Perfected MOIST Vegan Chocolate ‘Cream Cheese’ Pound Cake – No eggs, no dairy!

This vegan chocolate cream cheese pound cake is finally perfected after multiple rounds of recipe testing with a few key tricks to produce MOST ridiculously moist and tender chocolate pound cake!! Baked low and slow and with the perfect ratio of simple ingredients, and absolutely NO eggs nor dairy needed!

You won’t be able to stop talking about this chocolate cream cheese pound cake:

I tested this vegan chocolate cream cheese pound cake 5 times, and I can honestly say, this is one of the absolute best things I’ve ever eaten.

It’s like a pound cake- only better. The addition of cream cheese makes this chocolate pound cake even more soft and tender. And make it chocolate? Absolute heaven. Here’s why this will be your go-to cream cheese pound cake every time:

• VERY soft & tender: With loads of vegan butter and vegan cream cheese, and the use of powdered sugar, this chocolate cream cheese pound cake is beautifully soft, bouncy, and “buttery.”
• Unbelievably vegan- seriously: Honestly, you would be so hard pressed to tell. It has a depth of flavor that’s not usually associate with vegan desserts (well, that flavor is always found on this site 😉 ). It’s jaw-dropping.
• Perfectly baked every time: Because we’re baking low and slow, you don’t have to worry about over-baking the top and ending up with a stodgy, underbaked dense inside. It’s beautifully tender and soft throughout thanks to a little patience!
• Rich enough to say woah, but light enough to keep going back for more! I’m serious. I can’t stop eating this pound cake, and you’re about to find out why when you make it. It’s just so deliciously decadent, yet somehow is incredibly easy to keep eating. You’ve been WARNED!

Key trick #1: Ingredients and Why I Chose Them:

This vegan chocolate cream cheese pound cake recipe took so many rounds of testing, and each ingredient was chosen with thought.

So let’s unpack it:

• Powdered sugar & light brown sugar: This is not traditional in pound cakes, but I have to say- yields a texture that’s beyond delicious. It actually was a happy accident- my first test used granulated sugar, but my second test, I had run out. Well, the results were even BETTER. Powdered sugar contains cornstarch, which will yield a much softer texture to your pound cake. Then the light brown sugar adds even more moisture thanks to containing molasses!
• Cake flour: Many pound cake recipes just call for all-purpose flour here. But I’ve found the real magic is in using cake flour, since it’s mixed with cornstarch as well. This yields that super soft, moist tender crumb that is not usually found with many chocolate cake recipes!
• Dutch-process cocoa powder: I’m really emphasizing the use of Dutch-process cocoa powder over natural cocoa powder. The reason being is that natural cocoa powder will cause more of a rise when reacting to the baking powder. This creates too much of a cakey texture (and not enough rich, deep chocolatey flavor).
• Vegan butter & vegan cream cheese: Probably the two most controversial ingredients in the entire recipe (I’m specifically calling out anyone who says “that’s not cream cheese” when I use vegan cream cheese haha). The reality is that non-dairy replacements for traditional dairy ingredients have come so far. And this recipe is just perfect with Miyoko’s and Kite Hill (or you can use my homemade vegan cream cheese!).
• Dairy free milk (or aquafaba): Our first vegan egg replacement, I’ve actually tested this with both dairy free milk and aquafaba (the liquid from your chickpea can!). Both work fine here!
• Dairy free yogurt: Another vegan egg replacement, you can think of this like the yolk of an egg. It’s adding back the fat that we’d miss if we just omit the eggs
• Hot coffee: Like my vegan chocolate cake, we’re using HOT coffee here because the warmth of the liquid will help bloom the cocoa powder. This creates a richer chocolatey flavor!
• Baking powder: This is especially an ingredient not found in traditional pound cake recipes, but it’s necessary here (and I don’t think takes away from the fact that this is a chocolate cream cheese pound cake with every bite!). Baking powder, while used to help bolster the eggs in traditional cake recipes, is used here as the egg. It combines with our dairy free milk and dairy free yogurt to create the perfect vegan egg replacement. One that adds moisture, fat, and rise.

Key trick #2: The reverse creaming method is CRUCIAL!

I’ve avoided the reverse-creaming method for several years as a baker, and I’m kicking myself now. It is so perfect, and the results are just unbelievable.

Most cream cheese pound cake recipes, including chocolate ones, call for mixing the dry ingredients into the wet. This is traditional.

But with our chocolate cream cheese pound cake, we’re actually coating the dry ingredients IN the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese before adding in the remaining wet ingredients.

The dry ingredients are evenly coated in the butter and cream cheese, almost forming what looks like a cookie dough. This will minimize gluten formation and potentially prevent any over-mixing.

The result after baking is a SUPER soft, tender crumb that is just unbeatable. I may have to switch all of my methods to this, seriously.

I’ve even been considering remaking my vegan vanilla cake with this method, which is already SUPER soft and tender! Just to see the results because why not 🙂 Plus an extra excuse to eat more cake!

Key trick #3: Bake low and slow:

Our final trick to really create the most luxurious vegan chocolate cream cheese pound cake is baking the pound cake at only 325F for 85-90 minutes.

Yes, that seems like a while, but trust me, it’s perfect. I used to be really hesitant to bake vegan cakes at such low temperatures for fear that they wouldn’t rise. But this pound cake shuts down that fear every single time.

The lower temperature allows the cake to not rise too quickly and over flow, while the length of the baking allows for the cake to really bake evenly from the inside out.

Learn from my mistakes: How to bake the perfect chocolate cream cheese pound cake every time:

It really is just about a few intentional steps that will keep your pound cakes fully intact when the bundt cake pan is removed!

After a few rounds of mistakes (see below photos haha), here’s what I learned:

• Generously coat the pan with oil and cocoa powder after you’ve made the batter: Do NOT skip the cocoa powder step because it is just as important! But the trick is to do this just after you’ve made the batter. Why? Because if you let the pan sit with the oil and the cocoa powder while you make the batter, it will slide to the bottom and create an uneven coating that could potentially cause breakage.
• Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes before inverting: Don’t invert too soon, but also don’t invert too late! I’ve found the sweet spot is between 30-45 minutes. I’ve inverted before then as well as even 2 hours after baking with broken results.
• Use a stand mixer bowl cover: This will prevent any poofing of flour or wet ingredients in your face and around the kitchen! If you saw my Instagram stories, then you know lol.
• When in doubt, give it an extra 5 minutes: This chocolate cream cheese pound cake is SO moist that I’ve found if I’m scared it’s underbaked at 85 minutes, you can still bake another 90 minutes and it’s perfect.
• Mix the ingredients SLOWLY: Follow my guidance below in the recipe card for when I tell you to turn up the speed and slow down. It’s important for the recipe!

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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