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Vegan Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Vegan Vanilla Buttercream

September 12, 2012 by Audra 12 Comments

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Throughout my year and a half of blogging, I’ve gotten several requests from readers asking for specific types of recipes. One that I haven’t done nearly a good enough job of following through with is baking more vegan/dairy free treats. On any given day, I have the baking basics on hand, (eggs, butter, flour, etc.) so shopping for special ingredients isn’t in the cards. But- vegan girlfriends don’t turn 30 every day- so I knew I had to make my dear friend Emily something special.

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You may not beleive me until you try it, but this chocolate cake is SO good- you’d never know it was dairy free. It is full of rich chocolatey flavor, moist, soft and perfectly crumbly. And best of all- there are no weird/special ingredients so you can make it without any extra preparation.

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To assemble this cake, I used some of the techniques I learned from my Milk Bar Monday project. I baked the whole cake in a quarter sheet pan, and stamped out layers with a 6 inch cake ring. (I didn’t want the finished product to be too big. ) The bottom layer was made of smushed together scraps, and the whole thing was frozen for about an hour to help it all stay solid before I frosted it.

I wanted the cake to have a rustic feel, so I spread the frosting on simply and sprinkled some extra crumbs on top. The frosting was delicious and creamy and the perfect counterpart to this cake. I will be keeping this recipe around for awhile, and I think it would be great as cupcakes too. If you have a vegan friend or family member or if you just like really good chocolate cake, this recipe is a winner!

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PS- Do you want to know how to make a cute flag cake topper like the one above? I’m posting a how-to tutorial on Friday!!

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Vegan Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
 
Ingredients
  • vegan chocolate cake with fluffy vegan vanilla buttercream
  • yields one quarter sheet pan cake
  • cake:
  • ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • frosting:
  • 1 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
  • 3½ cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup plain soy milk or soy creamer
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a quarter sheet pan or a 9x5 inch loaf pan
  2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
  3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes- or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
For frosting:
  1. Beat the shortening until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
  2. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.
Notes
*Note- the original recipe is for a 9x5 loaf pan and suggests baking it 45 minutes. Since my version is baked in a thin pan- it will take much less time. I recommend peeking at 20 minutes and then every few minutes after that if you need more time. My oven runs hot!
3.5.3251

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Filed Under: Cake, Recipes, Vegan Tagged With: Chocolate

« Pura Vida in Costa Rica!
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Comments

  1. Warm Vanilla Sugar says

    September 12, 2012 at 11:07 am

    This is beautiful! Lovely idea!

    Reply
  2. claire says

    September 12, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    Prettiest cake EVER.

    Reply
  3. Jessica_AKitchenAddiction says

    September 12, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    I just posted a cake recipe like this last week! It’s one of my favorite chocolate cakes!

    Reply
  4. Annie @Annie's City Kitchen says

    September 12, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    My little sis is vegan and she’s been asking me to make something for her. Perfect timing!

    Reply
  5. Jackie Hale says

    September 12, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    White sugar as in granulated sugar or as in powdered sugar? Thanks,
    Jackie

    Reply
  6. Averie Cooks says

    September 12, 2012 at 5:30 pm

    Awesome looking cake & tried to comment on your post yesterday about Costa Rica but your comments weren’t working for me – but I was at Pura Vida in 2000! Time flies!

    Reply
  7. Audra says

    September 12, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Granulated. I edited the recipe :)

    Reply
  8. Audra says

    September 12, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    I got your comment yesterday! Weird it didn’t show!

    Reply
  9. Becca - Cookie Jar Treats says

    September 12, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    This looks so pretty. I like the little cake crumbs on top. I bet your friend loved this cake!

    Reply
  10. Sally says

    September 13, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Audra – what a beautiful birthday cake for a vegan best friend. SO sweet of you to bake up for her! I’ve dabbled with vegan baking infrequently, but am always amazed by the science behind it – something SO delicious without dairy! incredible. LOVE that flag topper, can’t wait to read about how you made it!

    Reply
  11. Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice says

    March 28, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    Audra, I made your frosting today! Our good friend is moving to India for a few years, so I used this lovely recipe of yours to ice her cake. I’ve only had a little taste but it’s fantastic, and I know she’ll love it. Thank you x

    Reply
  12. Miko says

    June 25, 2015 at 12:45 am

    Thank you so much for the recipe! I made this and it tasted wonderful. Even though my cake turned out to be crumbly :( but I guess it’s because I used Pyrex glass and the temp of my oven is too hot. Will give it another go next time :) xx

    Reply

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