The BEST vegan chocolate cake recipe! Easy to make in one bowl, it's super moist, rich, and topped with a decadent vegan chocolate frosting.
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This vegan chocolate cake recipe is moist, tender, and packed with rich chocolate flavor. It’s easy to make in one bowl with simple ingredients, and a decadent vegan chocolate frosting takes it over the top. Good luck saying no to a second slice. 🙂
I originally developed this vegan chocolate cake recipe for my second cookbook, Love & Lemons Every Day. It’s been my go-to chocolate cake ever since. If you ask me, it rivals any made with dairy or eggs. The cake itself is soft, fluffy, and flavorful, and the frosting (which is made with a secret healthy ingredient!) is practically fudge. Whether you’re baking for a celebration or just craving a sweet treat, I hope you love this vegan chocolate cake as much as I do!
Vegan Chocolate Cake Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this vegan chocolate cake recipe:
- All-purpose flour and whole wheat flour – They make the cake wholesome, but still moist and tender. Feel free to use 100% all-purpose flour if you prefer.
- Cocoa powder – It adds rich chocolate flavor.
- Baking soda and apple cider vinegar – The vinegar’s acidity activates the baking soda, making the cake tender and fluffy without eggs. If you don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand, regular white vinegar is a good substitute.
- Almond milk – Or any non-dairy milk you like. Soy milk or oat milk would also work.
- Maple syrup – Instead of using refined white sugar, I sweeten this vegan cake naturally with maple syrup.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – For moisture and richness. A neutral oil like vegetable oil works well too.
- Cinnamon and vanilla extract – They enhance the cake’s chocolate flavor.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Cake
I love how simple this vegan chocolate cake recipe is—the batter is easy to mix up in one bowl! No stand mixer required.
Just whisk together the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and mix until combined.
Spread the batter in a greased 8×8-inch pan and bake at 350°F until a toothpick comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Frosting Your Cake
My favorite part of this vegan chocolate cake recipe is the frosting. Despite its creamy texture and rich flavor, it’s not made with powdered sugar or vegan butter. Instead, I use baked sweet potato!
As you blend the frosting together, the heat of the sweet potato melts chocolate chips into a smooth puree that’s finished with coconut oil and cocoa powder. While it may feel decadent, this frosting actually gets its luscious texture from a vegetable!
Of course, if you prefer vanilla frosting on your cake, that’s fine too! This vegan frosting recipe would work perfectly.
Recipe Tips
- Spoon and level your flour. My #1 tip for avoiding a dry cake is spooning and leveling your flour. Here’s why: Flour can easily become compacted in a canister or bag. If you scoop it up directly with a measuring cup, it’s easy to accidentally use too much. For a more precise measurement, spoon it into your measuring cup, then gently level the top with a knife. Read more in this guide to how to measure flour!
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting it. If the cake is still warm, the frosting will melt!
Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe Variations
You can make this vegan chocolate cake recipe three ways:
- In an 8×8-inch square pan. Follow the recipe below to make this variation. It will yield a vegan chocolate cake like the one you see pictured here. I make this variation when I’m just baking for Jack and me.
- As a layer cake. In the book, I make this recipe as a layer cake. To make it, double the recipe below and bake the batter in two round 8- or 9-inch cake pans. I love making this variation for parties and gatherings!
- As a sheet cake. Don’t want to bother with layers? I get it! Double the recipe below, and bake it in a 9×13-inch pan.
All three versions are delicious!
How to Store Vegan Chocolate Cake
To store: Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To freeze: It also freezes well, even with the frosting. Wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Transfer to the fridge to thaw overnight before serving.
More Favorite Vegan Treats
If you love this recipe, try one of these vegan desserts next:
- Vegan Brownies
- Raspberry Vegan Cheesecake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Or any of these 27 Best Vegan Desserts!
Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- 1 large sweet potato, enough to yield ¾ cup mash
- 6 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- Pinch sea salt
Chocolate Cake
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Supernatural Starfetti sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Make the frosting: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Use a fork to poke a few holes into the sweet potato. Place on a baking sheet or on a piece of foil and roast until very tender, about 60 minutes. Let cool slightly, then measure ¾ cup of the soft flesh. In a food processor, puree the sweet potato, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, coconut oil, and salt. The heat of the sweet potato will melt the chocolate.
- Make the cake: Reduce the oven heat to 350°F and grease an 8x8 baking pan. Line the bottom and two sides with a sheet of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. To the same bowl, add the almond milk, maple syrup, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when pressed or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes.
- Gently loosen the sides of the cake with a knife. Remove the cake from the pan and place back on the rack to cool completely. Frost the cake and serve!
Hello hello
Adoring your pictures and recipes!
A question about the frosting ingredients: may I substitute sweet potato purée with pumpkin purée? The where I live, they are unavailable…
Thanks
Hi, pumpkin puree should work fine – if from a can, it might be slightly thinner but I think it would still work. The frosting might have a slight pumpkin taste, but I don’t think that would be a bad thing.
Thanx
Can I use spelt flour or oat flour instead of whole wheat and all-purpose flours?
Hi Kat, you can use spelt flour for sure. Oat flour probably won’t work without other adjustments. Hope that helps!
Vegan chocolate cake look vrey yummy. Your cooking is great. Thanks for sharing.
I must try Vegan Chocolate Cake at home.
This was terrific! Doable and delicious – my new chocolate cake go to. Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Fantastic chocolate cake recipe! All in one bowl and relatively healthy (for cake!) so I make it with my toddler all the time, it’s super easy!
We aren’t vegan and I’m scared to make a cake without eggs for fear of it being too heavy, so I add three and it’s bouncy and moist and delicious! But I really do need to try making it without!
oh, ha ha, I’m glad you all loved it! It rises really well without eggs too :).
chocolate cakes are always one of the best dishes and your looks absolutely delicious
i love sweet potato and making the frosting out of it seems very yummy. i am definitely going to give this a try. thanks for this recipe.
Hi! This cake looks unbelievable and I’m literally drooling over here. I have a question, can I make the cake and frosting a day in advance and just frost it the day I serve it? Or should I prepare everything, frost it and put it in the fridge? Thank you!
Hi Hannah, it’ll work either way – if you frost it, leave it at room temp, covered. I hope you love it!
This looks and sounds delish! This is perfect for my daughter’s 2 year birthday! I was looking for a healthy yet decadent alternative. Two things:
1) Can I substitute oat milk for almond?
2) Does roasting the sweet potatoes affect the taste? Could I just steam them instead until soft enough to puree?
Hi Ela, yep, oat milk should work fine, and as long as the sweet potato is soft enough to puree steaming it should be fine!
Sweet potato to make vegan frosting?! Brilliant! I always struggle with how to make a solid vegan “buttercream” and it feels impossible. I have to try your method immediately. (Vanilla frosting would be a struggle just because of the color, but maybe I can get away with a white sweet potato? I have to try all of this right now…) I just feel like you’ve gifted me a revelation. Thank you!
Ha, yeah I don’t know if it’ll work as vanilla – the chocolate really masks the vegetal flavor of the sweet potato.
This cake looks absolutely delicious! I love those sprinkles on top 🙂
I’m chocoholic and always search new chocolate cakes recipes but I must say this cake looks so spectacular and wait to try this.
Can you substitute soy milk for the almond milk?
This post was so timely. It’s my husband’s today and I was looking for a nice, simple, vegan chocolate cake to make. I made it this morning, sneaked a piece to taste before serving it tonight. It’s really delicious and you’d never know it’s dairy free! This is a keeper! Thank you!
Hi! I got your cooking book and baking the chocolate cake right now. I made the frosting and it is absolutely tasty, but turned rather dark compared to yours. I used semisweet chocolate chips. Does it matter which kind of sweet potatoes are used? Thank you!
It’s pretty brown and dark and chocolatey… I photographed it next to a window so maybe it’s just the light reflecting that you see. I hope you like the cake!
This cake looks delicious! I have yet to find the perfect vegan cake recipe as mine always seem to fail! x
Shannon | https://shannonmichelle1.blogspot.com
Wow..love this one. Amazing. Keep Glittering, love TGA by Misha ❤️??
Is the frosting sweet? It looks like it doesn’t have sugar in it.
It is! There’s sugar in semisweet chocolate chips and also natural sugars in the roasted sweet potato!
It is sweet but if you wanted to make it sweeter you could add more chocolate, or a little milk chocolate too or just a drizzle of maple syrup? I also add a little vanilla
This chocolate cake looks so delicious and I would never have guessed it’s vegan. Can’t wait to try this recipe ♥