Chocolate cake. Sometimes that’s all you need – a nice slab of it, nothing fancy, no fruit or mint nor hint of citrus. They say that chocolate mimics the euphoria of being in love, but how do they know that love isn’t mimicking chocolate? It could choose a worse role model.
This is my basic chocolate cake recipe, the same as the chocolate cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It’s rich and tender and just exactly what I want when biting into a piece of cake, moistness and melt in your mouth crumbs. I top it with an extra fudgy chocolate ganache that gets it delectible gloopiness from a couple tablespoons maple syrup. In this photo, I’ve doubled the recipe to make a two layer cake and added a little bit of a creamy cocoa buttercream that I’ve been working on. Another benefit to this recipe is that the cake doesn’t dome too much so it’s perfect for layer cakes.
Chocolate Cake
Makes one 8 inch circle cake
1 cup almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular (or a mix of both)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350?F.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and almond extract and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
Lightly grease an 8 inch springform pan. Pour in the batter and bake for 32 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted through the center comes out clean.
Gooey Ganache
2/3 cup almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
In a small saucepan bring the milk to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Add the chocoate chips and maple syrup and mix with a fork. Turn heat off and mix until thoroughly melted. Let cool for about 15 minutes before using.
To assemble:
Just pour the ganache over the cooled cake and kind of tilt the cake at all angles to get the ganache to drip down the sides. Refrigerate to cool and set the ganache.
Is it possible to use gluten free all purpose flour that doesn’t have xantham?
I am making this for my birthday next week and can’t wait. I just bought “Isa does it” and every recipe has been Ahhhhh mazing. I do have a question- I usually use my own homemade almond milk but am wondering if store bought would be better for this recipe?
Rachel, I used this recipe to make cupcakes a few weeks ago and used my own homemade almond milk. They turned out just fine.
I’ve made this awesome cake a couple of times in a rice cooker and it’s turned out perfectly.
I have a Zojirushi rice cooker (with cake setting) and I found that using the cake setting (45 mins) once and then adding 20 minutes of cooking time on top was the best result.
Hope this helps anyone who likes to use their rice cooker for super-moist cakes.
This is absolutely amazing – moist, sweet, delicious. I did 1.5 times the recipe to fill a 9 x 13 pan. The essential chocolate cake recipe!
I did find it was done cooking earlier than the recipe calls for, so check early & often.
Could this recipe be made using coconut milk, the kind in a carton, not the full fat kind in a tin? That’s the only milk I usually buy, so I’m just curious…
Thanks muchly 🙂
Mimi in Nantes, France
My apologies!!! Please disregard my previous message about using coconut milk instead of almond milk. I just saw the parenthetical remark saying it’s OK to use any mon-dairy milk.
Sweet! Thank you!!!
Mimi
If you’re looking for a moist, gooey, chocolatey vegan cake look no further. You found it. As a person currently exploring the plant based diet, I have to say that I do not miss the eggs in this recipe at all! Throw in some cocoa nibs or chocolate pieces if you wanna add even more chocolate and its gonna be even better. Fingerlicking good!!!
Hi Can you add half almond flour and half all purpose flour in the recipe?
This cake is perfect. It’s moist and rich without being excessively dense, gluggy or sweet. I’ve made it a bunch of times and I’m not the best baker in the world but it always turns out well. The ganache is great and the recipe makes a lot more than is needed to cover the cake so I keep it and spoon some on to each slice when serving (or just eat it lol) It needs to cool quite a bit to thicken up.
Hello! I love this recipe. I have made it multiple times and it is so delicious. I love making this cake and putting jam or fresh fruit on makes it even better. I have also made this recipe for cupcakes and it is still delicious. YUMMY!!
Yesterday I made this cake, this perfection of a cake, for my work colleagues, none of whom are vegan (but most are interested…). Yesterday was the gazillionth time that I’ve made this cake (have made this cake, for various occasions, in the following countries: Cambodia, Senegal, UK, France, USA). Yesterday, I thought I’d be giving away or bringing home at least a small wedge, but I barely had enough for everyone. This cake received rave reviews from 7 non-vegan colleagues. They loved it, appreciated it, and half of them wanted to know how to make it. So I must extend another big “merci!” for this enduringly wonderful recipe. (PS: I add Cointreau to both the cake batter and the ‘ganache”–my ganache is cacao powder, powdered sugar, Cointreau), Thank you!