It is quite difficult to find a good chocolate cake in the commerce that is vegan. I’d even argue that it is quite impossible when you are as picky as I am. I’m looking for something generous, smooth, reach in chocolate and not too sweet. I like it when you can still taste the dark chocolate and not feel like you are eating a spoon full of sugar.
So if you’re on the lookout for the best chocolate cake ever, you are at the right place! No need to look elsewhere, get your cooking gears ready and start baking! Your taste buds will thank you!
Best chocolate cake
Equipment
- 3x 8-inch round cake pan [1]
- Hand mixer or Stand mixer
- Pipping bag
- Angled palette knife
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 120 ml water at room temperature
- 140 g vegan butter
- 175 g sugar
- 120 ml hot coffee [2]
- 300 g apple sauce [3]
- 1 tsp vanilla powder [4]
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 280 g cream flour sifted [5]
- 86 g cocoa powder unsweetened sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- dash salt
Chocolate buttercream
- 200 g vegan butter
- 325 g sugar
- 57 g cocoa powder unsweetened sifted
- 40 g dark chocolate 85% melted [6]
- 1 tsp vanilla powder [4]
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 30 ml soy milk
Instructions
Chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven at 180°C.Line cake pans with baking paper, grease and powder them with flour.
- Pour 1 cup of soy milk in a glass then add the cider vinegar and the lemon juice. Let it curdle for about 5 minutes.
- In a bowl add the coffee and the butter. Let the butter melt [7].Then stir together the sugar, the apple sauce, the vanilla powder, the vanilla extract and the water.
- Mix together the sifted flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the liquid mix to the dry one and gently stir together with a spatula.
- Pour the dough evenly in the 3 baking pans.
- Bake in the oven (middle section) for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.Once baked, let the cake cool down a few minutes before removing from the pan.The cake must be completely cooled before dressing with the buttercream.
Buttercream
- Cream the butter with a hand mixer or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer until smooth and fluffy.
- Gradually beat in the icing sugar until fully incorporated.
- Gradually beat in the cocoa until fully incorporated.
- Beat in the melted chocolate (once cooled).
- Beat in the vanilla powder and the vanilla extract.
- Pour the 30ml of milk and beat again for 1 or 2 minutes.The buttercream should be smooth and glossy.
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag [8] and keep into the fridge until the cakes are totally cooled down.
- Then start by pipping a ¼ of the buttercream on top of one layer. Then put the second layer and use another ¼. Place the third layer and use the rest of the buttercream to frost the top and the sides of the cake using an angled palette knife.
Notes
[1] If you don’t have 3 cake pans, you will have to bake them separately.
[2] This is optional, if you don’t want to use coffee you can replace it by hot water.
[3] If you don’t have apple sauce at hand, you can replace it by another fruit sauce, or plain vegan yogurt (the texture and taste of the cake might change a little).
[4] If you don’t have vanilla powder you can add more vanilla extract.
[5] If you don’t have cream flour you can use cake flour or plain flour + 1 tbsp of cornflour + 1/2 tsp of baking powder.
[6] Once the chocolate is melted leave it aside a couple of minutes to cool down.
[7] To help the butter melt you might need to microwave the mix a few seconds at a time.
[8] For a naked look there is no need for a nozzle. If you plan making decoration as well you may wish to use the adequate nozzle.
[9] In order to get the best result the buttercream needs to stay a couple of minutes out of the fridge before using it to frost the cake.