All too often, vegan desserts get a bad rap. So what if we told you the best vegan chocolate cake is also the easiest, generally crowd-pleasing-est, and time-saving-est chocolate cake recipe we’ve ever encountered? And what if we then added that it not only eschews eggs, butter, and milk, but a stand mixer and electric beater as well? Perhaps, like us, you’ll take special pleasure out of revealing its egg- and dairy-free nature to every non-vegan friend you serve it to. Regardless, you’ll certainly never need to look for another vegan chocolate cake recipe again.
Every ingredient for this moist, tender, sponge-style cake is shelf-stable, so it’s also perfect for dessert emergencies (we all have those, right?). Sifting the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, cane sugar, and salt ensures the dry ingredients are well-aerated and evenly mixed before you add the vanilla extract, canola oil, white vinegar, and water. Once you’ve whisked the batter together—entirely by hand!—you just bake it in buttered and floured cake pans for about half an hour (closer to 25 minutes if you opt to make cupcakes). Then assemble it with the frosting of your choice. To keep things dairy-free, consider pairing it with our vegan fluffy buttercream frosting, our vegan cream cheese frosting, vegan coconut frosting, a fudgy dark chocolate ganache frosting recipe, vegan peanut butter frosting, or whatever store-bought vegan frosting you already know and love.
This recipe was excerpted from ‘Organic and Chic’ by Sarah Magid. Buy the full book on Amazon.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes one 8-or 9-inch layer cake or 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans, or place liners in 2 muffin pans for 24 cupcakes. Set aside.
Step 2
In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside.
Step 3
In a medium bowl, mix the vanilla extract, oil, vinegar, and cold water.
Step 4
Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix. The mixture will be quite wet, but this is okay.
Step 5
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. For cupcakes, the baking time is 24 to 26 minutes.
Step 6
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool.
Editor’s note: Cake is pictured with Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting. This recipe first appeared on Epicurious in June 2009. The intro has been updated. Head this way for more of our best vegan desserts →
Recipe notes
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