Ann Reardon

Best Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

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I tried many times to make a truly delicious vegan cake but every recipe seemed to promise much and deliver little. So a few months ago, I put on my food scientist hat and got to work developing my own recipe. Well, after LOTS of experimentation and a few flops along the way, here it is finally … a beautiful vegan chocolate cake that will really wow your friends and family. The main hurdle in a vegan cake is the lack of eggs. Eggs give structure to a cake, so without them it is hard to get the same texture but the two recipes below are really good. The first recipe is for the fudgey cake in the video and the second is for a cake that is more airy.

 
 

RECIPE 1. A fudgey vegan cake recipe

(as shown in the video, quite a dense but yummy cake)
Makes 2 round 8in (20.32 centimetres)ch (20.32 centimetres) cakes

3 cups or 648g (22.86 ounces) sugar
2 1/4 cups or 400g (14.11 ounces) flour
3/4 cup or 90g (3.17 ounces) cocoa powder
3 tsp baking powder
6 tablespoons flaxseed meal
3 tsp vanilla
300millilitres (10.14 fluid ounces) or 1 1/4 cups minus 1 Tbsp canola oil
600millilitres (20.29 fluid ounces) or 2 1/3 cups plus 1 Tbsp water

Pre-heat the oven to 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit).

Place the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and flaxseed meal into a bowl and whisk together to get rid of any lumps and aerate the mixture. Make a well in the centre and add the oil, water and vanilla. Mix together with electric mixers until just combined.

Pour into two lined and greased baking 8in (20.32 centimetres) round baking tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The cake is done when a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

ann's vegan chocolate cake recipe
 
 

RECIPE 2. A more airy textured vegan cake recipe

(lighter and but not as chocolatey flavoured)
275g (9.7 ounces) or 1 3/4 cups plain or all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
175g (6.17 ounces) or 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp cocoa powder
300millilitres (10.14 fluid ounces) or 1¼ cup minus 1 Tbsp almond milk
150millilitres (5.07 fluid ounces) or 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp or 57g (2.01 ounces) golden syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit)
Grease and line two 8in (20.32 centimetres) round baking tins.
Sift together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre. Add the wet ingredients and then mix with electric beater until just smooth.

Bake for 25-30 minutes
 
 

Vegan frosting recipe

Vegan Ganache
70millilitres (2.37 fluid ounces) almond milk (or you could use soy milk / rice milk)
204g (7.2 ounces) vegan chocolate
Combine the almond milk and chocolate and heat in the microwave for 30 second increments, stirring each time. Once smooth leave to chill.

Vegan buttercream

630g (22.22 ounces) or 5 cups icing sugar
240g (8.47 ounces) or 1 cup plus 2 tbsp vegan margarine
Beat together the icing sugar and margarine until smooth.

Add the ganache to the butter cream and beat together well for a rich vegan chocolate frosting.

Decoration

how to make a chocolate bow ann reardon
Tempered Chocolate (how to temper) for the bow and lid.
50g (1.76 ounces) or 1/2 cup almonds for the lid
350g (12.35 ounces) or 2 cups of assorted fresh fruit, washed and dried.
See the video for how to create the bow and the lid
Copyright 2016How To Cook That

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

107 Comments View Comments

  1. Looks great and appetising for a vegan cake ☺

    For your giant chocolate bars, I think you should make a GIANT FLAKE BAR ☺!!!!

  2. Hey Anne! I have been waiting for this recipe for a long time, thankyou so much!! Quick question though, do you think I would be able to use this as a cupcake batter?
    thankyou 🙂

    • Hi Ashley, Yes you could use it for cupcakes though Ann recommends using the ‘airy’ mix rather than the fudgy one.

  3. I just got home to this freshly baked cake that my 9yr old daughter made for her sister’s birthday. I just took one bite and I had to write and let you know this is the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. I love it, and I’m not even a cake person. Amazing taste and texture! And my 9yr old said it was very easy to make.

    • Hi Kerienatillery, thanks for the amazing feedback. It made Ann’s day!

  4. Beautiful cake thank you for the video

  5. Dear Ann,
    I’m back again so sorry. Can you just use eggs instead of flaxseed? My mom is Gluten and dairy free so eggs are fine.

    • Hi Maya, This recipe is not a gluten free recipe, however you could use Ann’s best chocolate cake recipe and use a gluten free flour instead of the standard.

      • UUUUUUU. I mean can I substitute the flour for almond meal?

        • Hi, you wouldn’t be able to directly substitute the flour with almond meal in these recipes.

  6. Hi, Ann!
    I am so happy to see this recipe, but I just wanted to ask whether you could use self-raising flour instead of plain (on the airy cake)? And you have to add any baking powder or soda on top of that?
    Also, could you substitute in milk instead of almond milk? For that does it matter whether it is full fat or semi skimmed?
    Thanks so much again!

    • Hi Prarthana, You could use full fat milk though it wouldn’t be a vegan cake. Using plain flour with the baking powder works better, though you could use self-raising if you prefer.

  7. Does the Fudgey Cake Recipe use baking soda or baking powder? In the video, you mention baking powder but the recipe has baking soda. Thank you.

    • Hi Marie, thanks for picking this up. Baking powder is required.

  8. This looks yummy
    Is it possible to use normal fresh milk in place of the almond milk? Will the texture change?

    • Hi Bee it will work but it won’t be a vegan cake.

  9. Hi Ann,
    I am interested in making the second cake that you mention is more airy textured.

    But since I have friends who are vegetarians and not vegans, can I substitute the almond milk with normal skim milk?

    • Hi Ketan, You could use full cream milk instead of almond milk.

  10. Hi ann!
    What is flaxseed meal and where can i buy it from?

    • Hi Atiya asif, it is ground flaxseed and can be purchase here in a good supermarket or from a health food store.

  11. I’m making this cake right now. Substituted the flax with some ground chia seeds instead…
    The cakes have been in for 25 minutes and counting but are still at least another 10 minutes off….
    Since chia is a better binding agent than flax I don’t know why they aren’t cooked yet but I’m sure they will be awesome when they are done! They smell great.
    Thank you for making a vegan recipe 🙂

    • Sounds great how did it turn out with the chai?

    • thanks!

  12. Wow beautiful thanks for sharing……!!!!!!!

  13. Love this cake!! Where did you get vegan chocolate and what brand? Also flaxseed meal, is that the kind at woolworths for 5.69? thanks 🙂

    • Hi Kate, Ann got both the chocolate and the flaxseed meal from woolworths supermarket.

  14. Hi Ann I a a very big fan of your channel I live in Australia to I live in Canberra I love cooking your cakes and desserts are awesome

    • That’s great to hear Gabrielle. All the best with your baking!

  15. Another fabulous cake , I love watching your instructions you make it look so easy….. I will try this

  16. Hey Ann, thankyou for your video. I have one question though, what is canola oil?
    Thankyou

    • Hi Therence, Canola oil is a mild tasting vegetable oil. You could replace with vegetable or sunflower oil.

  17. The cake looks beautiful, Ann! I will have to try out your recipe!
    My sister and I are both allergic to all types of animal protein, so when my sister married, I made a fully vegan wedding cake for her. Everybody was delighted, and no one guessed that it was vegan. Someone even asked me, how I made the cake like a “soft cloud”. I was so happy 🙂

    • That sounds lovely Theresa.

  18. Wow beautiful thanks for sharing

  19. Dear Ann, I was thrilled to receive my first email from you. You Vegan cake was just what I was looking for, I’m not vegan, but being Greek Orthodox we fast for 40 days for lent and that chocolate cake is just what the doctor ordered. I thank you, you make things look so simple and easy and encourage one to have a go. Once again thank you. Betty. (I forgot to mention our Easter is end of April)

    • That’s great to hear Betty, thanks for subscribing and happy baking.

  20. Hey Ann, huge fan of your work and thank you soo much for the vegan recipe.. Finally!!!!!!!! I was just curious about what can we use as a substitute for the flax seed meal?

    • Hi Pallabi, some people use apple sauce and some almond meal – I found both of these did not give a good cake texture but you are welcome to experiment yourself. 😀

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