The Perfect Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

This vegan chocolate cake took countless trials to perfect, but it’s finally here: light, moist and indistinguishable from a classic chocolate sponge. That’s not just been verified by my friends and family, who’ve been lucky, and unlucky alike, to trial all my triumphs and failures along my vegan baking journey, but now also by the legions of fans of my Vegan Hero Sponge Recipe.

I’m really chuffed to have received such warm feedback from our customers and followers about our vegan cake recipes but equally baffled by a few cutting comments I’ve heard and seen. Vegan baking isn’t just for vegans. It’s for anyone who loves a delicious cake. And this recipe proves you don’t need eggs or dairy for a perfect chocolate sponge.

Great cake is for everyone, vegans and non-vegans alike. And if sharing my recipe helps someone make a cracking cake, I’m all for it.

And as for sharing recipes and “trade secrets”, this blog of mine gets a ton of visitors for my recipes and I love seeing them be used and the sense of community it creates. Ultimately spreading the caking love will pick me up a whole lot more than a few cutting comments would bring me down so with that said, here’s my not-so-secret and totally incredible vegan chocolate cake recipe. 

Vegan Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe

For a 3-layer 6” cake or 2-layer 8” cake

Ingredients

350g plain flour

375g caster sugar

10g baking soda

40g cocoa powder

5g salt

145ml oil (vegetable/sunflower)

10ml vanilla extract (good quality)

445ml dairy-free almond milk

10ml white vinegar

A knob of dairy-free margarine

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease three 6 inch cake tins (or two 8” cake tins) with dairy-free margarine.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. 

3. Mix the wet ingredients together briskly into a bowl: oil, vanilla, almond milk and vinegar.

4. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until it comes together as a batter and all ingredients are mixed in. Do not over-mix at this stage. If there are a few small lumps, that’s fine.

5. Divide the batter equally into the prepared cake tins and place in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cocktail stick or wooden skewer just comes out clean.

6. Once baked, remove from oven and leave the vegan sponges in their tins for 10 minutes before popping them out onto wire racks to cool completely. 

7. Decorate using vegan buttercream frosting. I’ve used fresh fruit here and a sprinkling of icing sugar.

Notes:

 1. Watch your measurements. Too little baking soda? Flat cake. Too much? Metallic disaster. Stick to the measurements.

2. Be wary of over-mixing. Really. I mean it. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a balloon whisk just until they have all come together in an almost-smooth batter. You may be left with a few small lumps in your batter and that is okay. Whisk any more and you will have sponges as dense as grandma’s mattress.

3. Dairy-free milk alternatives: I’ve chosen almond milk but you can also choose coconut milk, oat milk or any other of your choice.

4. To preserve baked vegan sponge freshness, wrap cling film around the sponges and pop into the fridge for up to 5 days or freezer for up to a month. Defrost thoroughly and bring to room temperature before serving.

5. Want it gluten-free? Swap the plain flour for a 1:1 gluten-free blend, making sure it contains xanthan gum for structure.

Troubleshooting

• Cake too dense? You overmixed. Stop when just combined.
  
• Sponge sinking? Baking soda wasn’t measured right, or the oven temperature was off.
• Dry cake? Either over-baked or you left it uncovered. Wrap in cling film to keep it moist.

This recipe is super easy and a proper crowd pleaser. If you'd like to download the full extensive Vegan Hero Sponge recipe with flavour variations, you can do that here.

Tried this recipe? Show me! Tag @angesdesucre. I need to see if you nailed it or if we need a vegan cake helpline.

Reshmi xoxo