Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

Our Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe is a heavenly blend of rich cocoa and subtle coffee notes, paired with a silky Dairy-Free Ganache. Perfectly moist and deliciously decadent, it's a guilt-free treat that promises to satisfy every chocolate lover's dream. It's soft, rich, and covered in smooth ganache, but still totally good for you.

What You'll Love About This Vegan Chocolate Cake

You'll really like this vegan chocolate cake recipe because it's both delicious and good for you. The yummy chocolate taste, with just a hint of coffee, makes it really special. The small amount of coffee will enhance the chocolate flavor but you can leave it out if you're not a fan of adding coffee to chocolate cake. Plus, the creamy topping is dairy-free, so you can enjoy this treat without any worries. It's easy to make and sure to make you happy with every bite.

Ingredients In My Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

For the Vegan Chocolate Cake:

• All-Purpose Flour: Serves as the foundational structure of the cake, giving it form and substance.
• Dutch Cocoa Powder: Offers a deep, rich chocolate flavor and color to the cake, making it irresistibly chocolatey.
• Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cake, balancing the bitterness of the cocoa and enhancing the overall flavor profile.
• Baking Soda: Acts as a leavening agent, reacting with acidic components (like vinegar) to produce carbon dioxide, which helps the cake rise and become fluffy.
• Salt: A small but essential ingredient, it sharpens and enhances the other flavors in the cake, making the chocolate and vanilla notes more pronounced.
• Instant Coffee Granules (optional): Deepens the chocolate flavor, adding a subtle, rich undertone that complements the cocoa. It's optional, depending on your taste preference.
• Warm Water: Helps to dissolve the sugar and cocoa for a smooth batter and also activates the baking soda for the cake to rise properly.
• Vegetable Oil: Adds moisture to the cake, ensuring it's deliciously tender and preserving its freshness longer than butter.
• Vanilla Extract: Provides a warm, aromatic flavor that contrasts beautifully with the richness of the cocoa.
• White Vinegar: Reacts with the baking soda to create bubbles of carbon dioxide, adding lightness and lift to the cake's texture.

For the Chocolate Dairy-Free Ganache Truffle Sauce:

• Dairy-Free Chocolate or High % Dark Chocolate: Serves as the base of the ganache, providing a rich and luxurious chocolate flavor. For a vegan option, ensure the chocolate doesn't contain any milk products.
• Coconut Milk: Replaces cream found in traditional ganache recipes, adding a creamy, rich texture and a subtle hint of coconut flavor, complementing the chocolate beautifully.

How To Make My Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

Preheat and Prepare:

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F (180°C) to ensure it's at the right temperature when your cake is ready to bake.

Grease your Silicone Fluted Pan thoroughly, making sure to get into all the grooves. This ensures your cake will release easily after baking. If you don't have a Silicone Fluted Pan, an 8" springform pan works too.

Mix Dry Ingredients:

Place a metal mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl. Add your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and optional instant coffee granules to the strainer. Sift these into the bowl to avoid lumps and aerate the mixture for a lighter cake. Give the ingredients in the bowl a quick whisk to ensure they're evenly distributed.

Combine Wet Ingredients:

To the dry mixture, add warm water. This helps activate the baking soda and "bloom" the cocoa powder, enhancing its flavor. Add vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and white vinegar. The vinegar will react with the baking soda, creating bubbles that help the cake rise and become fluffy.

Make the Batter:

Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together until you have a smooth batter. If it gets too thick, switch from the whisk to a silicone spatula and continue to mix, ensuring you scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so everything is well incorporated. The batter will be quite thick, but this is normal.

Bake the Cake:

Pour your batter into the greased pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

Bake in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You'll know it's done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Once baked, let the cake cool in the pan for about 2 hours before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely. This allows the cake to set and makes it easier to remove from the pan.

Prepare the Ganache Truffle Sauce:

While the cake is cooling, finely chop your dairy-free chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl.

Heat coconut milk in a pan until it just begins to simmer, then pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let this sit for a minute to soften the chocolate, then stir with a silicone spatula until you have a smooth, silky ganache. Let the ganache cool for about 10 minutes; it will thicken slightly as it cools.

Serve:

Once the cake and ganache are cool, drizzle the ganache over the cake. If you're using a Silicone Fluted Pan, you can pour the ganache into the center so it spills down the sides beautifully. If you prefer a thicker ganache, simply let it cool longer before drizzling it over the cake.

My Top Tip

The most important tip for this recipe is to ensure that you mix the wet and dry ingredients just until they're combined. Overmixing the batter can lead to a dense and tough cake because it develops the gluten in the flour too much. Mix until the ingredients are just incorporated, and no flour streaks remain, ensuring your cake will have that perfect, tender crumb and moist texture that makes it so delicious. Remember, a light hand leads to a light cake!

Alternate Serving Suggestions

Here are some alternate serving suggestions to add variety and personal touch when serving your vegan chocolate cake:

• Serve with Fresh Berries: Add a refreshing twist by serving your cake with a side of fresh berries like strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries. The tartness of the berries complements the rich chocolate flavor beautifully.
• Dust with Powdered Sugar: For a simple yet elegant touch, dust the top of your cake with powdered sugar. This not only adds a subtle sweetness but also makes for an attractive presentation.
• Add a Scoop of Vegan Ice Cream: Serve each slice with a scoop of your favorite vegan ice cream. The cold, creamy texture pairs wonderfully with the moist, rich cake.
• Top with Vegan Whipped Cream: Dollop or pipe vegan whipped cream on top of each slice for a light, creamy contrast to the dense chocolate cake.
• Sprinkle with Nuts or Seeds: Sprinkle chopped nuts like almonds, walnuts, or pecans, or seeds like pumpkin or sunflower, over the ganache for a crunchy texture and nutty flavor.
• Drizzle with Caramel or Fruit Sauce: Drizzle vegan caramel sauce or a fruit coulis, like raspberry or mango, over the cake for an extra layer of flavor and a splash of color.

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