Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache
We need chocolate! This very Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache is here to satisfy those chocolate cravings my sweet friends! You'll be surprised that this super-moist cake has no egg replacements and it's so easy to make.
Ingredients
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
- ⅔ cup Vegan dark chocolate chopped (4 oz), Guittard's 64% and 72% chocolate or something similar, depending on how bittersweet you like your chocolate cake to be) - Or Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 2 cups plain all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup organic sugar like Zulka
- 1 cup non-dairy milk room temperature
- 1/2 cup warm water or coffee
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Optional: 1 teaspoon of coffee extract or espresso powder
Chocolate Ganache or 1 tub of vegan chocolate frosting, like Duncan Hines or Pillsbury
- 1 cup coconut cream
- 1 cup Vegan dark chocolate chopped, something like Guittard's 64% and 72% chocolate, or Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels
- Optional: ½ cup organic powdered sugar
- chocolate shaving sprinkles or other decorations of choice like this cute little vegan dark chocolate bunny!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 ºF and line an 8 inch (20 cm) round cake tin with baking/greaseproof paper.
Vegan Chocolate Cake
- In a heat-proof microwave bowl, melt together the chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second increments, stirring each increment until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Add the sugar and whisk well until everything is evenly distributed,.
- Mix together the non-dairy milk, warm water/coffee, lemon juice, and (extract or espresso powder, optional) add them to the dry ingredients.
- Pour in the melted chocolate/coconut oil mixture, and whisk well for a smooth cake batter.
- Transfer the cake batter to the lined cake pan, smooth out the top, and bake at 350ºF or about 1 hour or until an inserted toothpick/skewer comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the baking pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from the baking pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a saucepan, heat the coconut cream until it starts to boil.
- Place the chopped dark chocolate into a heat proof bowl, and pour over the hot coconut cream. Allow to stand for 2 - 3 minutes, then stir together until smooth. If you want to add powdered sugar, gradually stir it in now.
- Let cool, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 2 hours. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days. If it becomes too thick to stir, place in microwave for 15 second increments to get consistency desired, stirring each increment for checking the consistency.
- Frost the chocolate ganache on top of the cake.
- Decorate with chocolate shavings, sprinkles, fruits or chocolate candies
Notes
Psssst...If you're unfamiliar with coconut cream, put your can of coconut milk into the fridge for a few hours (or preferably overnight) and do not shake! The coconut milk will separate into coconut cream (that you'll need in this recipe) and coconut water left over you could use in a smoothie, so it doesn't go to waste.
You could also use unsweetened almond milk, if you don't have coconut cream on hand, just bump the measurement down to 1/2 cup, but do add the powdered sugar for sure, because it can be a little bitter, in my opinion.
Of course, if you want a frosting shortcut, you could use a store-bought vegan frosting, like Pillsbury or Duncan Hines or check out these Vegan Frosting Brands!