Vegan Chocolate Cake

Pin It I was asked recently to make a vegan chocolate cake for a birthday party where the theme was dragonflies. I'm definitely not a vegan and have never made a vegan recipe in my life!  (My 7 year stint as a vegetarian doesn't really count because all I ever ate was cereal and pancakes!)

I started researching recipes for vegan cakes and frostings but I was pretty skeptical about it.  I mean, what cake could taste good without eggs and milk?  I found out that not only was it easy to make the cake, it was actually pretty darn tasty too!!

You start by sifting the dry ingredients together...

The instant espresso needs special attention at the bottom of the sifter.  It was impossible for me to sift all of the pieces, but it was close enough.   

Set the dry ingredients aside and get to work on the wet ones.  In another large bowl, beat sugar, oil, and pumpkin until well blended.  

…beating...

Now add the soy milk mixture and blend together.

Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and beat until it's smooth.  Pour into cake pans and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

While the cake was baking, I set to work making the chocolate icing.  I absolutely love my KitchenAid mixer…I use it for EVERYTHING!  If you don't have a stand mixer, you're seriously missing out! 

 I creamed the soy margarine and powdered sugar until they were combined.

Then I added the soy milk, cocoa powder, and vanilla to finish the frosting.  

Once the cakes were baked and cooled, I leveled them.  This was my biggest mistake when I was first playing around with cake decorating.  I used to try to stack whatever came out of the oven - which always meant a heaping, domed pile with huge empty spaces around the sides!  In order to stack cakes, you must first level them.  I have a small leveler from Wilton, but you can do it with a knife if you are careful to be accurate.  Level both cakes the same height to create two equal (and flat!) layers.

I added some frosting and stacked my cakes.  Notice that the top layer is actually upside down.  The bottom of the layer is a much nicer edge than the top where you have just cut.  When stacking, always put the bottom layer right-side-up and the top layer upside-down.  (Any additional layers in between can go however you want!)  This will help you get clean edges for icing.

I frosted the cake with my angled spatula and let it sit.

I whipped up a batch of vegan vanilla icing and tinted it yellow - remember, I still need a dragonfly somewhere!  I filled a silicone pastry bag with the icing and used a #12 Wilton tip.  (I just recently learned about silicone pastry bags and I LOVE THEM!  I think they're so much better than your standard bag and they're about the same price.  I'm never buying a regular bag again!

I piped dots on the cake, using more icing and pressure for the head and gradually less as I moved towards the tail.

I switched tips to a #5 and piped the wings.

Romas decided the little guy needed eyes, so I used small sugar pearls.  With a toothpick, I dotted a little blue food coloring gel to make the pupils.  (Do dragonflies have pupils?)

This was not a complicated cake to make.  Don't let the word "vegan" scare you away!  It was really tasty and I wouldn't hesitate to make it again.  In fact, the icing recipe is going to become my go-to recipe for chocolate!  It was delicious!

Click HERE for the printable recipe.  Happy {vegan} baking!

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