FLOUR

I already tried this cake using only regular wheat flour as well as a mix of white and whole wheat flour. More trials are already scheduled, as I want to explore some healthier options, with only whole flour, too.

COCOA POWDER

Use good quality raw unsweetened cocoa powder. I used Catbury’s, but Hershey’s will be great as well. Remember that cocoa is the key ingredient in this recipe. If there’s one ingredient you shouldn’t save on, it is the cocoa powder.

If cocoa powder was sitting in your pantry for a while and formed little lumps, you may want to sieve it through before adding it to your flour. You will make sure cocoa is evenly distributed in whole dough.

CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or whatever you have in your pantry will do. If you don’t have chocolate chips you can finely chop dark chocolate bar.

VEGAN BUTTERMILK

When you add lemon juice to soy milk, it will curdle and thicken, creating delicious vegan buttermilk. Why is buttermilk better than plant based milk?

1. It has nice thick texture, similar to cream.
2. Helps baking soda to form bubbles and raise the cake.

You can substitute lemon juice with apple cider vinegar if needed.

PLANT BASED MILK

Soy milk works best in this recipe. It curdles nicely, creating thick buttermilk. Vanilla flavored soy milk is great idea as well, for additional vanilla punch.

If you don’t want to use soy, you can try with almond milk, but your Vegan Buttermilk will be more runny, so you may have to add 1 – 2 table spoons flour more.

RAISING AGENTS

I like to use mixture of baking soda and baking powder in this type of cake, for maximum raising effect and good taste. Using too much baking soda might affect the taste in a negative way.

VEGETABLE OIL

I use canola oil in all baking recipes. It is flavorless, it has high enough smoke point and it is one of the healthiest vegetable oils. With high percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids, very low content of saturated fat and no cholesterol, canola oil is even considered healthier than olive oil.

If you don’t have it at hand your next best choice would be sunflower or peanut oil.

COFEE

Coffee is fantastic addition, that elevates the flavor of any chocolate cake. Trust me on that, just as a cake taste better with coffee, the addition of coffee makes the cake taste better!

The best, easy Vegan Chocolate Cake that always turns out perfectly.

Recipe

Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

Recipe by VegnFitCourse: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Baking time

35

minutes

Total time

45

minutes

Moist, chocolatey and soft Vegan Chocolate Cake with indulgent addition of chocolate chips. This is the easiest and failsafe recipe for a delicious chocolate cake. Tried also on non-vegans.

Ingredients

• DRY INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 2/3 cup cocoa powder

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

• ¹/₂ tsp baking powder

• WET INGREDIENTS

• ¹/₂ cup coffee

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 2/3 cup oil (neutral flavor like canola, sunflower, grape oil)

• ¹/₂ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

• Vegan Buttermilk

• 1 ¹/₂ cups soy milk (you can use soy vanilla for extra vanilla punch)

• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice

• ADDITIONS

• ¹/₂ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
• Prepare Vegan Buttermilk – add lemon juice to soy milk, stir and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk well.
• Add chocolate chips and stir them into dry ingredients. You can leave 1 tbsp chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of muffins.
• In a bowl or blender container mix: brown sugar, coffee, vegan buttermilk, vanilla extract and oil – make sure they are all combined well. I used smoothie blender to do that. You can use immersion blender too.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and mix just enough for the batter to come together. DO NOT OVERMIX.
• Line baking tray with baking paper. Transfer the batter to the baking tray and even the top with spatula.
• Decorate top of your vegan chocolate cake with chocolate chips or pecan nuts.
• Bake in  180°C / 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Check with a toothpick if the cake is ready. The toothpick should be dry, with no dough, as you take it out.
• Turn the oven off and leave the cake in open oven for 2-3 minutes. After this time take it out and wait for it to cool down (the most difficult part of the recipe).

Notes

• Every oven is different, so I suggest setting your timer to 30minutes and checking the cake often after this time, if you need to bake it longer.

Related Recipes

Vegan Chocolate Muffins

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Healthy & delicious sweets with chocolate chips:

Vegan Chocolate Chips Banana Bars

Banana & Oat Cookies with Chocolate Chips

PREPARE VEGAN BUTTERMILK

Mix soy milk with lemon juice and set aside. There, you’ve just made vegan buttermilk, which is fantastic basis for many baking recipes.

The milk should thicken considerably, if you’re using soy milk. With almond milk it won’t be that thick, but it’s still fine.

Similar process is used to make this amazing Best Vegan Cottage Cheese.

MIX DRY INGREDIENTS

Whisk all dry ingredients well. We want flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder thoroughly combined. If there are any lumps in cocoa powder sieve it.

We will also add chocolate chips, or any other additions like chopped nuts, in this step. We don’t want to overmix the dough.

MIX WET INGREDIENTS

Blend or whisk: oil, coffee and sugar, in order to get homogenous liquid. You may, but don’t have to mix this liquid with your vegan buttermilk.

MIX WET WITH DRY INGREDIENTS

Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients, mixing just enough for the dough to become uniform. Do not overmix as your cake will turn out gummy and tough. Short mixing results in cake being light and fluffy.

BAKE

Pour the dough into lined baking tray. You can use standard loaf tray or a springform pan if you like. Do not fill more than 1/3 height of the tray, as the cake will rise considerably.

Even the surface and decorate with more chocolate chips or your favorite nuts. I used pecan nuts, as I just love their flavor after they are roasted.

Bake for 30-35 minutes in 180°C / 350°F. Set your timer for 30 minutes and observe your cake last few minutes if it needs more time. To make sure it is ready, insert toothpick or barbeque spike into the cake – it should come out clean.

Questions and Answers

How to store Vegan Chocolate Cake?

Good news! This Vegan Chocolate Cake stays fresh and moist for couple of days if you store it in air tight container. That is, if it doesn’t disappear before that time. And it tends to disappear..

Can I freeze it?

It is freezer friendly. You can store it frozen for up to 3 months.

Is Vegan Chocolate Cake healthy?

While I wouldn’t call this cake an ideal healthy breakfast option, certainly this vegan chocolate cake is healthier alternative to traditional chocolate cake.

There are no eggs or butter in this recipe, so this cake doesn’t contain cholesterol. Make sure to use recommended colza oil, for the healthiest fat option.

You can use whole wheat flour for higher fiber content. Your cake will be denser, but still moist and chocolatey.

Let me know how did you like Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe! Please share the recipe on Pinterest and Yummly!

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