This vegan chocolate cake recipe has been around for decades. It's also called the Whacky cake or the Depression cake. But let me tell you, the taste and texture of this chocolate cake are definitely not whacky or depressing. It's unbelievably moist and tastes like any regular chocolate cake especially with the frosting.
At first, I didn't tell my husband that it was a chocolate cake with vinegar, so he was not able to tell any difference. He liked the cake very much even after I told about the secret ingredient.
But since I knew about the vinegar I was able to feel a very very very mild smell/after-taste. I guess it's psychological. I have to stress here again that when eaten with the frosting this chocolate cake without eggs or dairy is so delicious.
This vegan chocolate cake recipe is definitely a keeper. I'm already thinking of the variations I can make each time.
I also wanted to prepare a vegan frosting for this cake, but I didn't have confectioner's sugar. Actually, I have it somewhere but was not able to find it.
I have made a pact that I won't be buying anything other than dairy products, vegetables, fruits and other extremely necessary groceries for the next 2 months.
Recently I did a pantry audit and was overwhelmed by the things I had accumulated in the past months, especially after starting this blog. I didn't even know that I had bought so much baking/cooking stuff.
That's why I didn't want to buy confectioner's sugar, even though I was so tempted to run to the grocery store. So that's a cool think about this vegan chocolate cake recipe too.
You really don't need to have any special ingredients. Not even eggs, butter or milk. If you bake regularly you would definitely have cocoa powder at home.
Vinegar is also a very common household ingredient. A chocolate cake with vinegar can be baked in no time without much ingredients.
I read in a couple of recipes that this vegan chocolate cake tastes good by itself or just sprinkling confectioner's sugar on top should be good enough. I was wondering what to do for the frosting without the sugar because all the recipes I had called for confectioner's sugar.
Since I was baking it for a special occasion I wanted to frost it. I had a few packs of instant pudding mixes and thought how it would be for a frosting.
I googled and found that pudding mix frosting is very common. Luckily I had the Cool Whip topping which is required for the frosting. Even though I was skeptical, I had to proceed with it anyway because I had no other go. Surprisingly it did turn out good. So the frosting is not vegan.
If you tried this Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients for Cake:
- 1 and ½ cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used Bleached)
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder Unsweetened, I used Hershey's
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil
- 1 tablespoon White Distilled Vinegar
- 1 cup Cold Water
Ingredients For Pudding Mix Frosting:
- 1 cup Cold Milk
- One 4oz Pack Instant Pudding Mix Any Flavor, I used Oreo's cookie flavor
- One 8oz Container Cool Whip Thawed, I used Fat Free
Instructions
Cake Procedure:
- Preheat the oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Lightly oil the cake pan you are using.
- Stir together all the dry ingredients (flour to cocoa powder) and create a well in the center.
- To the well add all the wet ingredients one by one. Mix until just combined. Don't over-mix. It's OK to have some lumps.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Mine was done by 24 minutes. If baking cupcakes, check around 13-15th minute.
- Cool completely on a wire rack. I left it for an hour.
- To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.
- Cool completely before frosting. Actually frosting is not even necessary for this moist cake. You may simply dust with confectioner's sugar and top with fresh raspberries.
Frosting Procedure:
- For vegan frosting recipes, Check out Vegan Butter-cream Frosting and Vegan Cream-cheese Frosting.
- Pour milk into a large bowl. Add the pudding mix. Beat until fluffy for 2 minutes.
- Blend in the thawed Cool Whip thoroughly.
- Frost the cake/cupcakes and refrigerate it at least for 3-4 hours before serving.
My Notes
- For Cake: I read that apple cider vinegar is better than white distilled vinegar when it comes to baking, because you will not even have that very mild smell or after taste I was referring earlier.
- For Frosting: This frosting is not very sweet, but it was perfect with the cake and for us. We don't like overly sweet cakes and frosting.
- For Frosting: This measurement will be right for a 13x9 inch cake or a layer cake. I had at least a cup of frosting left over, which I intend to serve in ice cream cones for my son.
Nutrition
Also check out the delicious eggless chocolate cake recipe.
Krsna says
Hi Madhuram, Thanks so much for this recipe.
i tried it with very little oil and sugar and it still turned out great and yes i used lime juice instead of vinegar. Thank you,
You're welcome Krsna. It's great to know that the cake turned out good even with all the changes you have made. Did you double the quantity of lime juice or did you keep it to 1 tablespoon itself?
Krsna says
Hey, i used the same amount of lime juice i.e. 1 tablespoon
Abby says
I've just found your site and it's great reading so far. thanks!
A tip about this recipe that you might try sometime is to use a fruit flavored vinegar. Raspberry worked well when I tried it. It was really subtle but added a nice touch.
Thanks Abby for the tip. I haven't tried raspberry flavored vinegar until now.
Vijaya says
Hi Madhuram.
I made this cake for the second time today - for my Wilton Course 1 graduation class tomorrow. It came out AWESOME. I think this is a foolproof recipe and I would choose to make it in a heartbeat! Thanks a lot for this wonderful recipe.
Vijaya
Yes it is a foolproof recipe Vijaya. I too have tried it a couple of times and it makes excellent cupcakes too.
Max says
Awesome; as a 19 year old guy that is out of eggs, I can say this is an awesome recipe. Thank you.
You're welcome Max.
Anne says
Thank you! this is very delicious chocolate cake recipe. I am really enjoy reading your post. This is a best cake recipe.
You're welcome Anne.
Rupa L says
Thanks a lot for your advice Madhu.
The eggless cake you made using Yogurt...are you meaning the one which has a Rainbow decoration / icing in the photos of your website ? (Eggless Vanilla Cake and Cake Decorating Tips)
Oh i ddin't know a simple thing like Yogurt would work magic on a box mix....cool idea.
THANKS for help once again
Yes, it is it Rupa. As I have mentioned in the post I'm not telling that its the best eggless white cake but a simple one to put together with very minimal ingredients.
Rupa L says
Made this cake today.
It was awesome. Thanks madhu for sharing the recipe.
Question: If i want to make this as a 1 layer cake should i halve all the items in the cake mix recipe you gave.
THANKS !!
- Rupa
Rupa, the recipe already is for just one layer only. It's for an 8 inch or 9 inch cake.
Rupa L says
Can i icing that you prepared using the cool whip be piped ?
Rupa that icing cannot be piped.
Rupa L says
Hey Madhuram,
Have you tried making eggless cake from the ready pack of cake mix (eg. Betty Crocker) available in the grocery store.
I want to make using the ready cake mix but don't know how to replace the 3 eggs that they call for.
I looked through most of your recipes but i guess you have done all from scratch !!...you have a lot of patience 🙂
Any suggestions ?
Thanks
luv
-Rupa
Rupa I once made a white cake from a cake mix using 1/4 of plain yogurt for each egg to be replaced and it did turn out good.
Rupa says
Hi Madhuram,
Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipes.
i have a question.
Can i replace the 1/4 cup Cocoa in this recipe by 1/4 cup of any flavored pudding mix eg: Strawberry pudding mix to create strawberry flavored cake ?
Do you think it will work ?
Thanks
- Rupa
Rupa that's a very nice idea. You have to try it out to see if it works. I think you would have to reduce the quantity of sugar little bit because the pudding mix already has sugar in it. If you try please let me know.
Julia says
This is the best cure for depression. I love it. Next I'm gonna try to make it with some nuts and chocolate bits in it. I love baking but I have had some trouble with baking without eggs. This is absolutely the best cake ever. Thanks for the recipe.
You're welcome Julia.
Danielle says
I made this on a whim today, curious to test out an egg and dairy free cake recipe that I could serve to a friend with allergies to the aforementioned ingredients. This is a winner! Easy and tasty, it's a keeper in my book. I mixed a little glaze for a topping, and it added just the right note... thanks for sharing this recipe! 🙂
You're welcome Danielle.
Lyn says
Hi, I made cupcakes with this recipe for my partner's birthday, and it was LUSH! Some vegan velvet frosting, and it was totally chocolatey and moist. I substituted with apple cider vinegar and it was lovely. Thanks for the recipe! x
You're welcome Lyn. Thank you for trying the recipe and leaving your feedback here.
Mindy says
Hi Madhu,
I've posted it in my blog
http://mindysdeli.blogspot.com/2009/12/vegan-chocolate-cake.html
Again, thank you so much
//mindy
Mindy says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I've made it for a get-together-dinner and everybody loved it, especially my vegetarian friend.
Salam,
//mindy
You're welcome Mindy. Happy Holidays.
swetha says
hello
am a little confused with the recipes that you ahve named
'vegan' some use milk and some use cream etc. if they use cows milk or any other products they cannot be vegan. The recipes are awesome though. Congrats on that. but please correct the title.
swetha
Swetha, could you be more specific about which recipe you are talking about so that I can clarify your doubt. In this vegan cake recipe, the cake is vegan and I have mentioned that the frosting is not vegan because I have used Cool Whip.
Priya Srinivasan says
Hi Madhu,
Tried this Whacky choco cake this weekend, came out very well. I m posting the pics and linking to ur post for the recipe. Hope u dont mind.
Nandhini says
Hi Madhuram,
I tried this one last weekend and it came out excellent. I have only APple Cidar Vinegar so i used that. also I made chocolate frosting for this which u used for chocolate and bottleguard cake. My cakes and cookies are coming well than bread..... And i am eagerly waiting to read ur next post on Icing Decoration......
Thanks Nandhini. That cake recipe is a no-fail recipe. Will definitely update the cake decorating post very soon.
sheetal says
hi.Madhu
i will give higher rating to the tofu cake than to this cake. this is nice but the other cake is Rich.
I agree with you Sheetal. When it comes to simplicity this one tops.