Vegan Chocolate Cake

Hands down, this is the best vegan chocolate cake on this planet, made with pantry staple ingredients! Made with no eggs, milk or butter, this vegan chocolate cake recipe is a game changer- It’s foolproof! 

Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

When it comes to cakes, we love vanilla cake, flourless chocolate cake and this ridiculously easy chocolate cake. 

A delicious and moist vegan chocolate cake made without the usual ingredients-

No milk.

Eggless.

No butter.

I brought this to a party last week and not even kidding, it was gone within SECONDS. No one could believe this chocolate cake was completely vegan! 

So…How does it taste?

Taste-wise, it fits the bill. It’s sweet, rich and loaded with chocolate flavor in every bite.

Texture-wise, again, it’s great. Super moist on the inside, yet tender on the outside, perfect with or without frosting! 

It reminds me so much of a vegan chocolate mud cake, but so much easier to make!

How to make a vegan chocolate cake 

This moist vegan chocolate cake is seriously foolproof- You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now!

Be sure to read ahead and see any ingredient substitutions options tested.

The Ingredients

• All-purpose flour– You can use regular all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour. I opted to use the latter, to keep this recipe gluten-free.
• Sugar– Any white sugar or sugar substitute works best. See notes below to keep it sugar-free.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder- To give it the chocolate flavor! For a darker flavor, use dark cocoa powder.
• Baking soda– To let the cake rise.
• Salt– Brings out the sweetness! 
• Apple cider vinegar– Helps the cake remain moist while being fluffy and tender on the outside. It also acts as a replacement for eggs. 
• Vanilla extract– A must for any delicious cake!
• Canola Oil– Replaces any need for butter- keeps the cake moist and rich.
• Water– Replaces any need for milk!

The Instructions

No fancy kitchen gadgets or mixers needed! 

In a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients and mix well. Then, you’ll want to create three caves (depressions) in the dry mixture. Add the vinegar in one, vanilla extract in the second, and the vegetable oil in the third. Pour the water over the entire mixture slowly. Using a whisk, whisk together the ingredients completely, until smooth and silky. 

Then, you’ll transfer the chocolate cake batter into an 8-inch cake pan and bake for 27-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out just clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, frost the cooled cake. 

Frosting Options 

Frosting is not necessary at all, but to me, a chocolate cake without frosting is not a real chocolate cake.

You have three options here-

• Coconut Cream frosting– Follow this recipe here for the chocolate frosting used. It only involves using coconut cream and chocolate chips.
• Homemade Applesauce frosting– This is my favorite chocolate frosting, and it’s secretly healthy too, made with applesauce!
• Homemade Nutella– Spread some homemade Nutella over the top, for a healthier frosting option.

Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions

• All-purpose flour– You can use wholewheat all-purpose flour (wholemeal), but be wary it will be a little less moist. Oat flour CAN work, but it will not be anywhere near as moist (oats absorb liquids much more than flour). 
• Apple cider vinegar– You can use white vinegar or even lemon juice. 
• Canola oil– Any oil works, like vegetable, coconut, avocado oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil. 
• Sugar– White sugar works best, but you can use a mix of white sugar and coconut sugar or brown sugar. Avoid using all brown sugar, or you’ll have an overpowering molasses flavor. 

Can I make a sugar free chocolate cake?

If you follow a sugar free diet or what to keep this cake sugar-free, you can do that! 

Simply replace the sugar with either monk fruit sweetener, swerve or any standard granulated sugar-free sweeteners (like Splenda or equal).

With that said, please be sure that the sugar-free sweetener you are using CAN be used in baking. Many brands generally have their standard range (for sweetening tea/coffee, etc) and a baking range (formulated specifically for baking). 

Vegan Chocolate Cake Tips

• Use a mixing bowl. I know the original chocolate crazy cake recipe calls for mixing it in the pan you want to bake with, but I find this sometimes leaves room for the ingredients not to mix completely.
• Do not overbake the cake. Remember, the cake continues to bake while it is cooling in the pan. 
• If you choose to frost the cake, be sure the cake has cooled completely, otherwise, it will melt and drizzle off.
• If your flour is a little clumpy, sift it first, to ensure it will mix properly.
• This cake has no eggs, so if you underbake it, it will just be super moist (I often do this).

Storage Tips

• To store: Chocolate cake will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days, covered. However, if you frost the cake, it should be stored in the fridge. If refrigerated, it will keep fresh for up to 2 weeks.
• To freeze: I recommend you freeze the cake sans frosting, but do whatever works best for you. Place pre-sliced pieces of chocolate cake in a sealed container. Frozen chocolate cake will keep fresh for up to 6 months.
• To thaw: Either microwave it directly from the freezer (in 30-second spurts) or let thaw at room temperature. 

More EASY vegan dessert recipes

• 2 Ingredient Dough Cinnamon Rolls
• No Flour Cookies (6 Flavors!)
• Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• No Flour Monster Cookies (4 Ingredients!)
• No Bake Oatmeal Cookies (3 Ingredients!)

Vegan Chocolate Cake- The BEST recipe

Hands down, the best vegan Chocolate cake, made with no eggs, no milk, no butter and no boxed mix! Super moist and using simple ingredients, this vegan chocolate cake recipe is also gluten free and can be made sugar free!

5 from 83 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 12 Slices

Calories: 189kcal

Author: Arman

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour use gluten-free, if needed
• 1 cup sugar * See notes
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp canola oil ** See notes
• 1 cup water

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8-inch springform pan or cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients and mix well.
• Form 3 caves (depressions) into the dry mixture. Add the apple cider vinegar in one, vanilla extract in the second, and the canola oil in the third. Then, slowly pour your water over the top. Using a whisk or spatula, mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
• Transfer to the lined pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out just clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, frost the cooled cake.

Notes

* You can use white sugar, or a mix of white sugar/brown sugar or coconut sugar. If you want to keep this sugar-free, you can use a sugar-free baking sweetener, like monk fruit, swerve or baking splenda.

** Any oil works- Vegetable oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, coconut oil etc. 

To make a layer cake, double the amounts and frost in between and all over. 

Key Recipe Equipment and Ingredients

Mixing bowl

Spatula

Square Pan

Nutrition

Serving: 1Piece | Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg | NET CARBS: 29g

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