Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake (gluten-free)

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Fluffy cake with rich chocolate frosting, this Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake is a perfect example of great balance. It’s sweet but not too sweet, rich but not heavy, made with less sugar and oil to make it healthier while still taste like a treat!

純素巧克力蛋糕 + 地瓜蛋糕糖霜 Vegan Chocolate Cake with Sweet Potato Frosting

I’ve been thinking about make a three-layer cake for a long time, but it seemed like there’s never a good timing to make it. Either I had too many desserts already in the fridge, or too busy to make time for this slightly complicated cake.

Hey, don’t leave yet. It’s actually not so complicated as what I thought. (Still A LITTLE BIT, to be fair) Yet trust me there’s just some mixing and combing involved.

This recipe is adapted from Addicted to Date‘s chocolate cake recipe, but I’ve reduced the amount of sugar and oil. I also made some changes in the ingredients to make it taste less heavy/sweet (because I don’t like eating very sweet desserts).

純素巧克力莓果蛋糕 Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

What’s special about this vegan chocolate berry cake?

  • Fluffy cocoa cake with rich frosting and sweet, tangy berry jam and compote
  • Vegan, no eggs, no dairy, no animal products
  • Less sugar and oil than regular chocolate cake
  • Gluten-fee, but can use common plain flour for non-gluten-free version if not needed
純素巧克力莓果蛋糕 Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

Ingredients You Need for this Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

  • Cocoa powder, Dutch processed
  • Light brown sugar
  • Instant coffee granules
  • Vanilla extract
  • Boiled hot water
  • Full-fat coconut milk
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Cold-pressed rapeseed oil
  • Aquafaba (chickpea water)
  • Vegan yogurt, I use soya yogurt
  • Coconut sugar
  • Gluten-free plain flour
  • Bakinpowder
  • Bakinsoda
  • Salt
  • Raspberry jam, or cherry jam
  • Berry compote, or chunky berry jam
  • Chocolate sweet potato frosting
  • Fresh berries, optional, for decoration

For substitutions, please take a look at “Questions You Might Have” section and the recipe card.

How to Make this Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

Prepare the chocolate frosting first before starting making the cake. And make sure the frosting stay cold in the fridge while the cake is baking.

To make the chocolate cake:

  • Make cocoa mixture: Add cocoa powder, sugar, coffee granules, vanilla, and boiled water to a big bowl. Use a whisk to mix them together. Set it aside to cool down for 10 minutes.
  • Prepare for baking: Line three 6-inch sandwich cake tin with oil. Preheat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F).
  • Make “butter milk”: Add coconut milk and apple cider vinegar to a jar or small bowl. Give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes while we mix other ingredients.
  • Mix the other wet ingredients: In another bowl, add oil, aquafaba, vegan yogurt, and coconut sugar. Use a whisk or fork to mix them together. 
  • Mix dry ingredients: In another big mixing bowl (the biggest one), mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
  • Combine all ingredients: Pour the “butter milk” mixture to the yogurt mixture. Mix them together. Then add it to the flour mixture. Mix to roughly combine.
  • Then add the cocoa mixture (Step 1) and whisk to combine until no flour can be seen.
  • Prepare to bake: Divide the cake mixture into three prepared cake tin. Gently drop each one against the counter to remove air bubbles.
  • Bake: Place the cake tins in the lower o middle rack in the oven to bake for 25~28 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  • Cool: Transfer the cake onto a wire rack to cool down completely.
  • Refine the cake: Cut off uneven part of the cake if there’s any. Then gently flip each cake tin to remove the cake slices.
  • Assemble:  Place a cake on a plate or cake stand. Pipe about 2 circles of chocolate frosting around the edges of the cake. Then add 2 Tbsp of jam and berry compote in the middle. Place another slice of cake on top and repeat. After placing the last slice of cake, pipe chocolate frosting on top to cover the cake and add fresh berries to decorate if you want. Then slice and enjoy!
純素巧克力莓果蛋糕 Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

How to Store Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge. It can last for 4 – 6 days. Let the cake come back to room temperature, or microwave for 5 – 10 seconds after refrigeration.

Tips for Success

  • Weigh your ingredients. I always recommend using a scale for most ingredients instead of measuring cups because weight is way more accurate than volume.
  • Mix evenly, but don’t over mix. It’s important to mix all the ingredients evenly near the end to have a nice, fluffy cake. But it’s also very crucial to not over mix the batter. Otherwise, the cake might end up feeling tough and dense.
  • Use measuring spoons for light-weight ingredients. Ingredients like baking powder and baking soda are too light to get accurate weighing result for most kitchen scales. So measuring spoons will be a better choice in this case.
  • Make the frosting first. Before starting making the cake, make sure to make the frosting first, so it’s more set and easy to assemble.
純素巧克力莓果蛋糕 Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

Questions You Might Have

純素巧克力莓果蛋糕 Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake

Final Words

I feel so happy that I finally made a 3 layer vegan chocolate cake which is not only beautiful but also tasty/healthier. I often make extra frosting for serving, so every bite will be a paradise for chocolate lovers.

Mr. J (my British partner) loves this cake as well, specially the part with jam and compote. Seeing him eating so happily makes me feel satisfied too. I hope you will love this cake as much as we do. Happy baking! — Nora

More Vegan Recipes:

Healthier Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake (gluten-free)

Fluffy cake with rich chocolate frosting, this Vegan Chocolate Berry Cake is a perfect example of great balance. It’s sweet but not too sweet, rich but not heavy, made with less sugar and oil to make it healthier while still taste like a treat!
Author: Nora Hsu
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, vegan
Keyword: cake, chocolate, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, vegan
Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake

    Cocoa mixture

    • 32 g cocoa powder, Dutch processed / alkalized
    • 36 g light brown sugar, or dark brown if you like molasse taste
    • 1 Tbsp instant coffee granules, (4 g)
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 60 ml boiled hot water, (1/4 cup)

    “Butter milk”

    • 120 ml full-fat coconut milk, (1/2 cup)
    • 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

    Other wet ingredients

    • 3 Tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil, or other neural-flavoured vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
    • 2 Tbsp aquafaba, the liquid in canned chickpeas, or more yogurt
    • 6 Tbsp vegan yogurt, I use soya yogurt, preferably thicker
    • 72 g coconut sugar, (1/2 cup)*

    Dry ingredients

    For assembly

    • 4 Tbsp raspberry jam, or cherry jam
    • 4 Tbsp berry compote, or chunky berry jam
    • 1 batch Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting, doubled you want extra for serving***
    • 50 g fresh berries, optional, for decoration

    Instructions

    • Prepare the Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting first before starting making the cake. And make sure the frosting stay cold in the fridge while the cake is baking.

    To make the chocolate cake

    • Make cocoa mixture: Add cocoa powder, sugar, coffee granules, vanilla, and boiled water to a big bowl. Use a whisk to mix them together. Set it aside to cool down for 10 minutes.
    • Prepare for baking: Line three 6-inch sandwich cake tin with oil. Preheat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F).
    • Make “butter milk”: Add coconut milk and apple cider vinegar to a jar or small bowl. Give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes while we mix other ingredients.
    • Mix the other wet ingredients: In another bowl, add oil, aquafaba, vegan yogurt, and coconut sugar. Use a whisk or fork to mix them together.
    • Mix dry ingredients: In another big mixing bowl (the biggest one), mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
    • Combine all ingredients: Pour the “butter milk” mixture to the yogurt mixture. Mix them together. Then add it to the flour mixture. Mix to roughly combine. Then add the cocoa mixture (Step 1) and whisk to combine until no flour can be seen.
    • Prepare to bake: Divide the cake mixture into three prepared cake tin. Gently drop each one against the counter to remove air bubbles.
    • Bake: Place the cake tins in the lower o middle rack in the oven to bake for 25~28 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
    • Cool: Transfer the cake onto a wire rack to cool down completely.
    • Refine the cake: Cut off uneven part of the cake if there’s any. Then gently flip each cake tin to remove the cake slices.
    • To assemble: Place a cake on a plate or cake stand. Pipe about 2 circles of chocolate frosting around the edges of the cake. Then add 2 Tbsp of jam and berry compote in the middle. Place another slice of cake on top and repeat. After placing the last slice of cake, pipe chocolate frosting on top to cover the cake and add fresh berries to decorate if you want. Then slice and enjoy!

    Notes

    • This recipe is adapted from Addicted to dates
    • *Coconut sugar: You can also use cane sugar or light brown sugar. I don’t like desserts that are too sweet (I often drink unsweetened soy milk), so I’ve cut down the amount of sugar in this recipe. But if you like normal sweetness, I’d suggest adding another 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of sugar.
    • **Gluten-free plain flour: If you’re not keen on making a gluten-free version, you can also use the same amount (weight) of all-purpose flour. (It would be around 1 1/4 cup (~5.29 oz) normal all-purpose flour in this recipe)
    • ***Chocolate frosting: I use Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting in this recipe. But if you don’t have time to prepare sweet potato, the other good and faster option is this Healthier Vegan Chocolate Frosting.
    • Cake size: This is a 6-inch, 3-layer cake. If you want to make an 8-inch cake instead, just double the whole recipe and possible bake for an extra 3–5 minutes, depending on your oven.
    • Storage: Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge. It can last for 4 – 6 days. Let the cake come back to room temperature, or microwave for 5 – 10 seconds after refrigeration.
    • Equipment & tools: I use Pyrex Mixing Bowls and layered cake tin (similar to this but 15 cm; or this one from Wilton can work too) (affiliate links) for this recipe. For more of my favourite baking tools and ingredients, please shop my pantry staples & kitchen tools.
    Nora
    Nora

    我是 Nora 葉子,一個從 ED 恢復、熱愛烘焙料理的創作者,2018 年轉變成 Vegan,希望透過分享能讓大家更認識全植物食物的美好。

    Hi, I'm Nora, a creative who loves baking, cooking, and sharing. After turning vegan in 2018, I hope to share my joy and wonderful plant-based recipes with the world.

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