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Home » Recipes » Cakes

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake

Modified: Jul 24, 2024 · Published: Oct 4, 2017 by Melissa

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Rich chocolate cake with layers of decadent raw brownie crumble and fluffy coconut whip cream frosting make this Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake taste much more indulgent than it really is. Made with only real whole food ingredients and no refined sugar for a healthier cake that is sure to be a hit with the whole family. 

Today is my birthday so let's celebrate with cake...ok? In particular this Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake. I wanted a cake that was decadent and delicious, but also as healthy as possible too.

This cake is all of those things. A rich chocolate cake topped with a super easy raw brownie crumble, because who doesn't love brownies?!, and a fluffy, chocolatey coconut whip frosting.

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  • ingredients
  • substitutions & variations
  • instructions
  • equipment
  • storage
  • Related
  • pairing
  • Recipe

ingredients

At this point you might be thinking how is this healthier than any other birthday cake, but I promise it is. There's no white flour or refined sugar, the cake base is made with whole wheat flour and sweetened with coconut sugar. The brownie crumble is made with dates, walnuts, and cocoa powder - only real whole food ingredients. And that creamy dreamy frosting is coconut cream (from a chilled can of coconut milk) with just a touch of maple syrup and cocoa power. See I told ya it was healthier 😉

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake
  • almond milk 
  • apple cider vinegar 
  • white whole wheat flour
  • cocoa powder
  • baking powder
  • baking soda 
  • salt
  • coconut sugar
  • coconut oil
  • applesauce
  • vanilla
  • date
  • walnuts
  • fat coconut milk or coconut cream
  • maple syrup

See recipe card for quantities.

substitutions & variations

  • Walnuts - you use almonds, pecans or other nuts instead of walnuts
  • Flour - you can use a 1:1 gluten free flour to make this cake gluten free

instructions

This cake is is pretty easy to make, however there is a little planning ahead that needs to be done. The coconut milk or cream needs to be refrigerated at least 24 hours ahead of time to separate the cream from the water and firm up.

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake

equipment

And to make sure I didn't have a bunch of cake leftover for days I kept it small using this 6 inch cake pan set. Yep, this cake is small, but mighty in flavor and sure to be a hit with any chocolate lover. My whole family, even my picky eater who normally detests coconut whip, loved this cake.

storage

Store any leftover cake in an air tight container in the refrigerator. For best texture, let sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake

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Did you make this recipe? Let me know what you think! Leave a review and rating in the comments below. This helps me continue to provide great recipes for you.

Recipe

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake

Melissa
Rich chocolate cake with layers of decadent raw brownie crumble and fluffy coconut whip cream frosting make this Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cake taste much more indulgent than it really is. Made with only real whole food ingredients and no refined sugar for a healthier cake that is sure to be a hit with the whole family.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Assembly Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 50 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Food processor

Ingredients
  

Cake:

  • 1 cup almond milk room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • ⅓ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup coconut sugar
  • ¼ cup coconut oil melted
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla

Brownie Filling:

  • 10 dates, seeds removed
  • ¾ cup walnuts
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt optional

Frosting:

  • 1 can full fat coconut milk or coconut cream refrigerated over night to separate cream from water.
  • 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil 2 or 3 six inch cake pans depending on how deep yours are. I used 3 ¾" deep pans. Set aside. 
  • Combine almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside. 
    1 cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure everything is well incorporated. 
    1 cup white whole wheat flour, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Add coconut sugar, coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla to milk and stir to combine. 
    ¾ cup coconut sugar, ¼ cup coconut oil, ¼ cup applesauce, ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just to combine. 
  • Divide batter between cakes pans. 
  • Bake for 20- 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. See note below. 
  • Allow cakes to cool for about 10 minutes and remove from pans to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Filling:

  • While the cakes bake prepare the brownie filling by combing the ingredients in the bowl of food processor. Pulse just until mixture is a crumble. 
    10 dates, seeds removed, ¾ cup walnuts, ¼ cup cocoa powder, pinch of salt

Frosting:

  • To prepare frosting scoop hardened layer of coconut cream into a bowl discarding the remaining water. 
    1 can full fat coconut milk or coconut cream
  • Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer beat coconut cream until fluffy about 1 minute. 
  • Add cocoa powder, maple syrup, and vanilla and mix to thoroughly combine. 
    2 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla

To Assemble Cake:

  • Place first layer of cake on plate, spread a layer of frosting over cake, and top with brownie crumble. Stack the next layer of cake, spread with another layer of frosting and top with more brownie crumble. Continue this process until you have used all layers of cake. You will likely have left over crumble. You can use it as a topping for nice cream or form brownie bites by pressing mixture together. 

Notes

Bake time with depend on type of cake pan used. I use 3 pans from this cake pan set. If your pans are deeper you will likely only need 2 pans and have to increase baking time.
Adapted from my recipe for chocolate cupcakes.
 
Keyword no refined sugar, non-dairy, vegan

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More Cakes

  • Vegan Whole Wheat Vanilla Cupcakes
  • Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Comments

  1. Megan says

    December 20, 2017 at 2:04 am

    Oh my gosh! Your 10 things! We are so alike! We should be best friends ❤️

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      December 29, 2017 at 12:01 pm

      Thanks for reading, Megan! You can never have too many friends, right? ❤️

      Reply
  2. Agata says

    January 06, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    5 stars
    Primo, I will materialise this grand recipe this week. It's been well-thought, it shows, even apart from precise description 😉
    Secundo, You are adorable. Cheers!

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      January 06, 2018 at 8:34 pm

      Thank you so much! I hope you like it!

      Reply
  3. Carolyn Edmond says

    March 14, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    This looks incredible!! I would like to make it but would like to substitute a gluten free flour for the whole wheat flour. Do you have a suggestion? Thank you for a wonderful post!

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      March 14, 2018 at 4:53 pm

      Thank you Carolyn! I think a 1:1 all purpose blend would work just fine. You may need to reduce the almond milk a little bit since wheat flour tends to need a little more. I hope this helps and please let me know how it turns out if you give it go.

      Reply
  4. Marianna says

    December 27, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    Hi,
    The recipe looks amazing. For the cake batter ingredients, you should basically do two batches. Thanks..

    Reply

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Recipe Rating




Hi, I'm Melissa!

Longtime vegan and mom of four little vegans. I share simple recipes our family loves and my tips for raising healthy, happy vegan kids.

About me

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