Baking a vegan chocolate birthday cake

Vegan chocolate birthday cake
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I baked a cake recently for the first time in years and it turned out surprisingly well.

Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake with candles

My daughter turned five a few weeks ago and she decided that she wanted a birthday with all the trimmings – presents, a party, balloons and cake.

Who am I to refuse?

So we threw her a “crazy colours” birthday party with 150 rainbow-coloured balloons, five of her friends from school and a crazy colours vegan ice-cream cake.

But despite the fact that we had cake at her party, apparently we also needed a cake on her actual birthday.

And it would seem that I’m a big softie at heart (who knew?) because I decided to take on the challenge and bake her a vegan chocolate birthday cake.

Fortunately I had the guidance of my current favourite vegan cookbook, The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon, which includes a recipe for “Double Chocolate Fudge Cake”.

One of the many things I love about Angela’s style of cooking is that she uses whole foods as much as possible, and includes a good selection of raw recipes.

In other words, she’s a cook after my own heart.

And her chocolate cake recipe did not disappoint.

In fact, I’d have to say that it’s possibly the best vegan cake I’ve ever made, and I’ve made a few (back in my gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, allergy-ridden days of old).

And I learned a few really handy things along the way too.

1. Line just the bottom of the cake tin with paper

Now this might seem totally obvious to some, but for me it was a real eye-opener.

I’ve made cakes where I lined the entire tin with baking paper – bottom and sides – and cakes where I just greased the tin, but for some reason it had never occurred to me to line just the bottom of the tin.

Sure, I’ve done it with cheese cakes, and ice-cream cakes, but never with a baked cake.

Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake with ice cream

And it worked really well, too. Go figure!

Isn’t it funny, the simple dots that we just don’t connect on our own sometimes?

It just makes the eventual discovery all the more enjoyable, I think.

2. Baking times can vary, a lot

I’ll be the first to admit that our oven is not fancy.

When we replaced it a few years back, we chose the most basic gas oven we could find, because we don’t really use our oven that much.

And also because it was a million times better than the oven that was here when we bought the house originally.

Our new oven is clean, white and shiny, and it’s possible to close the door properly. We’re in oven heaven, frankly.

But it just doesn’t cook things that evenly, which is normally fine, except when it comes to cakes.

Angela’s recipe called for 30-35 minutes at 180°C, and when we checked in on our baby at this point, there was still a serious wobble in the top of the cake batter.

So after another 5 minutes – no, 10 minutes – no, 15 minutes – no, 20 minutes – the cake was finally ready, according to our high-tech cake tester, and I couldn’t stand to leave it any longer.

Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake in tin

Frankly it could probably have used another 5 minutes, but I was terrified that it would burn.

Because being the fabulously organised mother that I am, I was baking this on the evening of my daughter’s birthday, leaving myself absolutely no margin for error.

Thank heavens it turned out well, is all I can say.

3. Icing sugar makes an awesome instant decoration

I had planned on using my homemade natural rainbow sprinkles to decorate our newly created masterpiece, but apparently they’d been sitting on the shelf so long that the coconut oils had turned rancid.

Eeew.

Note to Self: Store rainbow sprinkles in the fridge next time.

And my daughter didn’t want the thick avocado chocolate frosting from the original recipe on her cake, so I quickly improvised.

I printed out a big number 5 onto a piece of paper, stuck it to an old cereal box, and cut it out to make a quick and dirty stencil.

Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake stencil

I carefully laid this on top of the cake and dusted some raw icing sugar (that I’ve had lying around for years) over the top.

And I think it came up pretty well, even if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately, my daughter wasn’t nearly as impressed with the taste of the icing sugar, and refused to eat any part of the cake with white on it.

Sigh.

But we did get to sing happy birthday, blow out the candles, and eat slices of her vegan chocolate birthday cake along with slices of her leftover vegan coconut ice-cream birthday cake, so everyone was happy and honour was satisfied.

For another year at least.

And I might have just learned a thing or two as well.

Yippee!

Check out Angela’s amazing cookbook for yourself

If you want to try making this amazing chocolate vegan birthday cake recipe for yourself, grab yourself a copy of Angela’s amazing cookbook today.

Get Oh She Glows at Amazon.

And have an awesome day!

Nikki, Eating Vibrantly

I studied Biochemistry and Genetics at Monash University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science, with Honours. I’ve always had a passion for natural health, having grown up with asthma, eczema and numerous food allergies, and I wanted to help my kids avoid the same issues. I love blending science and alternative approaches to find the best of both worlds, and I’m always looking for ways to create more amazing health and happiness in my life. Learn more about me »

Note: This content may contain ads and affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn small commissions from qualifying purchases. If you don’t wish to support my site, please don’t click on any ads or affiliate links. This will ensure that I don’t receive any income while you’re using my site. Affiliate links turn orange when you hover over them. Thank you!

7 comments

  • Hi!! I just want to assure others reading the above comment that I’ve made this a bunch of times using unsweetened almond milk and apple cider vinegar and it has never tasted bitter. My family prefers this cake to others because it’s not as sweet so I guess it depends on your preference. I also cook mine at the suggest baking temperature for 35 minutes exactly. Hope this helps others :)

    • A

      Hi Lauren,

      Thank you so much for the reassurance. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences so everyone can benefit.

  • Hi! Glad you posted this! I gave the cake a whirl, but my kids were unimpressed. It definitely left a bitter aftertaste. i’ve experimented with various dairy substitutes in the past- I’m curious what you used in this recipe! I only had almond milk on hand- suspect this may have been the culprit? Soya probably would have been sweeter… Also- did you use white or apple cider vinegar to curdle? Thanks for your help!

    • A

      Hi Yvo,

      I’m glad you tried it. I used homemade almond milk, which I love the taste of, but other almond milks may taste different. I’m pretty sure I used apple cider vinegar to curdle mine. I didn’t notice mine being bitter, but it’s been so long since I’ve eaten baked things that it wasn’t my most favourite dish.

      • Thanks so much! I’ll give apple cider vinegar a try next time and see if there’s a difference! :-)

  • Bob Strong

    I love this recipe for making a birthday cake. My wife will love this. She has been looking for a new cake to try out for my daughter’s birthday. I’m not the best chef, but I do my best to help her in the kitchen.

    • A

      Hi Bob,

      Thanks and I hope it works out well for your daughter’s birthday!

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Vegan food that tastes amazing

Nikki

Hi, I’m Nikki, a mother and business owner, and in my “spare” time I love experimenting with raw, vegan and whole foods recipes that are easy to make and taste delicious. More about me »

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My favourite cookbooks

Raw Food Made EasyAni's Raw Food EssentialsPractically Raw DessertsThe Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angeal Liddon

My favourite kitchen gadgets

Having the right gadgets has totally changed my experience in the kitchen.

High-speed blender
Vitamix blender

I use my Vitamix blender at least 2-3 times EVERY day. It’s fast, so versatile and super quick and easy to clean. I couldn’t live without mine. I absolutely love it!

Food processor
Food processor

I use my powerful food processor three or four times a week, for making nut butters, desserts, sauces, burgers and more. It’s great for large batches and dishes that need texture and just makes “cooking” so much faster.

Dehydrator
Excalibur dehydrator

I use my 5-tray Excalibur dehydrator once or twice a week, for crackers, breads, biscuits, cakes or even just for thawing things. It does an awesome job and makes eating raw SO much easier.

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