Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake
This vegan chocolate sheet cake is fluffy, chocolate-y, and SO delicious! Frosted with creamy vegan chocolate frosting, this vegan cake is the perfect easy dessert for any occasion.
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar
- 1 cup soy milk or other vegan milk (240mL), room temperature
- 2 cups brown sugar or cane sugar (400g)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (360g)
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (80g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup oil (150g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup warm milk (240mL) + 1 teaspoon instant coffee mix in until dissolved - stir these together right before you need them so the milk is still warm
Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup unsalted vegan butter (softened) or salted, but don't use the sea salt below
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 ½-3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup vegan milk (+ 1 tablespoon extra if needed)
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a 9x13 sheet pan (with sides) by greasing & flouring or lining with parchment paper (I usually just grease and flour).
- In a jar, add the vinegar and room temperature vegan milk together to curdle to form a buttermilk. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Using a whisk, whisk all the ingredients together, removing any clumps that may form.
- Add in the oil, the buttermilk mix from earlier and the vanilla extract.
- Heat up that additional milk in the microwave for 40 seconds (or on stove top until warm not boiling). You want it warm enough to dissolve but not boiling. Stir the instant coffee into it with a whisk or fork to dissolve for about 15 seconds.
- Add it to the bowl on top of everything. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer for no more than 1 minute on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl once in between to ensure that everything is incorporated. You want to mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Tap on the counter three times lightly to remove any air bubbles.
- Place the pan in the middle rack of your oven and in the center of that rack. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until fully baked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- After cooled, frost with chocolate frosting and sprinkles (optional!) Enjoy! For an even more moist cake, brush with simple syrup before putting on the frosting!
For the Frosting
- Add the cocoa powder, vegan butter, 2 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, sea salt and half the vegan milk to the bowl of an electric stand mixer or a hand mixer. Start mixing it together at slow speed, gradually increasing speed until it’s very thick and smooth. Add the 1/2 cup of the extra powdered sugar at a time until it reaches your desired thickness and consistency. If needed, add in the other half of the milk about 1 tablespoon at a time.
Video
Notes
Always ensure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh!
Be sure that you're starting with room temperature ingredients, except for the warm milk at the end.
Weigh: I highly suggest using a kitchen scale for this! It gives you the most accurate results!
Sift the Dry Ingredients: this will ensure that you remove any lumps in the flour, etc., and that you get a smooth, tender cake!
Don't Over-Mix the Batter: over-mixing the batter can make the cake too dense because of the gluten that activates in the flour - just mix enough to combine all of the ingredients together.
Sift Your Powdered Sugar: be sure to sift your powdered sugar before making your frosting! This makes such a tremendous difference to the consistency of the frosting.
To Avoid Thick Frosting: you don't want the frosting to be runny, but you also want it to spread easily across the top of the cake. If your frosting turns out to be too thick, try adding a splash of milk to it.
Nutrition
Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 315mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 218IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 2mg