This vegan chocolate cake is dark, rich and moist. Use the darkest unsweetened cocoa powder that you can find. The cake is quite a large cake and can also be baked in 2 x 20 cm pans to make a lovely celebration cake. This mixture can also be used for cupcakes. Line the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20 – 25 minutes.
The cake itself is very easy to make.
When making chocolate decorations for vegan cakes, find dark chocolate with a 70% cocoa content. Lindt 70% was used to make the chocolate decorations for this cake. If you can handle the dark bitterness of an 85% cocoa chocolate then go ahead and use that. Children don’t often care for such a strong chocolate flavour, so be mindful of that when baking for children.
Ingredients for Cake
- 125 g vegan margarine/butter melted (Flora, vegan margarine 60% fat)
- 15 ml white vinegar
- 500 ml water
- 10 ml vanilla extract
- 420 g self-raising flour
- 5 ml bicarbonate of soda
- 5 ml salt
- 35 g cocoa powder
- 300 g sugar
Method to make Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Grease the sides and bottom of a 23 cm round or square pan and line the base with parchment. Can also use 2 x 20 cm round pans and sandwich cakes together.
- Melt vegan margarine in the microwave.
- Whisk melted margarine, vinegar, water and vanilla together.
- Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cocoa powder together. Add sugar.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Spoon mixture into baking pan.
- Bake for 50 – 60 minutes.
- Cool in baking pan for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to completely cool.
Vegan Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- 90 g vegan margarine (Flora, vegan with 60% fat)
- 4 TB water
- 1/3 c caster sugar
- 1 1/2 c sifted icing sugar
- 1/4 c cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- melted vegan chocolate for decorations, 70% dark Lindt chocolate. (optional)
- Measure out vegan margarine, water and caster sugar in a small saucepan.
- Stir over medium heat until margarine is melted and sugar is completely dissolved. Do not boil mixture.
- Sift icing sugar and cocoa and add to a mixing bowl.
- Add melted margarine mixture to icing sugar mixture and whisk so that the mixture is smooth.
- Cover bowl and place in the fridge till mixture firms up. (an hour)
- Once mixture has firmed up, take out of fridge and add vanilla.
- Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon/spatula or with an electric beater.
- Split cold cake in half and spread half the frosting evenly over the cake layer.
- Top with remaining cake layer and frost surface of cake.
- Decorate with shavings of vegan chocolate.
- Or melt chocolate and drizzle over cake with a teaspoon. Can also use a piping bag and pipe small shapes. Leave to completely set and decorate cake.
