This vegan chocolate cake is fudgy, super moist, ultra chocolaty and is topped off with an easy whipped chocolate ganache frosting! Can be made gluten-free, whole wheat or with all-purpose flour.
Today my little boy turned one year old! In celebration, I’m posting this vegan chocolate cake.
If you’re here just for the cake, scroll down past the baby picture to where it says All About The Cake. If you’re one of my followers who has been wondering what’s been up with the serious lack of recipes the last year, keep on reading!
I’ve reposted a lot of old recipes this year. I’ve mentioned this in a bunch of other posts, but when I’m working on a new recipe, I usually make it 10+ times before I think it’s perfect. And I don’t want to post something unless I think it’s absolutely perfect.
Up until Björn was about 9 months old and became more mobile, he was what you would describe as a very fussy baby. He was rarely happy and everything was a challenge.
So I’ve pretty much taken the year off as maternity leave. If you’ve left a blog comment and it took me a while to reply, I’m sorry. And I haven’t even looked at Instagram in half a year. If you’ve tagged me and I didn’t reply, I’m really sorry. :/
Things are so much better now but I’m still far from having time to develop totally new recipes (starting in February, that’ll change!).
When Björn was a few months old, he started to get eczema. So we did some allergy testing and the number of foods he wasn’t supposed to eat was really hard to deal with. Same with me.
Other than one brand of jam, there’s nothing we can buy premade from the store. I make everything from scratch.
It wouldn’t be that bad if I could work in the kitchen when he’s awake. But if I’m in the kitchen, he stands at my leg, crying and tries to pull down my pajama pants.
So yeah. I don’t get anything done with him around! But I’m not complaining. We had a really tough start and I’m thrilled that things are getting better and better.
Warning! Some people might consider the next part unappetizing in a post about a dessert recipe. Scroll past the baby picture if you just want cake.
So – on to the cause of our difficult beginning. I had undiagnosed placenta accreta, which is when the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall and can’t detach as it is supposed to after childbirth.
With placenta accreta, part or all of the placenta remains attached. It can even grow onto other organs.
It’s sometimes diagnosed at some point during the pregnancy and from what I understand, you would then have a planned C-section at 34-36 weeks, with a team of doctors prepared for the hemorrhage that most patients have, often followed by a hysterectomy.
Pretty much the entire staff came running in the room while they tried scraping it out. I could feel it all. It was so much worse than the birth! It was chaos. But that didn’t work so they put me under and then I had a 3-hour surgery. I lost a lot of blood but had a transfusion, which helped a ton. The images I had from the part where I was still awake were hard to deal with for a long time. But it’s easier to handle now.
I’m really lucky and thankful to be celebrating Björn’s birthday with him today! I decided to make myself this vegan chocolate cake in celebration. :D Mr. Texanerin got one piece.
Björn didn’t get any. He won’t be partaking in a cake like this for a while if I can help it.
Today we had a little birthday party for Björn and we ate this Healthy Vanilla Chocolate Cake from Feasting on Fruit. She has a ton of vegan, date-sweetened + oat flour based recipes and I’ve made and loved so many of them.
All About The Cake
This vegan chocolate cake is seriously the most delicious chocolate cake ever. I think I even prefer it over this whole wheat chocolate cake recipe.
And amazingly, nobody can tell that this cake is vegan or gluten-free! If you prefer, you can use whole wheat flour or even all-purpose flour. White whole white or whole spelt also work.
I’ve also tried this cake with buckwheat flour and found it pretty strange. It tasted floral somehow.
One thing I love about this vegan chocolate cake is that it doesn’t require any usual ingredients. You don’t even need chia or flax seeds to make egg replacements.
If you’re vegan or egg-free, you most likely already have these at home. But for someone who is looking for a dessert recipe to make their vegan friend, this is a great option!
And the frosting is super easy and not too sweet like buttercream usually is. I used a vegan chocolate ganache that’s just chopped chocolate and coconut milk.
All you do is melt it together, chill and then beat until fluffy. Then you have yourself some whipped ganache frosting!
Oh, and there’s salt in there. 1/4 teaspoon salt. I haven’t really seen that in many ganache recipes but I think a bit of salt makes it even more delicious! Feel free to omit that or only use 1/8 teaspoon.
This vegan chocolate fudge frosting would be another delicious option if the whipped ganache frosting doesn’t sound your speed.
If you’ve got any substitution questions, check out the below section! Just one last note.
This recipe uses 1 1/2 cups of water but if you have milk that needs using up, you can definitely use that in place of the water. I wouldn’t say that the cake tastes any different with it so I wouldn’t buy it just for this cake.
The batter will be super runny. Don’t be alarmed! It’s normal.
Questions about this vegan chocolate cake?
- Can you taste the olive oil?
I used extra-virgin olive oil and you can taste it in the batter and while the baked cake is still hot. Once it cools, you can’t taste it. If you’re worried about it, use light olive oil (the light refers to the taste and not calories).
- Can I use another oil other than olive?
You can use canola oil, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil, etc. Anything neutral tasting. Coconut oil also works.
- Can I use butter? I bet you could use butter in this cake for a non-vegan version but it wouldn’t be as moist (butter is 80-82% fat and oil is 100% fat). Same goes for vegan butter.
- Can I use a different gluten-free flour mix?
I used this 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour. If you have another brand that works as a sub for all-purpose flour, then you could probably use it here. I can’t say the texture would be as perfect as with the flour mix I used, though.
- Does the gluten-free version taste gluten-free?
This vegan chocolate cake honestly tastes like it was made with all-purpose flour. At least with the gluten-free flour mix I used and after it’s cooled a bit.
- Can I use almond / coconut / other flours?
Unfortunately not. If you want to use other flours like rice flour, buckwheat, whatever – you’ll have to experiment. There’s no direct sub for gluten-free flour mixes.
- Can I use a liquid sweetener?
Unfortunately not without experimenting! You could use a little honey or maple syrup for part of the sugar, but you’d have to reduce the liquid in the cake.
- Can I reduce the sugar?
You could probably get away with reducing it by 1/3 cup. Reducing sugar also reduces moist-ness so unless you want a dry cake, don’t go overboard and reduce it to 1/2 cup or some small amount.
- Does the frosting pipe well?
I haven’t tried it but it’s pretty firm. It should work but I can’t guarantee it.
- Can I use a different sized pan?
Here’s a pan conversion chart that should help. Looks like a 9″x13″ would work, though I haven’t tried it.
- Can I make this recipe into cupcakes?
Yes! This recipe will yield 16 cupcakes. Fill the liners slightly more than half-way full and bake for 16-18. The frosting yields just under 2 cups so that’d be enough for 2 tablespoons of frosting per cupcake.
- Can I freeze the layers / frosted cake?
Freezing the layers would definitely work. I haven’t experimented with the time but maybe up to 1 month? Freezing frosted layers, though? I think it’d work but I’m not 100% sure.
I hope you’ll love this vegan chocolate cake! If you try it out, I’d love to hear what you think. :)
Vegan Chocolate Cake (gluten-free, whole wheat, all-purpose flour options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 slices
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups (283 grams) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or chips (make sure to use vegan chocolate like Enjoy Life)
- 1 cup (240 milliliters) canned full-fat coconut milk
- up to 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (355 milliliters) water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil (like canola, vegetable, or olive) or 1/2 cup (113 grams) melted refined coconut oil
- 2/3 cup (133 grams) brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (207 grams) Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for a GF version or 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour for a non-GF version
- 1/2 cup (58 grams) cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the whipped ganache frosting:
For the cake:
Directions
- Note that the frosting needs about 2 hours to chill.
- In a medium or large sauce pot (one big enough for you to use your mixer in), mix together the chopped chocolate and coconut milk. Turn the heat to low and while stirring occasionally, melt the mixture. When no more lumps remain, stir in the salt (I like 1/4 teaspoon but you may want less). Place the pot on a trivet and put in the refrigerator to chill for 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours or until the mixture is cold and has thickened quite a bit (so that it's no longer pourable).
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line two 8" (20-cm) round cake pans with a piece of parchment paper on the bottom. Grease the sides of the pans with baking spray or coconut oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the water, vinegar, oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add this to the wet mixture and stir just until combined. It will be almost as thin as water.
- Divide the batter between the two pans (about 495 grams of batter in each pan) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with some moist crumbs (not raw batter). Let cool for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, finish making the frosting.
- Remove the chilled ganache from the refrigerator and using an electric mixer (you could also transfer it to a stand mixer), beat the ganache until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Spread about 2/3 cup of frosting between the two layers of cake, 1/2 cup on top and the remaining on the sides. There's about 2 cups of frosting.
- Keep covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Prepare the frosting:
Prepare the cake:
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139 comments on “Vegan Chocolate Cake – Super Fudgy! (gluten-free options)” — Add one!
7 comments are awaiting moderation!
The frosting was delicious – but I could not get the cake to bake, I tried for 20 mins then an additional 20-30 mins and it was totally goopy – would not solidify. I did use vegan butter rather than oil, any other tips???
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! We’ve had the flu / other fun stuff for the last few weeks. Did you make any changes or subs (other than vegan butter) at all to the recipe? What kind of flour did you use? I hope we can find out the issue. Thanks for your feedback and sorry again!
I made this cake for my sons Birthday, and this has been the best recipe so far. I made frosting using ghee to make porcupine face on the cake. The cake was moist and soft. Didn’t feel a bit like I’m eating anything gluten-free.
A porcupine face on the cake sounds super cute. :) I hope that he enjoyed it as well! Thanks for your feedback.
I needed a GF/DF cake for a church function so I doubled this. It was gone in MINUTES! Everyone loved it, and I’ll definitely make it again.
Just an FYI: I used almond milk and the batter was thick – thicker than even a box mix – more like brownies. And the texture after baked was good, but not fudgey like in the photos. Next time I will do the water (or coffee – I did add instant crystals) cause that ooey-gooey crumb just looks divine!
I’m so glad that it was a hit! How strange about the batter. I’ve made it with almond milk and haven’t had that issue. Did you happen to use coconut oil and it had hardened after melting? Because that would explain the thick batter. Thanks so much for your feedback! :)
I made it and it was absolutely delicious! I used coconut oil! It really did not taste gluten free with the frosting, but I would not advise to serve it without, apart if you know a really good blend of gluten free flour (I had only the cheapest standard gluten free flour at hand). I am not vegan or gluten free, but would def make this again!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it enough to make again! With the GF flour blend I listed in the recipe, it really tastes like a normal cake. But I had a friend use her random GF flour blend and it was inedible. :( So it really depends, I guess! Thanks for your feedback. :)
Hey Erin, just made this…it was outstanding! So moist and tender. I dare anyone to figure out this is gluten free! I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and avacado oil. I have a question or two and I just read through the comments and did not see these questions. First of all, can this be frozen after it’s baked and about for how long before it loses taste/texture? Also, do you think this recipe could be successfully halved? I don’t want to make a double layer next time as there is only two of us. You NEVER let me down with your recipes Erin and you are my go-to for all things delicious, fast and easy. Thanks in advance. God bless!
Hello there! I’m sorry for just now seeing your questions. Hopefully you found the answer to the freezing question in the questions section of the post (it’s the last one :)) Also, this recipe halves great! I can’t tell you how happy I am to read that I’m your go-to for easy recipes. Yay! :) Thanks a ton for your kind words (and sorry again for the slow reply!).
I’ve frozen a large since for a month and it still tasted AMAZING!
Love this cake! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!!
Woohooo! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. We also freeze it and liked like just as much! Thanks a ton for your feedback. :) You’re welcome for the recipe! :D
This sounds awesome. Going to make some tonight.
I hope you enjoyed it! :)
love your recipes, can’t wait to make the gf version of this
So glad you and baby made ut to the other side of accreta. I was a previa mom two times.
Thank you! I hope you’ll enjoy it. :) I’d love to hear how it comes out for you! And wow. Previa two times. So scary. I’m happy that you’re okay, too! (and sorry for my slow reply – we just got back from vacation!).
Amazing work!! Looking for more from you.
Thanks so much! :)
Hi, Erin. This cake looks and sounds wonderful. I’m planning to make it tomorrow and have to transport it up a bumpy road the next day. Do you know if it can be frozen before frosting and still hold together when thawed?
Hi! Thanks. Check out the last paragraph of the post. ;) Chill the frosted cake until time to transport. Enjoy!
OK–fingers crossed on this. It’s traveling 2000 feet up on a crazy rutted road to a retreat on top of a mountain. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I wish you lots of luck! :)
Erin,
Just to follow up, I have made this cake a half dozen times now. We can’t do coconut, so I whip up a tub of Earth Balance with cocoa and powdered sugar for the frosting. I also have done a 1.5 portion conversion on the cake and make 3 thin 9 inch layers. This cake gets gobbled up BEFORE all other chocolate cakes by people who are not needing gluten-free. I have to chase them away so the gluten-free people have enough cake! Can’t thank you enough.
I tried the same cake as per instructions in the post, it was really unbelievable for me when my family liked and praised me and even my friend asked me to make again on their birthdays.
Thanks for the recipe.
Aww, yay! I was super happy to read your comment. :) I love that your friends asked you to make it for them and that it made you feel good. :) Thanks for your feedback!
What a little doll! And the cake looks pretty good too!
Roby Mitchell, MD, a Texan doctor, has done a ton of work on treating eczema, an autoimmune condition often exacerbated by a leaky gut and vaccines. He has a Facebook page and does long distance consults.
I hope you can get some help.
All the best to you and your family!
Hi Crystal! I’m so sorry for just now seeing your nice comment. Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely check him out. How cool that he does long distance consults. Thanks again!
Glad you are doing well and healthy again, congrats on a beautiful baby boy! I absolutely love your recipes, this chocolate cake is a new favourite for special occasions! Thank you!!
Thank you so much! And I’m super glad to hear that you love the cake and the other recipes. That’s always so nice to hear! Thank you again and sorry for my very slow reply.
Beautiful cake, beautiful boy and great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Aww, thank you! :)
This is the absolutely best chocolate cake I’ve every made. I’m 75 yrs. young and a very experienced baker. I served this cake for Christmas Eve dessert. It was a tremendous hit. I’m also vegan. The big question is: When adding the dry ingredients to the liquid I got sooo many lumps (which I worked out with my fingers) so I didn’t stir it so much. But I’m wondering if I slowly added the liquid ingredients to the dry if it would mix easier. Also I think I would sieve the dry ingredients to prevent lumps mostly from the cocoa powder.
This is definitely my keeper all time cake; but about the lumps. Any suggestions?
I’m so glad that it was a hit at Christmas Eve! I’ve never actually tried adding the wet to the dry so I’m not sure if it’d really help. My dry mix was totally lump-free so I’m not sure sieving would help, either. Not very helpful, am I? ;) I would recommend adding the dry mix to the wet, a little at a time, and see if that helps. Or try it the other way around! It can’t hurt. And I’m curious. :) I’d love to hear how it comes out! Thanks for your comment.
Hi
Would like to try it for my husband birthday. Can I use any gluten free flour or does it have to be Bob’s red Mill ?
Hi! I’m sorry for just now seeing your question. Hopefully you found the answer in the substitution section of the post. :) Can I use a different gluten-free flour mix? I used this (Bob’s Red Mill) 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour. If you have another brand that works as a sub for all-purpose flour, then you could probably use it here. I can’t say the texture would be as perfect as with the flour mix I used, though.
I made this cake for Christmas and I couldn’t believe how wonderful and delicious it turned out! Definitely a crowd pleaser. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! I didn’t realize I wouldn’t have internet at my in-laws over the holidays. :/ I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the cake! I also made it over Christmas because it’s just so good. :D Thanks for your comment and sorry again.
Ok, this cake has great flavor but horrible consistency. I made it twice in one night bc one cake just totally crumbled. Second batch the same. How the heck do you get it to not completely fall apart?
I’ve gotten a lot of reviews on this cake and nobody has mentioned it crumbling. It’s actually super, super moist! So there must be an issue with your ingredients. What kind of flour are you using and are you making any changes or subs at all?
No I followed it to a T! The second batch the tooth pick came out dry but it fell thorough the cooling rack. It tasted so good! But I just couldn’t keep it together. I don’t think it broke bc it was dry it was just very delicate and I couldn’t move easily from the pan to the drying wrack and then to the plate, even when it was completely cooled
Hmm. Which flour did you use? It’s so moist that it’s quite delicate but it shouldn’t have fallen completely apart!
Made this yesterday for a group of non-vegans and they LOVED it! They couldn’t believe it was vegan. It was so moist and the ganache was amazing.
Yay! I’m so happy that everyone loved it, including the non-vegans. :) Thanks for your comment!
Is it possible making the ganache without an electric mixer? 😬
You can make the ganache without a mixer but it may be difficult to whip it without a mixer. It’s delicious when it’s unwhipped! It’s like a regular ganache and not a whipped ganache.
Ok thanks!😊 But then (sorry I know nothing about ganache… Never made it before), is it possible letting it get a bit cold (until it’s not liquid, or until it gets kind of like a nuttela consistence🙄) and then put it on the cake and then put the cake in the fridge so it gets firm there? 🤔 I was watching people on YouTube making ganache and pouring it on the cake without the 2 hours in the fridge step.. So I’m confused about the process😅 Anyway, I’ve asked Santa for and electric mixer! 🎅😁
Yes, you can! When you first mix it together, it’ll be too runny to pour on the cake. So put it in the fridge, check on it often, and once it’s thick enough (should be thinner than Nutella and thin enough to pour, but not so thin that it runs all over the plate), pour over the cake. Maybe 15-30 minutes? But it really depends on the size of pot you use. If you let it chill to long, put on low heat until it’s a little melty, stir really hard to combine the melty parts with the non melty parts, and put back in the fridge for a while. :)
So happy to read this! This I’ll do then!! :))) Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! Good luck. :)
Silly question I’m making a chocolate and vanilla cake, will this recipe work out ok for the vanilla if I just omit the cocoa powder?
Thank you!!
Hi! Unfortunately not. :( The whole recipe would have to be reworked if you omit the cocoa. Definitely find a vanilla cake recipe!
Thank you for the quick reply, saved me from making a big baking mess! I did bake the chocolate cake last night. Great recipe thank you!!
I actually did omit the cocoa and it worked.opps
And it tasted like a good vanilla cake? I just can’t imagine how that’d work! Was it super sweet? Because when you add cocoa powder, a lot of sugar is needed. Without the cocoa powder, you wouldn’t need so much sugar.