This vegan chocolate cake recipe has been around for decades. It's also called the Whacky cake or the Depression cake. But let me tell you, the taste and texture of this chocolate cake are definitely not whacky or depressing. It's unbelievably moist and tastes like any regular chocolate cake especially with the frosting.
At first, I didn't tell my husband that it was a chocolate cake with vinegar, so he was not able to tell any difference. He liked the cake very much even after I told about the secret ingredient.
But since I knew about the vinegar I was able to feel a very very very mild smell/after-taste. I guess it's psychological. I have to stress here again that when eaten with the frosting this chocolate cake without eggs or dairy is so delicious.
This vegan chocolate cake recipe is definitely a keeper. I'm already thinking of the variations I can make each time.
I also wanted to prepare a vegan frosting for this cake, but I didn't have confectioner's sugar. Actually, I have it somewhere but was not able to find it.
I have made a pact that I won't be buying anything other than dairy products, vegetables, fruits and other extremely necessary groceries for the next 2 months.
Recently I did a pantry audit and was overwhelmed by the things I had accumulated in the past months, especially after starting this blog. I didn't even know that I had bought so much baking/cooking stuff.
That's why I didn't want to buy confectioner's sugar, even though I was so tempted to run to the grocery store. So that's a cool think about this vegan chocolate cake recipe too.
You really don't need to have any special ingredients. Not even eggs, butter or milk. If you bake regularly you would definitely have cocoa powder at home.
Vinegar is also a very common household ingredient. A chocolate cake with vinegar can be baked in no time without much ingredients.
I read in a couple of recipes that this vegan chocolate cake tastes good by itself or just sprinkling confectioner's sugar on top should be good enough. I was wondering what to do for the frosting without the sugar because all the recipes I had called for confectioner's sugar.
Since I was baking it for a special occasion I wanted to frost it. I had a few packs of instant pudding mixes and thought how it would be for a frosting.
I googled and found that pudding mix frosting is very common. Luckily I had the Cool Whip topping which is required for the frosting. Even though I was skeptical, I had to proceed with it anyway because I had no other go. Surprisingly it did turn out good. So the frosting is not vegan.
If you tried this Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients for Cake:
- 1 and ½ cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used Bleached)
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder Unsweetened, I used Hershey's
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil
- 1 tablespoon White Distilled Vinegar
- 1 cup Cold Water
Ingredients For Pudding Mix Frosting:
- 1 cup Cold Milk
- One 4oz Pack Instant Pudding Mix Any Flavor, I used Oreo's cookie flavor
- One 8oz Container Cool Whip Thawed, I used Fat Free
Instructions
Cake Procedure:
- Preheat the oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Lightly oil the cake pan you are using.
- Stir together all the dry ingredients (flour to cocoa powder) and create a well in the center.
- To the well add all the wet ingredients one by one. Mix until just combined. Don't over-mix. It's OK to have some lumps.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Mine was done by 24 minutes. If baking cupcakes, check around 13-15th minute.
- Cool completely on a wire rack. I left it for an hour.
- To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.
- Cool completely before frosting. Actually frosting is not even necessary for this moist cake. You may simply dust with confectioner's sugar and top with fresh raspberries.
Frosting Procedure:
- For vegan frosting recipes, Check out Vegan Butter-cream Frosting and Vegan Cream-cheese Frosting.
- Pour milk into a large bowl. Add the pudding mix. Beat until fluffy for 2 minutes.
- Blend in the thawed Cool Whip thoroughly.
- Frost the cake/cupcakes and refrigerate it at least for 3-4 hours before serving.
My Notes
- For Cake: I read that apple cider vinegar is better than white distilled vinegar when it comes to baking, because you will not even have that very mild smell or after taste I was referring earlier.
- For Frosting: This frosting is not very sweet, but it was perfect with the cake and for us. We don't like overly sweet cakes and frosting.
- For Frosting: This measurement will be right for a 13x9 inch cake or a layer cake. I had at least a cup of frosting left over, which I intend to serve in ice cream cones for my son.
Nutrition
Also check out the delicious eggless chocolate cake recipe.
cakelovers12345 says
my mom made the cake! i gave cakes to random ppl and now they wanna come to my house and make it with us!
lol!
thnx for the recipe
You're welcome CakeLovers.
Natasha says
I love this recipe. It is always a hit with people!
the rookie says
Hi Madhuram,
i was baking the cake but it seems that i had to keep increasing the baking time as the center was still wet. was it because my baking tin was too small?
I have baked this cake a number of times and have not had any difficulty at all. This cake comes out well in an 8 or 9-inch cake pan (any shape though) and as cupcakes too. So I too am assuming that the pan size you have used is the culprit. Also if you keep opening the oven door a couple of times while the cake is still baking, it lets cool air inside and disturbs the baking process.
cakelovers12345 says
my mom used safola oil instead of canola. The cake was awesome! I thank u for publishing this wonderful recipe.
My family and friends loved it. . .
You're welcome Cakelover.
Nilambara says
Hi Madhuram,
I bake my egg-free chocolate cake using condensed milk. Although the result is good each time, its a little dry for my liking. When I saw your oh-so dark n delicious cake, I thought why not give this a try. I've always been skeptical about using oil instead of butter. And vinegar! I could never think of it. But I did try this one and it turned out to be delectably moist. Thanks a zillion of bringing me out of my comfort zone and getting thumbs-up from family! I used distilled vinegar to see if vinegar works at all. Next time around, I'll make sure to use apple cider (read it somewhere in your blog). Thank you.
Nilambara
You're most welcome Nilambara. Yes, apple cider vinegar is a better alternative to the regular distilled white vinegar.
madhuri says
hey thanks for the post, the cake turned out to be yummy and so nice. it tuk me 20 mins to prepare it.. I have now made it more than 5 times for my friends. a big thank you for sharing this recipe. Could you post recipe for eggless tiramisu and cheesecake?
You're welcome Madhuri. I'll look for some recipes for tiramisu and cheesecake.
varsha says
hi madhuram...
awesome !! it was good for a vegan cake ...it was the day b4 our anniversary ...I was wondering what sweet to make when I my kid suggested a cake ... 😆 thanks to her ...I tried this out !! but I didnt hv cocoa so instead used bournvita 😈 still it turned out yummy...I should say it was a huge success .....But only thing I wanted to chk..my cake was little sticky while consuming 😯 but still was soft, tasty & by all means like any other choco cake 😀 thanks ...
Wow Varsha, you are trying a lot of recipes from my blog. So special thanks to you too. I'm guessing that the stickiness is because of Bournvita. See unsweetened cocoa powder does not have sugar in it whereas Bournvita does, maybe that's secreting excess moisture and making it sticky. This is just my wild guess because the cake I baked was unbelievably soft and fluffy.
Parijata says
Hi Madhuram, can we substitute some of the oil with unsweetened applesauce?
Sure you could Parijata. The cake will not be little dense.
Karthi says
Madhu, thank you so much for this wonderful vegan cake.
You're welcome Karthi.
Kawa says
Looks great. Was this for a round cake pan or a square one?
I used a heart shape pan.
shibani says
Madhuram, I made this cake and it was very good. Thanks for sharing a nice cake.
Shibani, you're welcome and also thank you very much for trying it out.
sai says
what is a cool whip?
Sai, Cool Whip is available in a white color tub in the freezer section near frozen fruits. It is made of sugar and oils and resembles whipped cream.
Vijaya says
Hi Madhu,
Have tried several eggless cakes over the years but this recipe of yours surely takes the cake! 🙂 The pics tempted me to try it and yesterday I baked it, following ur instructions to the T. The cake looked terrific when baked slightly crisp on top but extremely moist inside, infact I loved the texture.
There was only one issue all of us at home felt the smell and taste of baking soda was overpowering. It lingered awhile. Any tips for this? Can i use baking powder instead of soda? If so what shld be the quantity? Also have u tried this with whole wheat flour? Does it come out well?
Thanks a ton, I love ur website and have bookmarked it! 😛
Hi Vijaya, thank you very much for your kind words. Did you measure and sift the baking soda and combine everything together well? My cake did not have the after taste of baking soda. There was this very mild vinegar taste. Baking powder contains baking soda but cannot be used interchangeably. Try with apple cider vinegar the next time like I did for the vegan blueberry muffins. There is no after taste at all.
Vesna says
Hey, if I would like to prepare this cake in advance, will it starty drying or getting moister?
Thanks!
You can prepare it ahead and store it in the refrigerator Vesna. We had the cake for a week and it was good. It doesn't dry or get moist.
Madhu says
hi Madhuram,
Tried out this recipe y'day in the form of cupcakes... the texture was awesome.... just unbelievable... but my cupcakes were completely done only after 18 mins or so.... and hence thought would let u and the others know about it, so that you can watch out for the timings when baking this in the form of cupcakes....kudos to this gr8 recipe....
Thanks Madhu for trying it out and mentioning about the time. It will definitely be helpful for others who will be trying it.
priya says
Hi Madhuram,
Baked this cake just now and it is cooling.I can tell you from the texture it has come out well.Intially when mixing the batter I was skeptical because the batter was liquidy..is this normal?Used apple cider vinegar
Thank you for sharing a wonderful receipe.
I think the batter was watery. Thanks for trying it Priya.
Anila says
Hi Madhu,
I tried the cake for Badri's and MIL's b'day.It came out well.Thanks for posting the recipe.
You're welcome Anila. Thank you for trying it and for the feedback.
Sadhana says
Madhu
I used apple cider vinegar, 1/2 the quantity of flour i substituted with Whole wheat pastry flour and another 1/2 with unbleached and then used turbinado sugar. The top portion is little crisp but inside it is very moist. Any ideas? Please let me know. Thanks.
I'm guessing that it's because of the sugar. Did you sprinkle some sugar on top of the batter?
Mary says
I added one tablespoon of lemon juice, and I used baking soda.
Thank you very much, the cake was so delicious :smile:.
Thanks for the clarification Mary.
Vaishali says
What a beautiful cake, Madhuram. I use vinegar in cakes to curdle soymilk, but I've never used it by itself. Good to know it turned out so well. Lovely job.
Thanks Vaishali. The cake was really very good.