May 25, 2019
Vegan Chocolate Cake!
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A delicious, fudgey, and insane three-layer vegan chocolate cake!
Vegan chocolate cake
So, LOOK HOW AMAZING THIS CAKE LOOKS! I couldn’t resist saying that. I am not trying to blow my own trumpet here, but I just adore how this cake looks in all the photos. It also tastes amazing.
This cake, is completely and utterly deliciously VEGAN. Don’t worry, it also tastes amazing for non-vegans.
There is so much stigma around vegan food – and it bugs me. There is no reason that vegan food can’t be delicious – and this cake proves it! Look at ittttttttt!!!
Vegan recipes
I have a friend that is one of those people who is skeptical, but even he admits that the vegan recipes I have made for this blog are ‘bl**dy delicious’ and he always wants another slice. This particular one? He didn’t even realise it was vegan until I told him.
This recipe is based on my vegan Biscoff cupcakes and my vegan vanilla cupcakes, but morphed into chocolate, and made into an irresistible three-layer chocolatey fudgey delicious showstopper.
There was basically no reason as to my the sponges from my other vegan recipes couldn’t be made into a chocolate version, by simply using cocoa powder in place of some of the flour, and then increasing it all to make it into a cake!
Two layer cake
I did originally make this as just a two-layer cake, but the sponges aren’t that high in depth – so three looked much better, and just means you get even more delicious in every slice! You can make it just two layer if you prefer though – notes below!
Keeping it simple
I am personally not vegan myself, but I do often think that some recipes are quite daunting, because of all the extra ingredients that you don’t tend to have lying around the house. For this cake, I tried to reduce this massively.
A classic chocolate sponge uses five ingredients, this uses seven. I really don’t think that’s too bad – and the only thing I think people will tend to not have is the white wine vinegar – but this is really cheap to buy so no worries!
Cocoa powder
The recipe itself is just an increased amount as I say from the vegan cupcakes, but then using a dark and delicious (and vegan) cocoa powder gives it such a dark and fudgey taste.
I use the Dr Oetker fine dark cocoa powder (that does have a warning of ‘may contain’) but otherwise, does say it’s suitable for vegans. There are many others you can also buy however!
Frosting
For the deeeelightful chocolate frosting, I used the same recipe that I use on my dairy & gluten free chocolate cake recipe. It’s increased to make it enough for a three layer cake, but otherwise its the same.
Chocolate
On my the dairy free recipe though, I received a very negative and nasty comment about ‘how I was trying to poison people by telling them to use chocolate.’ I will say this again, MOST DARK CHOCOLATES ARE DAIRY FREE.
I use Callebaut chocolate, but I often find that a large percentage of supermarket own dark chocolate is also vegan, and it’s so cheap! So no, I am not trying to poison anyone.
Vegan butter
I use Stork block, Vitalite, or other dairy free spreads – and they all work well. When making it, it does make a veeeery soft frosting, but adding in the chocolate firms it up eventually as the dark chocolate will harden.
Enjoy!
This cake is so fudgey, so delicious, and epic. My vegan chocolate cake! X
Vegan Chocolate Cake!
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Cakes
- 550 g self raising flour
- 125 g cocoa powder
- 450 g light/dark brown sugar
- 600 ml almond milk (or other dairy free milks)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 265 ml vegetable oil
- 1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar
Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- 300 g dairy free spread
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 500 g icing sugar
- 275 g dark chocolate
Instructions
For the Cakes!
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line three 8"/20cm cake tins with parchment paper on the bottom.
- In a large bowl, add your flour, sugar and cocoa powder.
- Whisk them together so they're evenly distributed.
- Pour in your milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar.
- Mix the mixture until smooth - try not to over mix however. I just use a spatula.
- Split evenly between the three tins, and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Once baked, leave to cool in the tins for 10-15 minutes, and then move on to a wire rack to cool fully. Be careful when handling the sponges as they will be very soft and could break easily.
- Once cooled, refrigerate the cakes for 10-15 minutes before decorating to make them easier to handle.
For the Frosting!
- Carefully melt your dark chocolate until smooth. I do it in the microwave on short bursts! Leave to cool slightly.
- Beat your dairy free spread on its own briefly to smooth it.
- Add in your icing sugar and vanilla and beat again until smooth.
- Add in the melted chocolate, and beat again!
To Decorate!
- Add your first sponge to a plate/boad, and pipe/spread 1/3 of the frosting onto the first cake.
- Repeat this with the second cake, and then with the third!
- Decorate with fresh fruit, and vegan friendly sprinkles!
Notes
- This recipe will last for 3 days! Can be kept at room temperature, but fridge will do - it will just go quite solid!
- For a two layer version use:
- 350g self raising flour, 100g cocoa powder, 300g light/dark brown sugar, 400ml almond milk, 1.5tsp vanilla, 175ml vegetable oil, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar - split between two tins and bake for the same time!
- Use 2/3 of the ingredients for the decoration!
- You can use any dairy free milk, and any dairy free spread!
- I used Callebaut chocolate, but any dairy
ENJOY!
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J x
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The reason they will have said that about poisoning people is that although most dark chocolate doesn’t have milk added as an ingredient, it does usually have traces (or even more) of milk chocolate in it. Because if it’s made in a factory which makes milk chocolate too, they flush the machinery using the first batch of dark chocolate after a milk batch. And even subsequent batches may still have some in.
So it’s vegan, in the sense that there is no milk deliberately added (though some vegans may still avoid it, and prefer chocolate made in a dedicated vegan factory). But it’s not dairy-free unless it specifically says that on it.
Which most don’t, in fact most say “may contain milk”, to allow for that inevitable cross-contamination.
I would always recommend people only using ingredients that don’t have a ‘may contain’ if it is an allergy or if it is the bakers preference to do so. All ingredients and brands vary so it is up to the baker to make sure each ingredient is definitely ‘free from’
No baking soda is needed?
What to sub in dairy free spread as I only have 1cup and I need 1/4 more.
Thanks, Theresa
Hi
Can this be made into cupcakes?
Hi Jane. I’ll be making your vegan chocolate cake for someone who’s dairy free. Can I switch the dark chocolate for cocoa powder. If so what quantity shall I use
Vegan means it’s dairy free. A lot of dark chocolate is dairy free, you just have to check the ingredients 🙂
Thanks Jane for a perfectly delicious Lemon Drizzle Cake which was enjoyed by my family this weekend. It was a delight to bake and a pleasure to eat for the vegans and non-vegans alike. Best cake recipe I have tried yet! I look forward to trying more of your recipes soon.
Hi Jane!
Someone has asked me to make a 10” vegan chocolate cake for them but I see this recipe is for 8” tins. To increase the recipe, is it as simple as dividing each ingredient by 8 then multiplying by 10 to get the new weights?? Thank you!!
Hi, can I make both the cake layers & the frosting in advance please? Can I freeze either of these. Thanks
You can make the entire cake and decorate it and freeze – but you can also make the components and freeze. However, the frosting will need remixing anyway so it’s almost better to make it fresh in that way x
Can I split this between two 10″ drums? After baked, will it hold up to be cut in half for layering? Looking to make this my bottom 10″ layer for a wedding cake.
I switched the vinegar for lemon juice (as I was already using lemon for something else).
Made for a charity event, sold out first and got really good reviews!
Really straightforward to make too!
Was worried about making a gluten and dairy free cake, but this recipe was easy to follow, plenty of ingredients for 3 layers and tasted great. Thank you. 🎂 Sx
Hi Jane,
Am looking forward to making another of your recipes – have made loads of them and never had a failure! For this one, can I switch the vinegar for lemon juice?
Ah brilliant! Yes, that should be fine x
Ah Jane, you’ve done it again ☺️❤️ Best tasting vegan cake recipe ever…. And ive trialed SO many.
Hi Jane I want to make your cake but to use it for a 6” celebration cake x3 layers tall. Could you help me with the amounts I would need please?
Made this for daughters 21st birthday. She and her housemates at uni are vegan. They thought it was amazing. Comments were ‘please make it again’ and ‘the best vegan cake I’ve ever tasted’. Definitely a brilliant cake. Was very delicate when I tried to stack and cut it. Think next time I’ll leave to completely cool in tin and may even just do two tiers. Thanks Jane, as ever a brilliant cake. Not found a recipe that isn’t amazing.
Hi Jane, I love this recipe, my husband always requests it as he avoids dairy, and nobody can believe it’s vegan! 😊Just a quick question, sometimes when I make the icing it seems to immediately go quite hard and difficult to spread, let alone pipe! I can still use it but it doesn’t look as good and is hard to work with. But a few times ive made it and it’s been lovely and supple and I’ve been able to pipe it on and make it look pretty. Do you know what it might be that I’ve done wrong on the times it hasn’t worked very well? I can’t seem to think what I’ve done differently. Thank you! x
Would apple cider vinegar work instead of white wine please?! 🙂
For sure!
Hi Jane. I need to make this but as a sheet cake for a football pitch theme…can you help with quantities and timings please?
Thank you
Hi, I’m baking this and it’s taking an age to cook! (On 160C top shelf) been in over an hour and still gooey in the middle – is this right?
Hiya! What size tin did you use? and are you sure your oven temp is correct? There is no reason a cake that is quite shallow will take an hour unless something hasn’t been done correctly such as ingredient or tin changes. x
Hey I’m looking at making this recipe for our family, however one member is Vegan, the other is severely nut intolerant (as in massively allergic) any suggestion on what milk I can use?
I have found special dark chocolate online that’s free of everything (no idea what it tastes like though
HIya! Oat or soy should work fine – hope this helps! x
My son is dairy free so I’d like to make this today but without the vinegar. Can I just swap the oil and vinegar for eggs? If so how many? Thanks 😊
Hiya! Take a look at my dairy free chocolate cake recipe! Hope this helps x
Hey Jane I was hoping to make this for a baby shower but really want to cover it in sugarpaste as a finish, will it be strong enough to stand sugarpaste covering? I tried it with the vegan vanilla sponge and it was a bit of a disaster as the sponge was sooooo soft…
Hiya! This sponge is equally as soft – I would recommend chilling the sponges before decorating so they are firmer! Hope this helps! x
Can I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil?
Hiya! I wouldn’t recommend it as olive oil has a taste to it – but sunflower oil works well! Hope this helps! x
I made this for my (vegan) friend’s 30th yesterday. It was such a hit – everyone had seconds, and agreed that this was one of the best chocolate cakes they’d had. Thanks Jane 🙂
Can I use vegan milk chocolate instead of dark choc in the frosting?
Hiya! Yes absolutely you can, enjoy! x
In order to make this just an egg free cake could you still use full fat milk (instead of dairy free)
Yes absolutely you can! Enjoy! x
Hi Jane, Could I use this recipe to make a Xmas log by any chance?
i was wondering the same thing!
Hi Jane
Made this for the second time last night and so pleased with your recipe. Looks fab too
Hi Jane,
Just wondering what quantity you’d use for a tray bake? 9×13″ thanks. Total novice so trying to make it as easy as possible for myself
Thanks for this, life saver! My first attempt came out a bit dense and tasted VERY dark (imagine a 75% dark choc brownie, delicious though), and I’m looking to make a kids cake, so I swapped the second lot to half brown half caster sugar, and lowered the cocoa with an extra spoon of flour. Tasted exactly like my non vegan choc cake! Highly recommend using the superfine ‘cake’ flour for this.
Can i freeze this please
Yea you can!
Can you freeze these cakes to decorate later? Would it be best to decorate whilst frozen or let them defrost first?
Hi Jane
Thank you for sharing your recipe. How deep are the tins you use?
I am hoping to use 2/3 of the exile in 3 x 6” shallow tins( they are about 1” deep?
Hey, can I substitute the sugar for honey?
Can I use honey instead of sugar for this recipe or any of your vegan cakes and would I need to alter the amount of flour too?
How much longer would I need to bake them for? Thanks 🙂
Hi Jane I love your vegan recipes
I made this cake however it split when layering why would this happen
Use flora plant spread for frosting but was too
Runny helppppp
Do you mean the cakes broke? They are very soft so need to be handled carefully! I don’t tend to use flora so it may be too ‘spread’ like and then became too soft.
Yes the top one broke, then the next one however
The cakes tasted amazing very
Moist why would like break
Hi Jane
I was looking at your vegan chocolate orange cupcakes recipe and wanted to make it into a larger cake. Can I use this recipe and substitute the vanilla extract for orange extract or would I need both ?
Thanks!
I’d sub the vanilla for orange! It would work well! x
Hi Jane, could I swap the self raising flour for gluten free flour and if so how much xantham gum to use?
Unfortunately I have never tested this gluten free but it is worth a go – may 3/4 of a teaspoon xx
What piping nozzle do you use?!
Hiya – I just use a round nozzle, or just cut the end off a piping bag for the same results!
This cake is amazing!!
My first attempt at vegan baking and made it for my sister-in-laws 60th Birthday. She loved it!
Thank you for all your lovely recipes
Aww thank you so much, this has made my day!xx
Hi Jane, if I used 8inch sandwich tins, could this still make 3 layers or would it be better to make it into 4 layers?
If I need another layer, what would the measurements be for the frosting?
Hey! Yes it would make 3 layers xx
Hi Jane! Do you think this would work OK if I swapped out the self raising flour for gluten free self raising flour?
Hey! I have not tested it gluten free yet but theoretically it should work yes xx
Hi Jane, how long would the cake store for? Planning on using this recipe as a base for a vanilla sponge, however sisters birthday isn’t till Friday, and I was hoping to make it a day or two in advance
Hi Jane,
I would like to make a cake using this recipe but only a 2 layer cake? Do you know how much I should reduce the ingredients by?
Thank you x
As it’s a 3 layer, you would need 2/3 of the recipe x
Hi Jane,
Would it be possible to use vegan white chocolate in place of the dark chocolate to make a white choc buttercream? would it be the same quantities? Thanks!
If the white chocolate was still vegan, it should work the same!
Hi
Would spreadable stork work instead of vegetable oil for the cake? Doesn’t need to be vegan for me. If so how much would you suggest please?
I would stick with the oil for this one to be honest! x
Would switching out some of the almond milk for cooled coffee work? 🙂 I normally add coffee to my non-vegan chocolate cakes!
I don’t see why not! x
Hi Jane!
How would you adapt this for a 2lb loaf tin please? 🙂
Hello Jane
Could I make this recipe in 3 x 6” tins?
Love your recipes
Thank you
Normally I say to use 2/3 of a recipe for a 6″ version of an 8″ recipe x
Hi would you use stork spreadable tub or the block for the buttercream? Or does it matter?
Only the block is vegan, but it does work! x
Made this today for my daughters birthday. Everyone thought it was lovely but a little bit on the dry side. Used the exact quantities for the two tin cake. Any suggestions please
That means it is over baked slightly is all x
Just wanted to say thank you SO much for this amazing recipe! I’ve just made this for my godson’s 1st birthday (he’s allergic to dairy and eggs) and it’s perfect!
I made this cake last night for my son’s 1st birthday. It was so nice! I was so happy to be able to make him a decent cake that was very moist and tasty. I love your recipes Jane.
I used oat milk and had to bake for 45 mins till it was properly done. Will definitely make it again
when do you pull off the baking parchment? after they’ve cooled in the tins for 10-15mins or after they’ve fully cooled on a wire rack?
I generally take it off when it’s fully cooled x
Hi Jane, can this be made into cupcakes and if so, how many and how long would I bake them for?
Have a look at my vegan chocolate orange cupcakes (just leave out the orange) xx
Made this today and it was EPIC! Best vegan chocolate cake I have ever tasted/baked!!! Better than cake shops! Thanks for the amazing recipe!!!
Hey! I need to make an eggless cake but not a vegan cake – would you use this recipie with normal full fat / skimmed milk in place of almond milk? Thank you!
Hey! Yes, I would recommend using full-fat milk xx
Made this cake for my son in law. It was fantastic. I left a tier of as it ended up to big for the tin 😂
Anyhow I’d post a pic I’d I could!
Just HAD to comment to say thank you for the best vegan chocolate cake recipe I have ever come across – it tastes like a brownie!! Absolutely delicious and I can’t believe it’s vegan. Another of your recipes to add to my book ☺️
Ahh yay!! I’m so glad you like it! x
This is THE BEST Chocolate Cake recipe I have ever followed! I’ve made it twice all ready and no-one even knows its Vegan. I don’t think i’ll ever make a non-vegan Chocolate cake again! 🙂 Also for anyone wondering for the frosting I used TREX from Sainsbury’s and worked really well x
Hi Jane. This looks incredible! This will be my first vegan bake – my sis in law is vegan so I’m going to bake this and not even tell anyone it’s vegan!
I’d like to do it in a 4 layers as I want to make it a piñata cake.
Do I simply increase the ingredients by 25% to go from 3 to 4 layers?
And if I bake in 2 x 20cm DEEP tins how much should increase the time by? Sorry I’m a baking newbie so would appreciate your advice! x
Yes so for four layers increase as you said – and I’m really sorry but I am unsure about the timings. I have never made the vegan sponges deep before, so I imagine it would be at least 40-45 minutes, but I haven’t tried it myself! X
Perfect thank you! I’ll have to increase the frosting by a lot more actually as I going to go around the whole cake – will it work ok not using real butter?
I’ll just keep going until the skewer comes out clean then yeah?
Thanks!
Ah okay so vegan frosting is definitely softer so it may not be the smoothest finish, but other than that it would work! and yes, but don’t open the oven too early or they will sink! x
Oh jeez maybe I’ve bit off more than I can chew haha. I think I’ll stick to your exact recipe for this and do a cake with 360 frosting & piñata with a non vegan cake!
Thanks so much for replying 😊
Hey Jane. Could you use caster sugar for this?
Yes you can!
Hey Jane,
Since you mentioned that the sponges were not very thick, is it possible to make the the recipe for 3 cakes but bake it in two?
Hey! Yes you can – I’m not 100% sure on the timings though, but probably at least 10-15 minutes longer!
Can I substitute the white vine vinegar for apple cider vinegar?
Yes indeed!
Hello Jane,
I’m looking to bake a really chocolatey fudgey cake for my daughters 6th birthday. We aren’t vegans so I was wondering could I substitute the almond milk for semi skimmed? I would pop and get some but we are on the shielding list.
This looks utterly amazing x
Thanks in advance
Hiya – overall I would recommend my chocolate fudge cake recipe for the best fudgey cake – but this would work with dairy milk! Generally I would recommend whole milk, but it should be fine with semi skimmed (just make sure it doesn’t split when mixing everything together) x
I made this cake for my mum’s birthday and it went down a treat! Thank you for providing us with such a yummy vegan chocolate cake recipe!
Excellent recipe, super easy to follow! I was very pleased with the finished product!
Hi Jane, if I wanted to use this recipe to make gluten free and vegan chocolate cupcakes would I use the 2 layer version for the same amount of time at the same temperature or would I have to change anything?
Yes also wondering the same thing. I want to make some dairy free chocolate cupcakes for my son 😊
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I made them into cupcakes for my friend’s birthday and they came out so well! I find vegan recipes really hard, but this is great 🙂
Hi Clem, when you made them into cupcakes did you use the 2 layer version and how long did you bake them for?
Hi Jane! Can’t wait to try this! Do you use sweetened or non sweetened almond milk?
I tend to use unsweetened, but it’s up to you!
Hi Jane,
If I want to make a normal vanilla sponge, do I substitute the cocoa powder out and up the quantity of the self raising flour so the cake’s consistency will not change too much
Thank you
Yes, that should work fine!!
Hi, I love the look of this cake, and the colour of the icing looks perfect!! I’m just wondering if using normal butter and normal dark chocolate would produce the same result for the icing? Thank you 🙂
Butter containing dairy will create a firmer buttercream, but the dark chocolate should be the same (As mentioned in the post, most dark chocolates should be vegan anyway!)
Hi would this work using gf flour?
I would add in some xantham gum, but otherwise yes!
Hi Jane, love your page. Just wanted to ask if I can freeze the vegan chocolate cake before icing it . And then defrost it and apply frosting when I need it? Will it keep I. The fridge for more than 3 days? I love this recipe- it’s delicious
The sponges can be frozen, yes. I wouldn’t recommend keeping the cake in the fridge as it’ll dry out – it will store for 3 days at room temp. Freezing the sponges won’t have an affect on how long the cake lasts once it’s thawed, it’ll still be three days.
Hey Jane!
Big fan of your page!
This cake looks perfect for my little boy who insha’Allah allergic to cows milk and eggs! Just wondered what could I sub the white wine vinegar for? We don’t consume it for religious reasons! Would normal white vinegar work?
I have not tried any others I’m afraid! The other type I use is apple cider vinegar.
Hi Neelam,
vegan buttermilk is made with a combo of dairy free milk and an acid, you could try lemon juice in place of vinegar, good luck and happy baking!
I recently made a vegan chocolate cake and actually preferred it to my usual non-vegan recipe – so delicious!