Rich Vegan Chocolate Cake
This is hands down the best vegan chocolate cake I have ever tasted. Rich, moist and truly decadent, you'd never realise this is purely plant-based. This recipe will make three 8" rounds for a triple layer cake
Equipment
- Hand mixer or standing mixer for buttercream Optional
Ingredients
- 450 ml Dairy-free milk I prefer almond milk but any will do
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 225 g Non-dairy margarine Stork blocks (not tubs) are vegan. Flora unsalted plant butter or Vitalite also good
- 415 g Self-raising flour
- 265 g Caster sugar
- 6 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 4.5 tbsp Golden syrup You can use agave or maple if you prefer
- 0.5 tbsp Coffee granules
- 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
Vegan buttercream
- 325 g Dairy-free butter Use Flora unsalted butter for a firmer buttercream
- 600 g Icing sugar
- 150 g Cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp Dairy-free milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla essence
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c (160c for fan-assisted ovens). Grease and line with baking parchment three 8" round cake tins.
- Add the lemon juice to the diary-free milk and set aside.
- Melt the margarine, syrup and coffee together, either in the microwave on short blasts or in a saucepan over medium heat. Set to one side to cool for ten minutes.
- Meanwhile, sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and sugar together.
- Add the milk to the dry mixture and mix well. Finally add the margarine mixture to the main mixture and mix until well-combined.
- Divide equally into three tins and cook in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or until well-risen and a knife inserted comes out clean.
Buttercream
- In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream together the margarine with the cocoa powder and icing sugar on a slow speed until combined. This is important if you don't want icing to fly everywhere! Once combined, then you can whack up the speed.
- Add in a little of the dairy-free milk to loosen if it seems too stiff.
- Beat on high speed using a hand mixer or standing mixer until airy and fluffy.
- Once the cake is cool you might need to trim the tops flat using a serrated knife.
- Spread a layer generously with buttercream on the first layer,then gently press the second layer on top. Repeat with the final layer, inverting it so the bottom is on the top to give it a nice sharp edge.
- Decorate the sides and top of the cake if you wish.