Chocolate Birthday Cake
This three-layer plant-based chocolate cake is filled with chocolate frosting and perfect for a birthday!
Equipment
- oven
- high speed blender
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- ¾ cup plant milk
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup apple sauce
- 1 Hass avocado about ¾ cup
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules / espresso powder or coffee extract optional
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
Frosting Ingredients
- 2 cups plant milk
- 1 cup date sugar or unrefined sugar*
- ½ cup cacao or cocoa powder
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in hot water
- ¾ cup agave
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract or cake batter flavoring
- ½ tsp sea salt optional
- ½ tsp coffee extract optional
- 2 cups peeled cooked, mashed sweet potato** (about 4 small)
Instructions
Cake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
- Combine all of the wet ingredients and avocado in a high-speed blender. Blend 60-90 seconds until smooth and creamy.
- Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- Divide the mixture between the three prepared pans and bake for 16-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. If using two pans, bake for 28-34 minutes.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the frosting ingredients in a high-speed blender - see frosting instructions below.
- Frost!! Place one cake on a plate and evenly spread one quarter of the frosting. Stack a second cake on top of the first and evenly spread another quarter of frosting on top. Repeat with the third layer. Spread the last quarter of frosting around the sides of the layered cake and smooth the edges of the top and sides until you’re satisfied with the way it looks.
Frosting Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, blend all of the ingredients, except sweet potatoes, until extremely smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the blender, until silky smooth. Your blender may seem a little angry at this point, but use the tamper to make sure the frosting is super smooth. This takes another minute or so. The chocolate frosting should be soft and smooth but hold its shape. Add a little milk if needed.
Notes
* You can substitute coconut sugar for the date sugar. You can also use powdered sugar.
** For the frosting, I used four small sweet potatoes to make 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes.