The BEST chocolate cake ever...that happens to be VEGAN. I kid you not!

First off, I will admit, I have never been a cake person. For the first 20 years of my life (I'm 26 now), I rarely touched my birthday cake. I'm not sure if my palate didn't like boxed/store-bought cakes or what, but only when I started baking them myself did I begin to take a liking to the moist airy treat. Also, I am an omnivore, with a lot of vegetarian and vegan friends, so imagine my excitement when I perfected the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted, AND made it vegan in the process. Don't believe me? Bake it! You can thank me later. :)

Step 1 Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract

Note: if you don't care to make it vegan, or don't have soy milk or margarine, you can use butter in place of the margarine, and whatever milk you prefer in place of the soy.

Comments

[bethferrell]

OMG. So good. Best part is I can lick the bowl and not worry about getting sick. =)

[Melm]

I made this for my bf's birthday, and weeks later he is still telling me that he craves it time and time again (: ty for the delicious recipe

[jhoover6]

DELICIOUS CAKE!! notes: used apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar; wasn't wild about chocolate glaze so I used another chocolate frosting recipe, http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/sweetsaucesfrostings/r/chocfrost.htm

[donniebean]

I made this last night as cupcakes.
And although it was good, I had a few issues.
My cupcakes sank in the middle, not sure what causes that?
And I found my batter REALLY thick, and the edges of the cupcakes were a little hard after baking. - It really tasted like a brownie. Nothing wrong with that, but make I over baked them?

- The glaze was good, but did not thicken for me. So I poured it on running, and it did seem to thicken a bit as it cooled.

[NM11111]

You have lots of comments on this cake, but I'm going to add one more. This cake is very similar to one my mom made to feed afternoon "lunch" to hay crews. She always called it "Chocolate Vinegar Cake." She said the recipe was commonly used during the war when there was rationing for things like eggs and butter. Commercial cake mixes didn't come into use until after the war, so this recipe was also popular because cooks usually had these basic ingredients in their cupboards.
I made your recipe and it tasted just like the cake from my childhood. Mom never put frosting on hers, but I added your glaze and my husband loved it!
Thanks for reminding me about this wonderful cake!

[aliciak]

Ahhh thanks for the comment! I didn't know about the war rationing bit, but that does make sense!

[donniebean]

I am looking to make a cake for my little nephew, who is allergic to dairy, and eggs! - I have never come across these allergies before, so is the soy milk, and margarine in the glaze fine for him to eat?

Thanks!

[aliciak]

Soy milk is non-dairy. Make sure the margarine says "non-dairy" or just buy the Earth Balance brand (at Whole Foods). But just read the packages of everything to be sure!

[VeganLove]

I just made this scrumptious cake for my mom's birthday, needless to say she absolutely loved it and so did I! I followed the recipe to a t and the result was a dark, chocolatey, perfectly moist and enormously tall birthday cake! I wanted an easy recipe I could make quickly since I was trying to surprise her; this recipe was so easy and fast, I was done so quickly she had no idea a delicious cake was growing in the oven. Since I doubled the recipe there was quite a bit left over so I left a generous piece for each of my neighbors and until today I keep hearing about how delicious it was. This recipe is going into my special recipe book! :)
By the way, of all the people who tried it, I am the only vegan and no one even asked/questioned/imagined it was vegan, once again proving vegan food is just as delicious if not more!!
You can't go wrong with this recipe, make it you won't regret it!
Happy New Year to everyone and Thank you Alicia!!
PS Alicia, your recipe is so popular you'll be proud to know I actually found this recipe on a brazilian website, I was so curious I had to follow the link and voila! It brought me here!

[TheAbsurdBaker]

This recipe is so awesome that I wrote a whole review about it yesterday. Thank you so much for your generosity of sharing this - it's the yummiest cake ever and even my non-vegan friends gave it a 5 stars. I used the best cocoa powder ever, which probably just added to this moist and wonderful cake. My kids love it so much that it became their birthday cupcakes this year. Hope you have a sweet new year, as light and delicious as this cake!

[szgrzemski]

Hi. GREAT recipe! I love the consistency so much I want to make it into a vanilla version...have you ever made this as a white or yellow cake? If I omit the cocoa should I add equal parts flour??? Any suggestions.recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[aliciak]

Hmm I haven't tried that no! I would look around at other vegan cake recipe to see what the proportions are of wet to dry. But yeah I'd try just adding 1/3 cup flour in place of the cocoa, and maybe up the vanilla a little?

[mentalmystics]

my cake "batter" is very watery, is it supposed to be like that? it literally looks just like water with some cocoa in it.

[aliciak]

Yep, it's pretty watery...

[mentalmystics]

it doesn't turn out right :(
it's crumby and falls apart.

[aliciak]

Did you follow the recipe to the letter, measuring everything out? I've made this cake many times...and the 200+ commenters here can attest to its perfection!

[mentalmystics]

yeah, i did everything, and i tried a similar recipe that had the measurements just a little different but that didn't work either, maybe it's my ingredients or oven. i'm using organic sugar that's a bit coarser and doesn't really dissolve well and a brown rice flower but the other recipe says i can use that kind of flower.

[lwong5]

Mine was too and the only thing I can think of was that I think I accidentally used apple cider vinegar that was not distilled which sucks because it literally came out like water and I still put it into the pan and now it just looks like a flat crispy chocolate... something! =( I didn't realize the distilled part would make such a difference!

[pear jam]

The vinegar really does not make a difference. Acidity level of most apple cider vinegar and most distilled vinegar are close enough that the extent of the reaction with the baking soda will be similar enough to use either in this recipe. I used red wine vinegar and the cake came out great. If your cake came out flat then some possibilities are that the batter was over mixed or left out too long before baking, or a mis-measurement of the baking soda. Or as your comment indicates, the batter, for whatever reason, was just too watery. Except for the vinegar substitution and reduction of the sugar by 1/2, I followed the recipe as written and my batter was more like a thin cake batter, but no where near watery.

[mbelan]

I wonder also if it might be old baking powder. Often we buy baking powder but it sits around a long time and becomes ineffective.

To test baking powder's effectiveness: mix 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder with 1/2 cup (120 ml) hot water and the mixture should bubble immediately. Store in a cool dry place and it should be replaced every 6-12 months.

To test baking soda's effectiveness: mix 1/4 teaspoon baking soda with 2 teaspoons of vinegar and the mixture should bubble immediately.

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/bakingsoda.html#ixzz1fTvPxLM7

[kstaten1]

Add some Xanthan gum? That is what I use in my gluten free recipes as a binder. Are you gluten free?

[Stacey G]

If you use xanthan gum, it won't be vegan... I think rice flour is gluten free, so probably you would have to choose in this casem either gluten-free or vegan.

[kstaten1]

Most xanthan gum actually is vegan. You just have to get it from the right place, and be sure they cultured it on corn sugar and not lactose.

[hdefiglio]

Rice flour will not work. Without any eggs, the gluten that develops from mixing the flour with wet ingredients is the only binder that will hold this cake together. Rice flour has no gluten, thus the cake has nothing to hold it together and it falls apart as you note. If you use a good all purpose flour, the recipe should work.

[triplets frrom maine]

I signed up to a new account just so I could comment on this recipe, I made this last night for my daughter, who is a vegan. However in the future I will make this cake for many other celebrations. This Cake was DELICIOUS. I did cut back on the sugar (-1/4 cup) and I doubled the recipe to make 2 9"layer pans. I also used an instant choc. turtle caramel pudding (made w/soy milk) for the filling. this recipe is a keeper, not just for vegans.

[aliciak]

Yay!!!! Good to hear! Yes, it really is the best chocolate cake recipe for vegans AND non-vegans. Mmm turtle caramel pudding filling sounds delicious! You can also turn it into cupcakes too...just cut down on the baking time!

[tharrison4]

This was my first attempt at vegan baking also, and I am so impressed! I have a friend coming for thanksgiving who is vegan and wanted a dessert offering for her, and this turned out awesome! Thank you so much! Hope she likes it as much as I do :o)

[aliciak]

Yay I'm so glad!!!! If you ever need a really tasty vegan gingerbread cookie: http://www.aliciakachmar.com/blog/craft/how-do-you-make-an-edible-vegan-pig/

[rose t]

Has anyone make cupcakes with this recipe?

[rose t]

OppsI Just saw your post on cupcakes! THANK YOU!

[anicolaisen]

My first attempt at vegan baking and I cannot tell you how many compliments and requests fr the recipe I received, good work! I used Justins Chocolate Almond Butter as the frosting and it was a perfect match.

[wevans1]

Can you make and frost this cake in advance, and then freeze it? I am hoping to bake it tonight and serve it over the weekend.

[aliciak]

Hmm I've never done that before! Maybe google "freezing a cake"?

[lexiepurple]

Hi. Can I make this recipe into cupcakes?? I'm not a vegan but have to make something for a vegan baby shower tomorrow and I also have no cake pan! I only have cupcake/muffin tins. Do you think it would be alright and if so, any suggestions on changing the timing?
Thanks in advance!
PS-My husband, child and I have recently relocated from NYC to Copenhagen, hence the lack of many simple kitchen tools;)

[aliciak]

Yes, I've made this recipe into cupcakes! I think timing-wise, about 15-20 minutes is about right. I filled the muffin tins about 3/4 full (grease if you don't have papers!), and when the cake part has risen above the rim of the pan and looks all puffed out, they're probably done. Stick a knife in one to see if it comes out clean! And they don't have to cool quite as long as the cake would...glaze instructions are pretty much the same!

[lexiepurple]

Thanks so much!!!!

[jevans27]

I made this cake and it is AMAZING. I have never made a cake his good. Kudos.

[jevans27]

I was wondering if I should let the cake cool for two hours before making the icing. I know I need to immediately put the icing on when it's thickened up a bit, and let that cool on the cake for an hour, but should I let the cake cool for 2 hours after, or before I apply said frosting?

[aliciak]

Let cool first for 2 hours and then only start on the icing, though I will admit I have cheated here and it turned out just fine. It's a super moist cake so if it's really hot/moist out of the oven, the glaze may seep into the cake...which again isn't the worst thing ever!

[mb2011]

hi,
may i know what changes to make if i use dutch process cocoa powder? thanks!