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Perfect Decadent Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake

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One of the best cakes I’ve ever had! This is a really simple vegan layer cake that is outrageously chocolatey, perfectly moist, and highly addictive.

Ingredients

CAKE:

  • 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Organic All-Purpose Flour (affiliate link)
  • 1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Flour (affiliate link)
  • 6 Tbsp. cocoa powder*
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup raw cane sugar
  • 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup almond milk, at room temperature (I used unsweetened vanilla)
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup dairy free yogurt**
  • 1/2 cup strong hot coffee

FROSTING:

  • 1 stick vegan butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 and 1/8+ cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder*
  • 1+ Tbsp. almond milk
  • splash vanilla extract

TOPPING:

  • broken cookies, fudge sauce, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc.

Instructions

  1. CAKE: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms of two 6″ aluminum round cake pans with melted coconut oil. Line the bottoms with parchment paper, then grease and flour the parchment paper and sides of each pan.
  2. Sift all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add raw cane sugar, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  3. Add apple cider vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then pour room temperature almond milk to the 1/2 cup line. Mix to combine. This is your vegan buttermilk!
  4. Add melted coconut oil, yogurt, and hot coffee to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add your “buttermilk,” then start the motor on low. Slowly add your dry ingredients until everything is combined. The batter will be on the thinner side. Taste the batter. Seriously. So good.
  5. Divide the batter into your two prepared cake pans (you can eye-ball it), and bake from 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. My layers weren’t perfectly divided into two, so one cake took 20 minutes and the other took 25. Just start checking at the 20 minute mark, and you should be good to go.
  6. Allow your cakes to cook completely on a wire cooking rack before removing them from their pans. I covered mine with some plastic wrap and stuck them in the fridge overnight.
  7. FROSTING***: Add vegan butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa to your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Start the motor on low, and drizzle in your almond milk and vanilla. Increase the speed until combined. Taste, and adjust for your taste buds – add more powdered sugar (and probably a bit of almond milk) for a sweeter frosting).
  8. ASSEMBLE: Carefully level your cakes if needed with a serrated knife. Place one cake on a plate/cake stand, and add a dollop of frosting. Smooth to the edges. Top with your second cake, flat-side up, and frost the entire thing. Top with cookies, fudge sauce, and/or mini chocolate chips and dive in!
  9. Store covered in the fridge. I like pressing a piece of parchment paper against the cut sides so that it doesn’t dry out. Totally not necessary (this cake stays pretty moist on its own), but a good tip!

Notes

*Use only natural cocoa in the cake. You can use dutch-processed cocoa or natural in the frosting (I used natural).

**So Delicious makes an unsweetened dairy-free yogurt that’s fantastic. I used that for this recipe, and I’d suggest using it here. That said, use your fave.

***This frosting is enough for a thin crumb coat. I’m not a huge frosting fan, so this was perfect for me. If you want the whole crumb coat / final coat look to your cake, double the frosting recipe.

Adapted from the queen, Sally at Sally’s Baking Addiction

Find it online: https://www.fooduzzi.com/2018/02/vegan-chocolate-layer-cake/

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