Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake + Fudge Frosting (with potato chips)
As a tried-and-true Midwesterner, I love all things dairy — and struggle to resist a carby, gluten-laden treat in most any form. But I also love making others feel seen and special and cared for, so my vegan and gluten-free recipe list is steadily growing. The extra effort never fails to feel well worth it when a loved one bites joyously into a delicious treat that fits their dietary restrictions, which is not to say that it’s always easy. This one, however, absolutely is.
When I was asked to make a vegan chocolate cake for one of the daughter’s birthdays, I gladly said yes. The request that it include potato chips (because Grandfather’s [also vegan] potato chip cookies have created an unshakably rock-solid sweet-n-salty penchant), I nervously said ‘sure,’ then set out on a research project to figure out how to incorporate them and keep them crispy.
I will admit that I wasn’t exactly crushed (bad pun, sorry) when every recipe I found that put chips between cake layers included milk powder or butter or both, yet still recommended not assembling until the day you’re serving to avoid the chips absorbing moisture from the frosting. Nope. We were going for crunch, not squish.
That bit of research was quite literally the only special consideration this recipe required; the rest was adapting my own chocolate-lovers’ recipe (coming soon!). As you’ll see, the ingredients are the usual pantry staples, not even anything special for binding — believe it or not, simply skipping the eggs doesn’t seem to make a difference. At all. The frosting, however, might require adding a couple of things to your grocery list if you don’t cook or bake vegan often (but not a trip to a specialty market).
The result was a moist, flavor-packed and fluffy cake, and a richly fudgy frosting. And the salty-crunchy crowning decoration made for a very happy (and decadent) birthday.
Enjoy!
These are some of the items I find especially helpful for this bake. (These are affiliate links.)
King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour
Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract
Cuisinart 9-Speed Handheld Mixer
OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set
Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake
makes one 2-layer 9” cake
INGREDIENTS
CAKE
2 cups good flour (I prefer a 1+1/2 cup all-purpose and 1/2 cup cake flour)
3/4 cup cocoa, sifted (I prefer dutch-processed for this, but unsweetened works just fine)
1 + 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons good quality vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional (but lends a great depth of flavor)
1 + 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
FUDGE FROSTING
8 ounces (225 grams) vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons (48 grams) almond butter
1/4 cup plant-based butter, room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
about 1/4 cup plant-based heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
CAKE
Set the oven rack to center and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, and coat the paper and sides with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil, and extracts until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the oil mixture, water and vinegar, and whisk until completely smooth.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the cake, then turn out onto a cooling rack, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour (or overnight).
I find that the center of these cakes doesn’t always rise fully, so they may need to be leveled before decorating.
FROSTING
Slowly melt the chocolate and almond butter over very low heat or microwave in 20-second increments, stirring until melted. Set aside to cool.
In a medium-large bowl, cream the butter and shortening with a hand mixer until fully blended and very fluffy. Add the salt, vanilla and cooled chocolate, blending until combined.
Sift the cocoa into the mixture and blend on lowest setting until fully combined.
Adding 1/2 cup at a time, sift in the powdered sugar, blending on low after each addition to incorporate.
Gradually add the cream, increasing the mixer speed to high, and whip until the frosting is creamy and fluffy.
Spread and/or pipe frosting onto the cake. (I recommend giving the assembled cake a crumb coat and chilling for 30 minutes before a final frosting.) Decorate with crushed potato chips and/or mini chips, sprinkles or chocolate shavings, if desired.
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