh my goodness this recipe is so moist and chocolatey! My family loved it!
How many cupcakes does this recipe make?
Your vanilla cake makes 24 cupcakes and it’s absolutely delicious! 😋
Hi there, so glad you enjoyed this chocolate cake! Thank you! This recipe makes 12 muffins so I guess it makes about 15 cupcakes 🙂
Thank you so much.
Can I half the ingredients to make less cupcakes?
Yes, sure! 🙂
Hi. I tried this recipe and it was very nice. Was just wondering if I could use regular milk for this cake? And to make it gf, do I need to use a gf all-purpose flour? Thank you…
Hi there, so glad you enjoyed it! Of course, you can use regular milk. To make it gluten-free, I suggest using a gluten-free all-purpose blend. 🙂
This is super yummy. Recently I have tried this recipe and everybody just loved it especially my kids 🙂 Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback! So glad that your kids enjoyed this chocolate cake, too! Lots of love, Bianca <3
Wow so classy and mouth watering chocolate cake i loved it and please keep posting such tempting cakes because i am Lerner of making new and different cakes
Thank you so much! I totally love creating new vegan cake recipes and I’m always happy when people try it and love it 🙂
Hi Bianca! Thank you for sharing this about the best vegan chocolate cake. I mostly like to eat cake on any occasion. Last time I ordered online cake delivery at my home on my birthday but next time I will make this chocolate cake with the help of this blog post.
So glad that you like my blogpost about vegan chocolate cake! Can’t wait to hear your feedback when you try the recipe 🙂 Thank you! <3
Hi! This cake looks amazing!! Can I make cupcakes with this recipe? I want to make this recipe on coming occasion Raksha Bandhan. l just love this recipe..
Yes, sure! The recipe is perfect to make cupcakes 🙂 Let me know how they turned out 😉
Used this recipe to make cupcakes and they turned out 👌👌👌 Perfectly moist and yummy. Thank you!!!
So glad that you liked the recipe 🙂 Thank you 🙂
I’ve always wanted to try making my own flours and experimenting with them for gluten-free baking! It’s so hard to do that without a flour mill – so it’d be so amazing if I won this beauty 🙂
I appreciate the thought that getting kids cooking helps to combat childhood obesity. It makes sense to me that a person who learns to cook with real food ingredients instead of a bunch of processed shortcuts will develop an appreciation of real foods. It also makes sense to me that a diet based on those actual foods will help people, including children, to understand what they are really eating, and I think that kind of consideration is one of the keys to overcoming obesity.
It was the best vegan cake I have ever done and it was just like the cakes that I used to love the most when I was still eating milk,eggs etc. Thank you.
So glad that you liked the recipe! Thank you 🙂
I made this cake last night and it might be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted. I did not use the coffee grounds bc I cant have coffee, but it was soooo chocolaty without it I didn’t need it.
The only confusing part was making the nondairy whipping cream if you’re making that from scratch instead of buying, but we ended up abandoning that plan and using the coconut milk and I think it was WAY easier and VERY tasty. I’d give this 12 stars if I could.
So glad that you liked my recipe! Thank you so much 🙂
This is among the best vegan cake recipes I’ve ever made. It turned out awesome! Thank you so much.
So happy that you liked it too 🙂 Thank you <3
Can I use coconut milk in place of nondairy whipping cream too?
Yes sure 😉
Wow!!! I looove this easy vegan chocolate cake! I made it for my boyfriend’s birthday and everybody loved this cake even his grandmother who is very skeptical about vegan food?!??❤ Thank you very much ☺
So glad that you like it! Happy to hear that 🙂 Thank you so much! 🙂
Wow!!! I looove this easy vegan chocolate cake! I made it for my boyfriend’s birthday and everybody loved this cake even his grandmother who is very skeptical about vegan food?!??❤ Thank you very much ☺
So glad that you like it! Happy to hear that 🙂 Thank you so much! 🙂
Stupid question, would you let it cool completely in the tin?!? Twice i made it and it breaks apart after I take it out the tin
I would not let it cool completely in the tin. I recommend to grease the tin and then also line with parchment paper for an easier removal. Let cool for 10-20 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.
This cake ? so tasty and looking amazing with berries on top. Ease to make it. Thank U so much Bianca
So glad that you liked it! Thank you ?
This the first ever cake that I’ve made so far which was soft as a cushion..I just loved the feel and the taste..my family enjoyed it too..thanks a lot Bianca
So glad that you liked it! Thank you! ?
Hi.. Can you please tell whether almond flour can be used in making this cake?
I don’t recommend using almond flour because it will make the cake dry. But feel free to try it.
I love this cake, I made it for my father’s birthday and it was a success. Thank you Bianca for this super recipe ?
So glad that you liked this cake! Thank you ?
Lots of love,
Bianca <3
I made that cake with my BFF and it was the best cake that we have ever made! Texture of the cake was awesome and quickly we had just a little piece left of that cake when we asked some other friends to come with us! Everyone just loved it! Thank you for the best vegan recepies!
Thank you so much! So glad that you liked this cake and also my other recipes. ?
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️
I love chocolate cake and yours looks incredible! Woul love to have a piece now! 🙂
So glad that you liked it! ?
Thank you!
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️
Normally , dessert is not easy for me to make, but I made this recipe and was easy and super good . I highly recommend it to do it !!! ?
So glad that you liked it! ?
Thank you soo much!
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️