The Best Chocolate Cake (Vegan) (Edit recipe)

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Soft, moist, melt-in-your-mouth and almost fudgy while still remaining light and wonderful, this ultra rich & extreme chocolate-tasting cake with the most chocolaty buttercream frosting is the best chocolate cake. And it’s vegan with a nut-free option. I tweaked my recipe for nearly 5 years after being unhappy with the dry-textured and bland-tasting chocolate wacky cake recipes I found online. This cake is requested for every single birthday or celebration where cake is involved. If someone you love is having a birthday, or you’re craving chocolate cake, you need to make this one.

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PREP TIME

25 minutes to 30 minutes

COOK TIME

25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 10-20

Ingredients

2 cups Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Or other plant based milk
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Instant Coffee, Or espresso powder
1 cup Plant Based Butter, 2 sticks; softened at room temperature
1.5 cups Light Brown Sugar, Organic
6 Tbsp Cane Sugar, Organic
4 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2.666 cups All Purpose Flour
0.5 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, Or unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt, Iodized salt

Chocolate Buttercream

3 Tbsp Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Or other plant milk
0.75 tsp Instant Coffee, Or espresso powder
1.5 cups Plant Based Butter, 3 Sticks; softened at room temperature
4.5 cups Powdered Sugar, Organic
0.75 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, Or unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 pinch Salt, Iodized salt

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Process

Cook Mode

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round nonstick cake pans with nonstick spray. Cut a parchment paper circle to fit bottom of each pan. Spray parchment with nonstick spray.
In small bowl, combine almond milk, vinegar & instant coffee. Let sit for 10 minutes.
In large bowl, add plant butter, sugars & vanilla; use hand mixer to beat on high speed until smooth.
In medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, cocoa, baking powder & salt.
Add flour mixture to bowl with plant butter mixture. Beat to partly combine. Add almond milk mixture; beat to combine.
Pour batter Into prepared pans, evenly dividing batter between the 2 pans. Smooth out top with rubber spatula, if needed.
Bake on middle rack of oven about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pans on wire rack for 45-60 minutes, before carefully turning out cakes onto wire rack to continue cooling completely. Gently peel off parchment paper from cakes; discard.
To make chocolate buttercream, combine almond milk & instant coffee in small bowl.
To large mixing bowl, add plant butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, almond milk mixture, vanilla & salt. Use hand mixer to beat on high speed until combined and smooth, scraping sides of bowls, as needed, with rubber spatula.
Place one cake on cake plate. Spoon about 1 cup chocolate buttercream (may be slightly more) on top; use frosting spreader or butter knife to spread buttercream evenly over cake. Place second cake on top of frosted cake. Use remaining buttercream to frost top and sides of cake.
Cake serves 10+

Notes

Instant coffee enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake, and is recommended, but it can be omitted. Dutch process cocoa is recommended for the cake and chocolate buttercream for a deeper, richer chocolate flavor, however, unsweetened cocoa powder can be substituted. To make 100% nut-free, substitute oat milk or other plant milk for the almond milk. Leftover cake can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 6 days. Allow cake to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before slicing to take the chill off. Depending on how you slice it, you can easily get up to 20 slices of cake.

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Show nutritional information

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	896
Fat:	43 g
Carbohydrates:	122 g
Protein:	6 g
Cholesterol:	0 g
Sodium:	745 mg
Fiber:	5 g
Sugars:	89 g
Sugar Alcohol:	0 g
Calculated for total recipe.