Ultimate Vegan Chocolate birthday cake

Your search for the perfect chocolate cake ends right here! And the best part is, it is totally vegan. Lot of people have misconceptions about vegan cakes and I can tell you that you will totally change your view if you try this recipe. I wanted to bake a vegan cake for my daughter’s second birthday and started browsing for recipes 2 to 3 months in advance. While there were lot of vegan cake recipes, I had  a tough time find a frosting recipe that was cashew free. ( My daughter is allergic to cashew as well! ) So after a lot of research, I decided on minimalistbaker’s simple chocolate cake recipe. I have to tell you, it will be one of the best vegan cakes you’ve tasted and no one can tell its vegan unless you tell them 🙂 I followed her recipe to the T, but I had a few observations, so wanted to document them for later use!

I have made this cake 4 times in one month and that’s how addictive it is. It totally rich chocolatey, without being too sweet, luscious and totally divine. And the little one loved it! So here goes the recipe 🙂

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened Silk Almond Milk
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee + 1/4 cup almond milk (Original recipe says 1/2 cup coffee. You can substitute coffee for more almond milk)
• 2/3 cup melted coconut oil, or sub grape seed or canola oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups + 2 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour ( I have tried this only with all purpose flour)
• 1 1/3 cups cane sugar (or sub granulated sugar)
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the frosting:

• 1 cup vegan butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar (Can use 21/2 cups for less sweet version. I found 3 cups was good qty, not to sweet, not too bitter)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup dairy-free semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsweetened silk almond milk

Optional – 2 to 3 tbsp raspberry preserves to add between the two layers of cake

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F and spray two 8 inch pans with non stick spray and line them with parchment paper. ( I baked two 6 inch cakes and used the rest of the batter to make some cupcakes)

Mix the almond milk and vinegar in a large mixing bowl. Allow it to set for a few minutes for it to activate.Now add the oil, coffee, vanilla extract, and applesauce to the almond milk mixture and beat it until its nice and foamy.

Now sift all the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, coco powder, baking powder and salt)

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and make sure no lumps remain. (taste the batter and add more sugar if you need it to be more sweet. Since I have added coffee and was making it for my little one, I added 1/4 cup extra sugar)

Divide the batter in the two pans and bake it for 40 minutes. ( original recipe says 25 minutes, but every time I baked this cake, it took me longer than that. So bake until a tooth pick inserted inside comes out clean)

Let the cakes cool, before applying the frosting!

For the frosting, add all the ingredients for the frosting together (except sugar and almond milk). Add sugar in small increments and beat everything together until it is nice and fluffy. Add almond milk as necessary tsp by tsp to get the frosting to the desired consistency. (If the cake becomes thin, add coco powder as necessary to thicken it up)

Frost the cake, when the cake has cooled and serve immediately or refrigerate!

Notes:.

I made the cake two days in advance and wrapped it a cling film wrap once it cooled and put it in the freezer. I made the frosting the next day and stored it in the refrigerator.

I took out the frosting and kept it on the counter to thaw it, the next day ( the day I wanted to frost the cake) But I found it did not have the perfect consistency (the fluffiness) when it came to room temperature. So I used that batch between the two layers of cake and made a fresh batch of frosting to decorate the outside of the cake.

I kept the cake outside for few hrs as well to thaw the cake.

I added the raspberry preserves between the two layers of cake and added the frosting on top of it. It was a nice addition to the cake 🙂

Pic credits – Akshaya Vasudevan!