Vegan Chocolate Cake With Strawberry Frosting
My son, Cameron, turned 5 today, and his birthday cake request was a chocolate/strawberry cake “that daddy can eat too”. My husband is allergic to eggs and dairy. These allergies have also been handed down to my youngest, Wesley, although they are not as severe. Therefore, I made a vegan chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. It was so beautiful, so delicious, and each one of my men happily had seconds.
I have used this cake and buttercream recipe in a Sprinkle Cake, and in cupcake form adorned with Chocolate Taffy Roses. The chocolate cake is moist with just a hint of a coffee flavor (there is espresso in the batter). It’s quite easy to make too– sift the dry ingredients together, then mix in the wet (oil, dissolved espresso in water, vanilla, and cider vinegar).
The vegan strawberry frosting is sweet with just enough of a strawberry tang taste. It was creamy, delicious, and beautiful. I loved that the pink “buttercream” was speckled with red bits of crushed strawberry. This frosting recipe came from a website called The Leafy Cauldron. It is a wonderful vegan food bog that you must check out.
Here I frosted the bottom layer with about 3/4 cup of the strawberry “buttercream”.
I stacked the second layer on top, then frosted a thin coat all over. I refrigerated the cake for about 30 minutes to stiffen up the frosting. This thin coat helps to hold in the crumbs when frosting the rest of the cake with the remaining “buttercream”.
I used a drop of red food coloring to make it more pink, although, I don’t think I needed to do this. The crushed strawberries in the “buttercream” already made it a nice, light pink color. After I frosted the cake I stuck it in the refrigerator to harden a bit more.
I placed the last cup of “buttercream” in a pastry bag, and using a star tip, I piped little decorations around the cake. I finished by placing 3 strawberries on top. It looked so pretty! And it tasted so yummy. I would have never known it was a dairy and egg-free cake.
Happy Birthday, my sweet little man.
- 3 cups (375 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2/3 cup (70 g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 2 cups (408 g) Sugar
- 1 cup (250 ml) Canola Oil
- 4 tsp. Instant Espresso Powder dissolved in 2 cups (500 ml) Water
- 4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 4 TBS Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 cup (75 g) Thawed Frozen Strawberries
- 1/2 tsp.Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (253 g) Non-Dairy Margarine, softened
- 1 kg icing sugar
- 1 TBS high-quality Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 TBS Non-Dairy Milk
- Whole Strawberries for decoration
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line two 9-inch, round cake pans.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In a small bowl, mix together the oil, espresso, and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wire whisk until well incorporated. Add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the batter as the baking soda and vinegar react.
- Pour equal amounts of batter into the two cake pans and bake for 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes. Flip cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle the granulated sugar over the frozen strawberries and set aide to thaw. Once they’re thawed, using a hand or stand mixer, whip the margarine for two minutes. Add a half cup of icing sugar and mix until combined. Add the vanilla, more icing sugar and beat until combined. Now, squish the strawberries until no large pieces remain. Add the squished strawberries, and the remaining icing sugar in small batches. Thin with small amounts of non-dairy milk, as needed and wanted.
- When cakes are completely cool, place one carefully on a cake plate.
- Spread about 3/4 cup of "buttercream" on top and smooth it around. Leave a 1/2-inch space from the border.
- Carefully place the second cake on top of the "buttercream" filling. With some frosting, smooth a thin coat all over the cake (top and sides). Refrigerate cake for 30 minutes, or until coating has set.
- Once set, frost the entire cake, reserving about a cups worth of "buttercream" for decoration. Refrigerate cake again to set frosting. Place remaining frosting in pastry bag with a star tip attached. When cake is set and ready, pipe out your decoration, and top with strawberries.
- Electric mixer
- Parchment paper
- two 9-inch, round cake pans
- Off-set spatula
- Piping bag with star tip (optional)
