Chocolate Cake (Vegan) (6-inch)
This cake is what you’re looking for if you want a rich, moist, and tender chocolate cake. This is a chocolate lover’s dream that is free of eggs and dairy. Vegan or not, family and friends will adore this cake.
Chocolate cake is a classic dessert that comes in a variety of recipes. This is yet another one, and I think it tastes amazing. It’s simple to make, full of chocolate flavor, and has a moist crumb. We just checked every box, in my opinion. Try this one out; I promise you won’t be disappointed.
What you will need:
You can easily make this tender and moist chocolate cake with just a few staple ingredients. Just like in my brownie recipe, I used cacao powder instead of cocoa powder. Now, don’t go out and buy cacao powder just for this recipe. Although I haven’t tried this recipe with cocoa, I don’t see why it couldn’t be used to make this cake instead.
Cake
- all purpose flour
- cacao powder ( I used Body Foods Organic Cacao Powder)
- combination of cane sugar and coconut sugar
- oil (I used olive oil)
- baking powder
- baking soda
- plant based milk ( I used oat milk)
- plant based yogurt ( I used almond milk base vanilla flavored)
- water
- coffee (I used cold brew)
- vanilla extract
Mocha Buttercream
- powdered sugar
- plant based butter with salt
- plant based heavy cream
- espresso powder
- cacao powder
How to:
Begin by preheating the oven to 350F and preparing a 6-inch cake pan by lightly greasing it and lining the bottom with parchment paper. In a microwave-safe container, add the milk, water, and coffee. Warm the mixture up (about 30 seconds in the microwave) and add the cacao powder. Mix to combine and set aside to cool. In a small bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine and set aside. In a large bowl, add both sugars, oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract; whisk until fully combined (about a minute). Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold in until almost combined. Add the milk mixture to the wet ingredients and fold in until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold in until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and give it a couple of bangs on the counter to knock out the air bubbles. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once out of the oven, let the cake rest in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack.
While the cake is cooling, the mocha buttercream can be prepared. In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, espresso, and cacao powder, sift, and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (this can also be done with a hand mixer), add the room-temperature butter and cream with the balloon attachment on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Once the butter reaches a light, fluffy, creamy consistency, scrape down the sides, add the heavy cream, and continue whipping on high for another 2 to 3 minutes. This is going to look like it is going wrong, but trust in the process; it will come together. Once it comes together and takes on a whipped look, scrape down the sides and add the sifted powdered sugar mixture. Continue whipping, but start off slow so powdered sugar does not go everywhere. Gradually increase the speed to high and whip for 3-5 minutes. Once done, the cooled cake can be frosted, or the frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or in the freezer for a couple of months.
Helpful tools/tips:
This is a small, 6-inch cake. It can easily be increased by half to make an 8-inch single layer or tripled to make a 3-layer 6-inch cake or a 2-layer 8-inch cake. This cake can be prepared in advance and frozen for several months or refrigerated for a few days.
Chocolate Cake – 6 inch ( Vegan)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp/ 100 grams all purpose flour
- 4 tbsp/20 grams cacao powder ( I use Better Body Foods organic Cacao Powder)
- 5 tbsp/ 62 grams cane sugar
- 5 tbsp/62 grams coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ cup/ 60 grams plant based milk of your choice – room temperature (I used oat milk)
- ¼ cup/ 60 grams water
- ¼ cup/60 grams plant based yogurt of your choice – room temperature (I used silk almond milk yogurt, vanilla flavored)
- 1 tbsp coffee (I used cold brew)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Mocha Buttercream
- 1½ cups/180 grams powdered sugar – make sure to sift
- 6 tbsp/ 84 grams plant based butter (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp plant based heavy cream (cold)
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- ¾ tsp cacao powder
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 350℉ and prepare a 6-inch round cake pan.
- In a microwave safe container combine the milk, water and coffee – heat up (about 30 seconds) and add the cacao powder, stir to combine and set aside to cool ( about 10 minutes).
- In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda, whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the sugars, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Mix together with a whisk until fully combined, about a minute. Add half of the flour mixture and fold in until just combined, add the milk mixture and fold in until just combine, add in the rest of the flour and fold in until fully combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan, give it a couple of bangs on the counter to knock out the air bubbles, place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Let the cake complete cool before frosting.
Mocha Buttercream
- Combine the powdered sugar, espresso and cacao powder, sift and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (this can also be done with a hand mixer) add the room temperature butter and cream with the balloon attachment on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Once the butter reaches a light, fluffy, creamy consistency, scrape down the sides and add the heavy cream and continue whipping on high for another 2 to 3 minutes. This is going to look like it is going wrong but trust in the process, it will come together. Once it comes together and takes on a whipped look scrape down the sides and add the sifted powdered sugar mixture. Continue whipping but start off slow so powdered sugar does not go everywhere, gradually increase the speed to high and whip for 3-5 minutes. Once done, the cooled cake can be frosted or the frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or the freezer for a couple of months.
