Moist chocolate sponge smothered with smooth, rich chocolate buttercream. Made using only natural ingredients, this healthier vegan chocolate cake is refined sugar free and has no butter and no margarine.
The ingredients
Both the sponge and buttercream are made with maple syrup making this cake refined sugar free and yet still perfectly decadent. The sponge is effortlessly whipped up in minutes with antioxidant rich cacoa powder (I used creative nature’s), coconut sugar, flour and oat milk.
The buttercream is made with thick coconut cream, maple syrup and yet more cacoa for a silky, indulgent frosting.
Make your own buttermilk by adding the lemon juice to the milk and set aside for a couple of minutes to activate.
The method
Baking is a science as we all know. This vegan chocolate cake has a perfect moist crumb thanks to the right ratio of ingredients but also the correct technique in mixing those ingredients.
To achieve a moist, tender cake ensure you sieve the flour to incorporate more air into the cake. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, again this helps create a lighter sponge.
Bake for 25 minutes until well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes away clean. The cake is ready when the sponge is slightly pulling away from the side of the cake tin.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes then turn onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before icing.
Use AVEGGIEFEAST for 10% off cacoa and magibles (aka the best vegan maltesars) at creative nature.
Leave a comment and let me know how you get on making this vegan chocolate cake. I would love to see your creations over on instagram!
more sweet treats to try
Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 300 ml oat milk unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 70 mls rapeseed oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 350 g plain flour
- 175 g coconut sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or cacoa powder
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
For the buttercream
- 2 x 400ml tins full fat coconut milk
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp cocoa or cacoa powder
- 10 g grated dark chocolate to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan. Grease and line 2 x 20cm baking tins.
- Make the buttermilk by whisking the vinegar into the oat milk. Set aside.
- Sieve the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a large bow. Mix well.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, oil, maple syrup and vanilla
- Fold gently until the mixture is just combined.
- Divide the batter between both tins. Smooth over with to ensure the mixture is level in both tins.
- Bake for 25 minutes until well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes away clean.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes then turn onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before icing.
- To make the buttercream, remove the thick coconut cream (top part) from the coconut milk and place into a large bowl. Discard the coconut water.
- To the coconut cream, add the maple syrup, vanilla and cocoa powder. Whisk until well combined and smooth. Sandwich the cake slices with half the buttercream. Spread over the remaining buttercream on top. Sprinkle over the grated chocolate.
- Keep in a cake tin and consume within a day, or store in the fridge and eat within 3 days.
