[This post is sponsored by my loves at Bob’s Red Mill! We’re using their Organic Whole Wheat Flour for this Perfect Decadent Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake.]
YES I SAID IT. Perfect. This cake is perfect.
Mark said it was the best dessert I ever made. That it was one of the best chocolate cakes he has ever had. That it didn’t taste like it was missing key cake ingredients like eggs and milk.
I’m amazed at this cake. Totally drooling over this cake. 100% unapologetically fan-girling over this cake.
Also…I made a layer cake from scratch! Whatwhatwhatttt.
Ever since starting this blog, it has been a dream of mine to tackle vegan chocolate layer cake. It was my culinary Everest.
I wanted a vegan cake that was moist with a tender crumb, extraordinarily chocolatey, and would stand up to layering. Because, you know, Instagram.
Honestly, that’s kind of tough to come by when talking about vegan baked goods. Without the use of eggs, the structure of a cake tends to crumble.
That is…until today.
I can honestly say that you and your taste testers will never know this cake is missing key cake ingredients like eggs and milk. Or that it’s made with whole wheat flour.
Yes, I’m serious! Guys, you (and/or your Valentine) are going to FLIP over this cake!!
Let’s dive in. Face first. Into chocolately goodness. Please.
This recipe is easy. I totally get if you’re intimidated by making a layer cake from scratch. Believe me. I was there. But trust me when I say you can do this, chica. If you can mix, you can make this cake!
First: the dry ingredients. Honestly? They’re totally normal chocolate cake ingredients: cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar, and flour. A couple nerdy things to note: because we’re not getting any lift from any eggs, I added a bit more baking powder so that we’d get a good lift. Also: the flour is super important. I used a mix of Bob’s Red Mill Organic All-Purpose Flour and Organic Whole Wheat Flour because I wanted a soft but structurally sound cake. This mixture makes that happen!
Then: the wet! Here’s where things get interesting. You’ll make some homemade vegan buttermilk. We’ve done this before, and it’s really simple. Add 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then pour room temperature almond milk to the 1/2 cup line. Mix together, and boom: you just made vegan buttermilk. Look at you, Betty Crocker!
You’ll also use some melted coconut oil and coffee. The coconut oil makes this cake nice and rich, and the coffee makes the chocolate flavor unbelievably rich. Like, toes curled, knees weak, mouth-wateringly chocolatey. It doesn’t taste coffee-y. Pinky promise.
So we’ll mix that all together, but we still need an egg replacer. I toyed around with flax eggs, chia eggs, banana, applesauce, and store-bought egg replacer, but I thought they’d either influence the texture or flavor too much. That’s why I turned to: unsweetened dairy-free yogurt.
OMG. This is my new favorite vegan baking hack! 1/4 cup is the perfect substitute for eggs. The acidity keeps everything nice and tender (just like your buttermilk), and the texture doesn’t do any weird things in the end product. Heck to the YES.
The awesome thing about this cake is that it’s small. And by small, I mean 6″ (ps. I can never remember if ” is inches or feet. It’s inches. Not feet. Feet would be ridiculous).
6″ (I looked it up) is a fabulous size for a cake for two. Or one. Mark and I would split 1/4 of the cake for dessert. It’s the perfect sharing size! It lasted four days, so 8 servings. Totally understand if it’s gone before that.
And then: frosting! It’s a simple (vegan) American buttercream with vegan butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and almond milk. Feel free to swap it out for your favorite frosting recipe, but this thin layer of frosting was perfect for us.
And be sure to top it with some over-the-top toppings like cookies, chocolate ganache drips, and mini chocolate chips. If not for pure pleasure then at least for Instagram.
I know you’ll love this cake as much as we did! Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you like I love this cake.
Which is a whole heck of a lot.
Perfect Decadent Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake
https://www.fooduzzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/perfect-decadent-vegan-chocolate-cake-15.jpg
| Prep: | Cook: | Yield: 8 servings | Total: |
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.
You'll Need...
- CAKE:
- 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Flour
- 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.
Directions
- 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 (use this method), then grease and flour the parchment paper and sides of each pan.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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!
- 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!
Additional 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
A special thanks goes to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post! Check out more delicious healthy recipes, snag coupons, and find stores near you at BobsRedMill.com!
Gahhh this is beyond BEAUTIFUL!!! Will you send one my way for dessert tonight! I am in LOVE!
Those are some beautiful photos and a great looking cake. Finally, I am not a chica. ;)
HAHA. So sorry about that, Ben.
Layer cake is so loved there is even movie called Layer Cake. BTW, Bob’s Red Mill also makes an egg replacer. I’m curious why you did not try theirs since it was a sponsored recipe post. I used it in a Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate cake mix and watched the fam inhale it like a recreational drug!
Finally, I too, am not a chica :-)
HAHA! Sorry for calling you chica. :) GREAT question about the egg replacer. I adore and use BRM’s egg replacer often, but their vegan version is also gluten free. Because the cake itself isn’t gluten free, I didn’t want others getting confused. I hope that makes sense! You could absolutely use it here. I intend to use it the next time I make this cake (which, let’s be serious, will be soon ;) ).
Will make! Thanks!