This post was originally made way back on May 24, 2010. I was going to write a new post completely and let this one fall by the wayside but that made no sense at all. Instead, I’ve just given it a bit of an update with some further information and maybe eventually a nice new photo.
This recipe is adapted from a recipe given to me by my sister-in-law years ago. It is *the best* basic chocolate cake recipe ever. I made it gluten-free and vegan with great success. Originally I only ever made cupcakes with this recipe because I had a fear about how a cake would bake up – sometimes without eggs the centre of a large cake tends to be underdone or flops once the cake cools. Then I got over that fear and it has never happened with this recipe. That’s why this is the best cake recipe in the world. Or maybe even in the universe.
I’ve baked this as a 11×7 cake, two 8″ rounds, jumbo cupcakes, regular cupcakes, mini cupcakes. All always bake up awesome. You just may need to reduce the baking time for the cupcakes. I would start checking them at 25 minutes.
- 1½ cups organic cane sugar
- ½ cup vegan margarine
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1½ cups brown rice flour
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup sour non-dairy milk (1/2 cup non-dairy milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice)
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup boiling water
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cream sugar and margarine. Add applesauce.
- Combine flours, xanthan gum, and baking powder in a bowl.
- Mix baking soda into sour milk and let sit.
- Add the milk mixture alternately with the flours to the sugar-applesauce mixture. Make sure each addition is combined before adding the next.
- Add cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix well.
- Fold in boiling water until mixture is smooth.
- Portion batter into prepared cake pan(s) or paper-lined muffin tins.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Made this today as I was looking for a chocolate fix. I liked that the ingredients were mostly simple. I baked mine for 30 min and that was perfect. Topped with a gluten free vegan german chocolate frosting. AMAZING! Thanks for the recipe:)
is there any non-dairy milk you suggest?
I generally use unsweetened plain almond milk. I have also been known to use coconut milk. 🙂
I’m sorry, did I do something wrong here? These turned out horribly. As I was mixing the batter before adding the boiling water, it was extremely sticky and dough-like. It was climbing up my beater blades and making a terrible mess. It was nearly impossible to mix the cocoa into the dough with a beater. Once added the boiling water it was a very gummy blob in the bowl :(. The results were a sticky gummy lump in each muffin tin. Flavours were ok, but absolutely I edible as they would not release from the papers, and we’re very chewy.
That sounds awful Stef! Sorry it didn’t turn out for you. 🙁 Is it possible that you added more xanthan gum than the 2 teaspoons called for in the recipe? Because what you’re describing sounds to me like what happens when there’s too much xanthan gum – the sticky, gummy, blobby quality while mixing, and the chewy texture after being baked all sounds like too much xanthan gum. To be clear the batter is quite thick and sticky before the hot water is added but it shouldn’t be climbing up the beaters like you describe and the end result should be a nicely delicately moist cupcake. Too much xanthan gum is the only thing I can think of that would cause your issue.
Hi Megan, and fellow readers. I’m so sorry! I totally take back my comments about these cupcakes. After my failed attempt mentioned above, I was frantically searching for another recipe when I realized it was my error! I had forgotten to add the baking soda in with the soured milk! Makes so much sense now why they were so dense and chewy. There was no rising agent at all. I tried the recipe again, and this time used the proper amounts, and the results were much, much better. They were lighter and still slightly denser and richer than your regular standard cake, but for gluten free and egg free it was spectacular. I’m sorry to mislead readers, the mistake was all mine. Thanks for sharing, it will be my new go to recipe for vegan, gluten free cake.
No worries at all Stef. I’m glad you were able to figure out what the problem was and that they turned out in the end. I always say that baking is like one big science experiment and it’s totally true – especially noticeable when something gets forgotten. Thanks for coming back and commenting too, I appreciate it!
I tried these and liked the flavor pretty well, but I found the brown-rice flour to be grainy. I just used the kind I had bought in bulk from Whole Foods. Is there a superior brand that won’t yield such grainy results? Or can I just sub a different type of flour, like millet or sorghum?
Some varieties of brown rice (and white rice) flours can be grainy. If you prefer to use sorghum flour, go for it. I haven’t tried it in this recipe but I have had good success swapping out sorghum flour for other flours in other recipes so I think it should work. I tend to find millet flour grainy sometimes, but that might just be the kind I have.
Looks great! Can’t wait to try this recipe! How many cupcakes or what size cakes do you typically make with this particular amount of batter? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Lisa, You can make 2 dozen regular sized cupcakes, 1 dozen jumbo cupcakes, 2 8-inch round cake pans, or 1 9×13 oblong cake pan.
I cannot rave loud enough about this recipe! Yes, it is many steps, yes it has a large number of ingredients, and YES it is AMAZING!
Seriously, as a GF Vegan this has changed my life. Not an understatement I can assure you – from someone who hasn’t had a decent cake in years 🙂
Thank you!
How long do I cook the 2 dozen regular sized cupcakes for if the oven temp. is 350°??
You just may need to reduce the baking time for the cupcakes. I would start checking them at 25 minutes.
Hi Megan! I intend to use this recipe tomorrow to make my birthday cake and I was wondering if you imagine it would work if I attempted to make it into three, thin 8 inch cakes rather than two normal? I want to make a naked, layered blackforest cake but still don’t want it to be too ginormous. Or should I maybe make a little extra? Please help meeeee thank you!
I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner Amber! I hope you went ahead and attempted to try this recipe using three pans instead of two. I am sure it would work just fine. How did it turn out??
Do you think this recipe could work without the cocoa powder for a vanilla cake? It’s the best gf vegan cake we’ve tried and we don’t want to go back!
I think so! I researched this a while ago actually because I am the same as you, and feel like this is the best gf vegan cake recipe out there and so making a vanilla version was something I wanted to do. I never ended up getting around to it, because life, and kids, and whatever. But if I recall correctly there would need to be an adjustment on the liquid because the cocoa powder is a dry ingredient, and there’s a considerable amount in this recipe. Without having tested it personally, I would suggest omitting it, and knowing the consistency of this cake recipe from making it before, add in a bit of gluten free flour (brown rice flour probably) little by little until you get the consistency you’re familiar with. As for flavour, I am willing to bet this will taste sweeter now without the bitter cocoa to balance it out.
For what it’s worth, I believe I tweaked this cake recipe to make a white cake as the base of my Pina Colada Cupcakes recipe, so you could go check out that recipe and perhaps get some inspiration.
Happy Baking! And good luck experimenting. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
How far in advance can I make this vegan cake?
Can it be frozen?
Hi Carol,
You can most definitely freeze this recipe once it’s baked and cooled. I’ve frozen the cupcakes and they thawed with good results. Enjoy!