Chocolate cake. Sometimes that’s all you need – a nice slab of it, nothing fancy, no fruit or mint nor hint of citrus. They say that chocolate mimics the euphoria of being in love, but how do they know that love isn’t mimicking chocolate? It could choose a worse role model.

This is my basic chocolate cake recipe, the same as the chocolate cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It’s rich and tender and just exactly what I want when biting into a piece of cake, moistness and melt in your mouth crumbs. I top it with an extra fudgy chocolate ganache that gets it delectible gloopiness from a couple tablespoons maple syrup. In this photo, I’ve doubled the recipe to make a two layer cake and added a little bit of a creamy cocoa buttercream that I’ve been working on. Another benefit to this recipe is that the cake doesn’t dome too much so it’s perfect for layer cakes.

Just Chocolate Cake

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Servings 1 8 inch circle cake

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder Dutch-processed or regular (or a mix of both)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the gooey Ganache:

  • 2/3 cup almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
  • 8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350?F.
  • Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and almond extract and mix well.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
  • Lightly grease an 8 inch springform pan. Pour in the batter and bake for 32 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted through the center comes out clean.

For the gooey Ganache:

  • In a small saucepan bring the milk to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Add the chocoate chips and maple syrup and mix with a fork. Turn heat off and mix until thoroughly melted. Let cool for about 15 minutes before using.

To assemble:

  • Just pour the ganache over the cooled cake and kind of tilt the cake at all angles to get the ganache to drip down the sides. Refrigerate to cool and set the ganache.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!