Vegan vanilla cake with rich chocolate frosting is a great cake for a birthday celebration! This is delicious and so decadent!
We celebrated my mom’s birthday recently, and I made this cake for the little family party we had here. My son requested “vanilla cake with chocolate frosting,” so that’s what we had. I’d made this recipe before in cupcake form, and I made a couple more changes this time, and added more chocolate to the frosting to make it even richer. It was a hit! Especially with my son, who would probable prefer that I serve him a bowl of frosting with some cake crumbs on top. :)
This vegan vanilla cake is perfect with chocolate frosting, but would also be delicious with vanilla frosting!
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Vegan Vanilla Cake with Rich Chocolate Frosting.
Classic vegan vanilla cake with a rich chocolate frosting - what could be better?
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups white spelt flour sifted
- 1 cup granulated sugar I used white sugar, you could try turbinado, but the color of the cake may change
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold water
- ½ cup organic canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch turmeric optional, for color
For the frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar we use corn free from Trader Joes
- ¼ cup vegan buttery spread softened
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ dairy free chocolate chips melted
Instructions
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To make the cake:
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 inch cake pan. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.
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Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix. DO NOT overmix…when using spelt flour, which is lower in gluten, it is easy to overmix and then the cake will be tough. Pour into the cake pan.
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Bake for about 28-31 minutes, until the top is golden.
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Let the cake cool in the pan for about an hour, then loosen the edges with a knife and flip the pan over onto a tray or cake plate. Let it cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting:
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In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream the buttery spread with the powdered sugar until thick and creamy. Add the non-dairy milk and cocoa powder, and mix until smooth.
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Add the melted chocolate chips, and mix again.
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Once the cake cools, remove from the pan and frost the top and sides. I heated up some frosting in the microwave and drizzled it over each piece to fancy it up a bit.
Cake recipe adapted from VegWeb.
This vegan vanilla cake is:
- a rich and decadent dessert
- sure to be a crowd pleaser
- dairy free, egg free, and nut free
This vegan vanilla cake was really good, and I love that the frosting is so easy to put together, and tastes so rich and delicious. It really is the best chocolate frosting I’ve ever had…I used to love canned frosting (yuck!), and then I had a dairy recipe that I really liked, but this one tops them all.
I’m happy I have this cake recipe to turn to for special occasions now. We always had cakes with chocolate frosting for birthdays when I was growing up, so it’s nice to continue the tradition, even with our food intolerances in my little family.
Brooklyn
Hello, do you think I could use cake flour in this recipe? ^-^
Kelly Roenicke
I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work.
annupamaa k
Can we use coconut cream. To maje frisyingvas we do t get vegan butter where I. Live?
Kelly Roenicke
I haven’t tried coconut cream in frosting, but if you normally use that and it works, that would be fine!
Katie
Delicious recipe!
Chasity
Is there a specific allergy friends cocoa powder that you use?
Kelly
I use Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. But you should always call the company if you have any specific questions about your allergy needs.
marg
yes always call the company, as there may be cross-contamination on the line, were they mill the product. just because it is not noted on the lable doesnt always meen it (the allergn is not present.
great receipe. thanks .
Jessica Levinson (@jlevinsonrd)
just made this for my father in law’s birthday last night. i used a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flour b/c i couldn’t find the spelt flour. came out so good – i was really proud of myself since i rarely (basically never) bake! Great recipe I will make again!
Kelly
Yay! I’m so glad that it turned out well! Thanks for letting me know, Jessica!
Ellynne
I notice you use almond milk in most of your recipes. Do you know how the recipes would come out if we subbed rice milk or coconut milk?
Kelly
Any non dairy milk should work pretty well. I don’t use almond milk any more actually, because my son now has a nut allergy. I like to use the SO Delicious unsweetened coconut milk found in the refrigerator case.
Ellynne
Thanks for your reply Kelly!