Whether you’re following a vegan diet or have simply run out of eggs, you’ll fall head over heels for this luscious Vegan Chocolate Cake. Two layers of egg-free chocolate cake with a creamy vegan frosting.
Meet my new favourite cake 🙌🏻
A gorgeous Vegan Chocolate Cake featuring two layers of soft chocolate cake, all covered in a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate frosting.
You won’t believe this cake has NO butter, NO eggs and NO milk and yet tastes AMAZING! 💙
Just over a year ago, I posted a recipe for an Eggless Chocolate Cake. It’s now become a reader favourite and it’s not hard to see why.
It produces a really tender cake without the traditional chocolate cake ingredients. In fact, it uses regular pantry items – most of which you probably have sitting in your cupboard right now. #justsayin
So I wanted to take that cake and make it into a beautiful two layer Vegan Chocolate Cake that could be made for special occasions, birthdays and the like!
Not only is it vegan, but it’s great if you just happen to run out of eggs or butter and need a chocolate cake stat.
And don’t even get me started on that frosting. Made using vegan butter, it comes together in minutes but pairs perfectly with the cocoa-laden cake.
How to make Vegan Chocolate Cake
- This Vegan Chocolate Cake is so easy to make. You don’t even need an electric mixer for the cake itself – just a bowl and spoon.
- Start by measuring out your plain flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, brown sugar and caster sugar.
- If you don’t have caster sugar, you can use granulated sugar instead. Read more about caster sugar here.
- Next, measure out your wet ingredients – just water, vegetable oil and vanilla.
- Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together until a chocolate cake batter forms.
- Divide the cake batter into two 8-inch cake tins and then bake for around 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.
- Leave cakes to cool completely before frosting.
How to make Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- I’ve paired this cake with an easy vegan chocolate buttercream. I used a store bought vegan butter (Naturli Organic Vegan Butter) when testing this recipe.
- Note that vegan butters can vary greatly across the world so you might just have to find which vegan butter works best for you.
- Once you have mixed the butter with an electric beater so it’s smooth and creamy, you can add the sugar, cocoa and a little bit of almond milk.
- You can use any milk substitute here, like soy or oat milk as well.
- Frosting should be thick and creamy! Frost the middle, top and sides of your cake and serve.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Vegan Chocolate Cake
A delicious Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake made without eggs, butter or milk.
Ingredients
Vegan chocolate cake
- 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 60 grams (3/4 cup) cocoa powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 300 ml (1 and 1/2 cups) water
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Vegan chocolate frosting
- 230 grams (1 cup or 2 sticks) vegan butter*, room temperature
- 315 grams (2 and 1/2 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 40 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
- 2–3 tablespoons almond milk*
Instructions
- Chocolate cake
Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans with oil spray and line with baking or parchment paper. - In a large mixing bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and sugars and stir briefly.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add water, oil and vanilla. Add water mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into prepared cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave cakes to cool in cake tin before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Chocolate frosting
Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. - Add sugar, cocoa and 2 tablespoons of milk and then beat on medium speed again for a further minute or two until frosting is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- If the frosting is too thick, add an extra tablespoon of milk. Use a small spatula to frost sides, middle and top of cakes.
Notes
*Vegan butter: I used Naturli Organic Vegan Butter when testing this frosting recipe.
*Almond milk: You can use any milk substitute here.
Amie says
This is the best vegan chocolate cake recipe I’ve ever tried and I’ve tried a lot of them!
I’ve even used it to make vegan chocolate cupcake cakes and they turned out brilliantly.
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! Love hearing that Amie. And glad to hear the cupcakes worked well too!
Emma says
Incredible cake!!! I made it for a childrens birthday cake with a few allergy lists and this was an absolute HIT.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love that Emma!
H says
A bit crumbly, and the frosting is enough for like two cakes. Very sweet but should be good in small doses.
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for your feedback.
Nikki says
This is the BEST vegan chocolate cake I’ve tried. Such a great flavour. I swapped the water for oat milk and it turned out nice and creamy. Thank you for always having delicious, easy and reliable recipes!
Jessica Holmes says
Yaaay! So happy to hear that Nikki!
Fran says
I’ve made this as a cake an absolutely loved it! I was wondering if it was possible to make cupcakes out of this recipe. How long and at what temperature do you recommend baking this recipe as cupcakes. Thank you!!
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Fran! Yes, you can use this recipe to make cupcakes. I’d bake them at the same temperature and check them around the 18 minute mark. You’ll know they’re ready when they spring back lightly to the touch.
Pallavi Guptaa says
Hi I used the sponge recipe to bake a birthday cake for my friend.
I made 3/4th of the recipe and divided it into three 6inch cake tins. Then I layered the sponges with a vegan dark chocolate mousse frosting. My friend loved it. Even non vegans were going crazy over the richness and moistness of the sponges. Thank you for this super simple yet delicious recipe:)
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that!
Karishma says
There’s no butter or oil
Jessica Holmes says
There is vegetable oil in the recipe.
Rachel says
Easy to make, even easier to eat.
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!
Pallavi Guptaa says
Hi how can I use coffee in this recipe ?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, I haven’t tested it myself but you could try substituting the water for coffee.
Pallavi says
If I want to add frozen raspberries in the batter, should I thaw them first or add directly from the freezer ?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, don’t thaw them, just stir them through frozen.
Pallavi Guptaa says
If I want to add salt, how much should I add?
Jessica Holmes says
1/2 teaspoon should be fine!
Pallavi says
Hi I tried 1/4th of this recipe and OMG, it’s so moist, fluffy and has a deep chocolaty flavour. Love it 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So happy to hear that!
Isobel says
This was amazing! I love this cake! It’s so light and chocolatey and yum! (I swapped the 180ml of oil for 225g of vegan butter, which also worked.) Would definitely recommend.
Jessica Holmes says
Fabulous! Thanks for the lovely feedback!
Arandeep Kaur says
Hi.
Is the recipe for only one layer of the cake or is it for both layers of the cake?
Thanks x
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, this recipe will make two 8-inch cakes.
Jane C says
I made this vegan chocolate cake for my own birthday party! It has a very fudgy/ deep chocolate flavor, but what I loved the most was the texture! It was fluffy and not dense at all. I was careful not to over mix or over bake and it was delicious! Thank you for yet another great recipe!!!!!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that Jane. Happy Birthday!
Mychaela says
How can I half this recipe?
I only want to make enough to fill one 9inch pan
Jessica Holmes says
Hey Mychaela, try this recipe instead.
Tjhiu says
Hi, for water is hot, cold or warm?or room temperature? Thank u..i will try soon..pls be safe..
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, just room temperature for this one.
Kristine says
This cake is chocolatey delicious and moist (though a bit dense)! I only put a cup of brown sugar because 1 1/2 is too much for me as I normally just put 1/2 cup sugar for my cakes. I also use 1 8-inch cake pan and baked for 35 mins. I used non-vegan whipping cream to top and cover my cake and my family loved it! Thank you for sharing this recipe. This would be my go-to recipe for chocolate cakes. One question though, how can I make the cake less dense so it’ll be a perfect pair for whipping cream which is light and airy? TY
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kristine, so glad you enjoyed it. The cake really shouldn’t be dense, but rather quite light and soft. Did you change any ingredients? Otherwise, it may have just been the quantity of batter since you used one cake pan. Try doing it in two so it doesn’t overcook.