VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE + VEGAN CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

So today is Mel’s, my business partner and besties, birthday! 🦋

If you don’t know anything about her then you wouldn’t know she is vegan! She started this journey a little after I met her in college (at least I am pretty sure hahaha). I remember the convos in the car about it. Anywho, since her birthday falls in quarantine, we are celebrating with social distancing in mind! (but we are def going out when we can hahaha).

I decided to try and make her a dupe of the Whole Foods Chocolate cake so let’s see how this goes. I have never had it and I have no clue what it looks like but I am following the Whole Foods recipe so let’s see lol.

Future sam tuning it, now that I have made the cake. Uhm yes, please keep following and make it, so bomb. The buttercream frosting is even better than actual buttercream frosting in my opinion.

This was my first time making vegan desserts and there was a learning curve. I was like okay how do you make vegan frosting?? Are sprinkles vegan??

INGREDIENTS

Serving: 1 Small Two-Layer Cake

THE CAKE:

- 1 ¼ cup Unsweetened Oat Milk

- ¾ cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce

- ⅔ cup Pitted Dates

- 2 tsp. Espresso Powder

-1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract

- 3 oz. Unsweetened Baking Chocolate, chopped

- 1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour

- 3 tbs. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

- 2 tsp. Baking Powder

- ½ tsp. Baking Soda

- ¼ tsp. Fine Sea Salt

THE FROSTING:

- 4-5 cups Powdered Sugar

- 1 cup Cocoa Powder

- 1 ½ cups Vegan Butter

- ¼ cup Oat Milk

- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

INSTRUCTIONS

The first thing you want to do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
It could also be helpful at this point to line your baking pans with olive oil or some sort of nonstick spray and parchment paper.
1. P.S. if you plan on making my frosting recipe, I recommend leaving your butter out to get to room temp.
Then melt your chocolate over a double boiler and set aside. Basically, boil water and set a glass or heatproof bowl over the top. The steam should essentially melt the chocolate slowly.
Next, blend together your dates, apple sauce, almond milk, vanilla extract, and espresso powder. Set this mixture aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Next, add the date mixture to the flour mixture and combine.
Then add the cooled melted chocolate. It is easier to mix in the chocolate by hand.
Pour the batter into your baking pans. Bake for about 30 minutes.
Alright while that is baking you can get your buttercream frosting ready. Beat your butter until it's smooth.
Add a cup of powdered sugar at a time.
Add in the cocoa and milk and vanilla extract.
Beat together until fluffy and light.
You can put it in the fridge if you want but it will need to come back down to room temperature to decorate your cake.
You can put it in the fridge if you want but it will need to come back down to room temperature to decorate your cake.
When the cakes are done let them cool for a bit. When they are cool to touch they should pop out of the pan just by flipping it.

The first thing you want to do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

It could also be helpful to line your baking pans with olive oil or some sort of nonstick spray and parchment paper.

P.S. if you plan on making my frosting recipe, I recommend leaving your butter out to get to room temp.

Then melt your chocolate over a double boiler and set aside. Basically, boil water and set a glass or heatproof bowl over the top. The steam should essentially melt the chocolate slowly.