I've adapted my vegan chocolate cake recipe to be better than ever! With three sumptuous layers of incredibly moist, tender cake separated by the perfect amount of a rich, fudgy vegan chocolate frosting.
If you loved the original recipe, you can still find it as the base for my Black Forest cake, raspberry chocolate cake, and Easter chocolate cake.
For more classic vegan layer cake recipes, check out my Vanilla Cake, Devil's Food Cake, and Carrot Cake next!
🧾 Ingredients
As promised, this easy vegan chocolate cake recipe comes together with simple, basic ingredients. Here's what you'll need:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Vegan Buttermilk: If possible, opt to make your buttermilk with unsweetened soy milk for the richest consistency. Otherwise, either oat milk or almond milk are acceptable substitutes.
- All-Purpose Flour: No need for cake flour here! Plain flour is all you need.
- Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder: I prefer the less bitter, more intense chocolate flavor of Dutch-processed cocoa, but conventional unsweetened cocoa powder will also work.
- Brown Sugar: It can be light or dark, regular brown sugar or muscovado. Just make sure it's nice and soft.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: You'll need both types of raising agents to achieve the perfect tender crumb. If it's been a minute since you used them, you can easily test their vitality. Simply spoon a small amount of either into a bowl, then top with a splash of hot water (for baking powder) or acid like lemon juice or vinegar (for baking soda). If they fizz and bubble, they're still active. If not, time to buy a replacement!
- Olive Oil: I love the hint of fruity, spicy, and/or grassy flavor that olive oil brings to the table. If you prefer, you can use light olive oil, sunflower oil, or rapeseed oil instead.
- Plain Vegan Greek-Style Yogurt: For added moisture and fat. You can also use vegan sour cream.
- Hot Coffee: All of the best chocolate cake recipes include this if you ask me. Adding coffee to chocolate desserts helps to amplify their chocolatey goodness. Brew the coffee at the last minute so that the flavor compounds are all still at their peak and the coffee is nice and hot. If needed, use decaf.
- Vegan Dark Chocolate: Make sure you opt for bar chocolate over chocolate chips since they melt better. I also suggest reaching for 70% cocoa solids or higher for the most intense chocolate flavor.
- Vegan Butter: Make sure you opt for block-style unsalted butter rather than the variety that comes in a tub.
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🔪 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make the best vegan chocolate cake recipe. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full measurements and written instructions:
Step 1: Sift together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
Step 4: Carefully pour the hot coffee into the batter whilst mixing until combined. The batter will be runny - this is what you want!
Step 5: Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for 25-35 minutes.
Step 6: Heat the vegan heavy cream, then pour it on top of finely chopped chocolate. Whisk while adding cubes of butter to the chocolate mixture until melted through. Cover and chill.
Step 7: Assemble the cooled cake layers between thin layers of leveled chocolate frosting.
Step 8: Spread or pipe the remaining buttercream around the sides and top of the cake and top with fresh berries and/or chocolate shavings.
💭 Expert Tips
Cooling is Crucial: Let your vegan chocolate cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack, which allows them to firm up and reduces the risk of breaking.
Cake Pan Prep: Don't skimp on preparing your cake pans. Use a vegan-friendly oil or spray, and line the bottom with parchment paper to ensure your layers come out cleanly. This step helps prevent sticking and helps the cakes maintain their beautiful shape.
Using a Cake Turntable: A cake turntable can make frosting your cake significantly easier and more efficient. Place your first layer on the turntable and spread an even layer of frosting. When it's time to smooth the sides, spin the turntable with one hand and hold your spatula or bench scraper steady with the other to create a smooth finish. The spinning motion provides a more consistent application than if you tried to circle around the cake by hand.
🍽 Variations
As much as I love this vegan chocolate layer cake recipe just the way I've written it, there's plenty of room for you to tweak it to your level of personal perfection. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Swap Frosting: While I love the intense chocolate-on-chocolate experience, you're welcome to add another flavor element to your cake. Try coffee, raspberry, vanilla, pistachio or even cream cheese frosting.
- Add Filling: You're also welcome to add a tasty filling to your cake like jam, curd, or macerated berries. Make sure to pipe a border of frosting around the border of your chocolate cake layer to hold the goodness inside, then spoon your filling in the middle before continuing to assemble the cake. Note that if you add a filling, you may need to refrigerate the cake sooner than if you stick with the plain chocolate frosting.
- Get Zesty: If a vegan chocolate orange cake sounds up your alley, consider adding the zest of an orange to the cake batter. Go a step further and add an orange curd filling using the tips outlined above.
- Go Extra Chocolatey: Try making a vegan chocolate ganache cake by swapping the chocolate buttercream for ganache. Pro Tip: Let the chocolate ganache cool slightly, then whip using an electric whisk until several shades lighter and fluffy.
💬 FAQs
Keep the cake at room temperature on the day of serving. If you plan on serving it at a later stage, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for 4-5 days. Remove from the fridge an hour before serving to allow the cake and frosting to come back to room temperature.
While I don't recommend freezing the assembled cake, you're welcome to bake off the cake layers in advance. Let them cool completely to room temperature, then wrap them in several layers of plastic wrap to ward off freezer burn. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer. They should last for a month with no discernable degradation in quality.
Absolutely! For a 2-layer 9-inch cake, divide the batter between 2 9-inch round cake pans, checking for doneness at the 30-minute mark. You can also make a 3x 6-inch layer cake OR a 2x 8-inch layer cake if you reduce the recipe to ⅔.
Nope! You're welcome to swap in plain hot water but note that you won't get the same depth of flavor if you do. If you just don't want to brew a new batch, feel free to use instant coffee instead - the flavor compounds in coffee just help to amplify the chocolate flavor, so I highly recommend using it.
🎂 More Vegan Cakes
📖 Recipe
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 360 ml (1 ½ cups) soy milk *see note 1
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 420 g (3 ⅓ cups) all-purpose flour
- 120 g (1 ¼ cups) Dutch-processed cocoa powder or unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 450 g (2 cups, packed) soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 180 ml (¾ cup) olive oil or light olive oil, sunflower oil, or rapeseed oil
- 270 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) vegan Greek-style yogurt or vegan sour cream
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 360 ml (1 ½ cups) hot coffee brewed at the last minute *see note 2
Frosting
- 200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) vegan heavy cream *see notes 3 and 4
- 360 g (12.7 oz) vegan dark chocolate (70%) finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 g (5.29 oz) vegan butter (block-style) cubed and room temperature
- 50 g (6 ¼ tbsp) powdered sugar
- fresh berries for garnish, optional
Instructions
- For accuracy, I highly recommend measuring your ingredients in grams using a digital kitchen scale.
- Preparation: Preheat your oven to 160°C/320°F fan (180°C/356°F conventional). Line the base of three 8" cake tins with a circle of parchment paper and liberally grease the sides with oil or vegan butter.
- To make the vegan buttermilk add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a jug, stir, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Mix dry ingredients: Sift the plain flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt into a large mixing bowl, whisk, and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients: To a medium bowl, add the vegan buttermilk, olive oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Whisk until combined.
- Make the batter: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until well mixed. Carefully pour the hot coffee into the batter whilst mixing until combined. The batter will be runny - this is what you want!
- Bake: Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for 25-35 minutes. The cakes are ready when a toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs but without any wet batter.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 15-20 minutes and then carefully turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool further. Refrigerate the cakes in an airtight container if you don't plan on using them right away.
- Frosting: Heat the vegan heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until gently simmering, but not boiling.
- Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit uncovered for 5 minutes. Whisk in the vanilla extract and sugar.
- Using an electric whisk or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, start adding cubes of butter to the chocolate mixture. Whisk to incorporate each cube of butter before adding the next.
- Whisk in the powdered sugar. Cover the surface of the frosting with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Gently whip it up again with a whisk before frosting.
- Assembly: Place a tiny amount of frosting on a cake turntable and secure the first sponge layer on top of it. Use an offset spatula/pallet knife to spread a layer of the frosting on top of one cake and top with the other cake layer - repeat for the next layer. Spread or pipe the remaining buttercream around the sides and top of the cake.
- Storage: Keep the cake at room temperature on the day of serving. If you plan on serving it at a later stage, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for 4-5 days. Remove from the refrigerator an hour before serving to allow the cake and frosting to come back to room temperature.
Notes
- Soy Milk - You can also use almond milk or oat milk.
- Hot Coffee - You can substitute this with boiling water.
- Vegan Heavy Cream - You need double cream such as dairy-free Schlagfix or Emlea which are designed for whipping. Alternatively, use full-fat coconut milk or coconut whipping cream.
- Vegan Heavy Cream - To add a coffee kick to your frosting, replace 30ml of cream with espresso.
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Hi Christina!
I am a big fan of your recipies- I already baked your lemon pound cake and the cinnamon rolls and they were always a huge success! My friends loved them and honestly- they are better than non-vegan options!
I wanted to ask you if you think it‘d be possible to scale the recipe down to 2/3 and bake it into one big cake sheet in a 11 inch pan (28cm?) I only have one eleven inch cake pan:( Or should I bake one cake sheet after the other?
Thank you so much for your help!
Kind regards
Julia
Hi Julia!
Thanks so much for the kind words - I’m really glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes!
Just to clarify, this recipe makes a 3-layer 8-inch cake. With that in mind, yes you can reduce the recipe to ⅔ and bake it in one 11-inch (28 cm) round pan. The volumes actually work out well, and the cake will bake up to a nice height rather than being too thin.
Keep the oven temperature the same, but expect a longer bake time than a single 8-inch layer. I’d start checking around 30 minutes and use a skewer test, as oven times can vary.
Hope that helps, and happy baking! 💛
Hi^^ Excited to try this as I love your vanilla cake recipe, I just had a few questions first to ensure my attempt turns out just as good as the vanilla cake : ) Can I use vegan butter in place of the olive oil? Also, I don't have anything coffee related in my house so for the part where you add in the boiling water at the less minute, can I use espresso powder and mix it into the hot water, and if so, how much tsp/tbsp do you recommend putting? Can I split the batter into just two 8"inch pans instead of 3? If so, because of the extra batter in both pans bec I'm not splitting it between 3, how long do you recommend baking them for? And last question, instead of buying vegan heavy cream to make the frosting, can I make my own using cashews? I'm sorry for all the questions, I know it's a lot😅 But I appreciate your reply in advance!
Hi Robin,
Thank you so much - I’m so happy you loved the vanilla cake and are giving this one a try too! For this recipe, it’s important to use oil rather than vegan butter, as butter will change the texture and make the cake denser. You can definitely use espresso powder, I’d go with about 2 teaspoons mixed into the hot water.
If you’re baking in just two 8-inch pans, I’d recommend scaling the recipe down to about two-thirds to keep the layers from being too thick (otherwise they’ll take too long to bake through).
As for the frosting, I haven’t tested it with cashews, so I can’t say for sure — you’d be better off following a frosting recipe specifically designed for a cashew base.
The cake turned out great! I've made it twice in a row now, and everyone loves it, I'm not even sure some of them know it's vegan😂 Someone also asked me to make this for them lol. This will be my new go to recipe now for chocolate cake, it was so good and perfectly moist : ) I like how brown sugar is used most likely to also add moistness for the cake but the cake itself isn't overly sweet but that's ok because it's perfectly balanced by the sweet richness of the icing : ) Ty for another great recipe I'm definitely going to be checking out more!
Hi Robin,
This is such a lovely message! I’m so happy to hear it’s been such a hit, and even better that no one suspected it was vegan 😂.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and I hope you enjoy the other recipes just as much!
Omg yummy ,
Can i make this recipe without gluten with non gluten flour ?
Thank you
Hi Athenae,
I haven't personally tried it, but in case you decide to give it a go, many readers have success with King Arthurs measure for measure flour with some of my other recipes. Sorry I can't be more helpful here 🙁
Can you make this recipe in 3 6" or 2 8" pans? And what would be the cooking time for each?
Also, can I prep the frosting today or tomorrow if I want to assemble on Sunday?
Hi Loraine,
This recipe is written for 3 x 8-inch tins, so if you'd like to adapt:
- For 3 x 6-inch tins, I'd suggest making about two-thirds of the recipe. Bake time will likely be a little shorter, so start checking around the 25-30 minute mark.
- For 2 x 8-inch tins, you can make about two-thirds to three-quarters of the recipe, as you don't want the layers too thick or they'll take too long to bake through. Bake time here will probably be closer to 35-45 minutes, but keep an eye and test with a skewer.
As for the frosting, it really is best made fresh, so I would make it the same day you plan to assemble the cake for the best result.
I hope this helps and you enjoy the recipe!
Best chocolate cake I have ever had! So moist, fluffy and delicious. Tasteful and flavorful. No better way to go without cows milk, butter or eggs. Who even needs that stuff with recipes like these?!?!
Hi Alex,
Thank you so much for your wonderful review, you're so kind to take the time to write this 🥹