Servings: 8 -10 slices
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tbs cocoa powder
- 3 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups vegan mayo
- 1 ½ cups white fine sugar
- ½ cup cold brew coffee if you don’t have coffee, just sub more water, the coffee just enhances the flavor of the chocolate!
- 1 cup water
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract⠀
Vegan Buttercream Espresso Frosting:
- 1 cup vegan butter if you’re using a food processor for this, make sure it’s cold!
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening
- 6 tbs cocoa powder
- 1 ½ lb confectioners sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp chilled espresso or cold brew coffee if you don’t want any coffee flavor in the cake, you can just add 2 extra tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 tbs vegan creamer or whipping cream alternative
Other items you will need:
Required:
- A hand mixer
Suggested:
- Food Processor
- 3 separate 9” cake pans
- Sifter
- Offset spatula
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F and arrange your oven racks so that both are closer to the middle rather than one at the very top and one at the very bottom.
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a sifter, and sift onto a large sheet of wax paper or large bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with high sides, cream together mayo and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed to start, working your way up to medium-high to fully incorporate.
- Add coffee and water and mix to combine.
- Start adding in flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing with hand mixer on low.
- Once all of the flour mixture is added, add vanilla and mix for 20 seconds to incorporate.
- Grease and lightly flour each cake pan and add ⅓ of the batter in each one.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean, rotate the cakes to different racks halfway through the baking to ensure even baking.
- Once the cakes are baked through, let them cool completely on the counter.
- Once the cakes are cooled, time to make the frosting!
- In a food processor, add confectioner’s sugar and cocoa, and run to get the lumps out. (If you’re using a hand mixer, run the sugar and cocoa through a sifter)
- Add butter and shortening and run processor until creamed together. Then add vanilla and coffee and drizzle in half and half until the frosting looks nice and fluffy.
- Carefully remove one layer of cake from the cake pan and place it on a cake plate or regular plate. Add a generous amount of frosting and spread evenly to the edges (I like using an offset spatula to frost with). Repeat with the other 2 layers and after the final layer, frost the sides of the cake. Enjoy!!
Notes
If you don’t have 3 cake pans, you can bake 1 layer at a time but just make sure you wait until the pan cools completely before you pour the batter in for the next layer
Find more of Valerie’s recipes on @vegantraveleats.
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