One Bowl Chocolate Espresso Cake – No Eggs, Dairy Free!
This ultra moist and soft dark chocolate espresso cake features a one bowl easy chocolate cake batter infused with espresso powder and topped with a silky espresso ‘cream cheese’ frosting and hefty dusting of cocoa powder!! Absolutely no eggs, dairy free, and you’d never know!
Tell me about this chocolate espresso cake:
If you’re a tiramisu lover, then this chocolate espresso cake is an absolutely must. Different from my mocha cake, which is more focused on coffee and chocolate, this chocolate espresso cake is reminiscent of a tiramisu, heavy on the chocolate flavor 😉
We’re using black cocoa powder to yield an ultra deep, rich chocolate flavor that the espresso only amplifies. Then we top with a silky dairy free espresso vanilla cream cheese frosting that is reminiscent of both the mascarpone cream and espresso soaked ladyfingers in traditional tiramisu.
And it’s all made with just a bowl and a whisk, so what could be easier?!
Honestly, if you’re looking for an easy yet stunning celebration cake to serve at holidays, parties, or gatherings, this vegan chocolate espresso cake is most definitely it!
Key ingredients:
- Black cocoa powder: Now, this is different than Dutch-process cocoa powder, and more of a specialty item. So if it’s easiest for you to just use Dutch-process cocoa powder, you can! I like the black cocoa powder because it’s a type of Dutch-process cocoa powder that yields a super rich and deep chocolate flavor (not to mention, SUPER moist and soft!). Whatever you do, though, please DO NOT use all-natural cocoa powder, as that will cause your cake to rise TOO much, and dry out. With not a lot of chocolate flavor, I might add too.
- Espresso powder: I use Delallo’s instant espresso powder here, and it works like a charm. The flavor is super rich, and no need for an espresso machine! You can definitely do decaf too if needed. I wouldn’t recommend omitting this ingredient whatsoever!
- Vegan cream cheese: Now, you could make my vegan mascarpone and incorporate it into the frosting instead of the vegan cream cheese. However, I wanted to keep this espresso chocolate cake as simple as could be, so I figured store bought vegan cream cheese is easiest for most everyone! I really like Kite Hill or Tofutti.
Making the espresso chocolate cake:
Now, as I mentioned above, you really just need a bowl and a whisk for this recipe.
And the remainder of the ingredients are super simple- flour, sugar, light brown sugar, dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream (my personal favorite), and a vegan heavy cream (think like you’re using whole milk in a cake rather than skim). I like Forager Project’s vegan heavy creamer, especially the cinnamon flavor!
Now, once the cake is baked, you cannot top with frosting until the cake is FULLY cooled, or the frosting will slide right off.
And I find that the espresso powder dissolves best into the vegan butter and cream cheese mixture rather than mixing in with the powdered sugar.
For the chocolate curls, this is a bit of a technique- while simple, it takes a bit of finessing to get right. If you search for tutorials, you’ll find various methods for making it, including just using vegan dark chocolate or mixing the chocolate with vegan butter.
Personally, I have most success mixing the chocolate with vegan butter then chilling it and curling. However, it’s about curling the chocolate at JUST the right time- too soft, and you’ll peal the chocolate in chunks. Too hard, and it will scrape off in bits.
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One Bowl Chocolate Espresso Cake
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 65
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 9–16 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This ultra moist and soft dark chocolate espresso cake features a one bowl easy chocolate cake batter infused with espresso powder and topped with a silky espresso ‘cream cheese’ frosting and hefty dusting of cocoa powder!! Absolutely no eggs, dairy free, and you’d never know!
Ingredients
Chocolate espresso cake:
- 1 1/4 cup (300 mL) Forager Project Cinnamon Creamer, room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, sifted
- 1 cup (95 g) black cocoa powder, sifted
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) neutral oil
- 1 cup (220 g) Forager Project Sour Cream, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp espresso powder, decaf if desired
- 1 cup (240 mL) hot water + 1 tsp dissolvable espresso powder (yes an additional tsp of espresso powder! or 1 cup (240 mL) brewed coffee, decaf if desired)
Espresso cream cheese frosting:
- 1 cup (226 g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Be sure to read all instructions before beginning. Measure out all ingredients for the cake.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper (or if doing a layer cake, three 8″ cake pans with parchment paper).
- Whisk the wet ingredients: Add the sugar, brown sugar, melted vegan butter, Forager Project sour cream, vanilla extract, espresso powder, and coffee to a large bowl. Whisk until combined. Then add in the cocoa powder, and whisk until there are no clumps of cocoa powder in the mixture. Then add in the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and whisk to evenly distribute the leavening ingredients throughout the batter.
- Finish the batter: Add in the flour and Forager Project cinnamon creamer, and whisk just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the chocolate cake batter.
- Bake: Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, and place into the oven to bake for 50-55 minutes. If you’re baking as a layer cake, the layers will only need 30-35 minutes. As a sheet cake in a 9×13 pan, about 35-40 minutes.
- Cool: Remove the cake from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Do not frost until the cake is fully cooled.
- Make the espresso cream cheese frosting: In a medium bowl with hand mixer, cream together the vegan butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then add in the espresso, and cream again until combined. Add in the powdered sugar in 1 cup increments, mixing between each cup to integrate until fluffy. Finally, finish with the vanilla extract and sea salt, mixing until incorporated.
•8.Frost and serve! Top the cooled tiramisu chocolate cake with the espresso cream cheese frosting and spread to the edges of the cake. Dust with cocoa powder, and top with shaved chocolate or vegan chocolate covered espresso beans. Enjoy!
Notes
See blog post for all tips & tricks!
I have a question about the ingredients. The list of ingredients calls for 1/2 cup neutral oil but the instructions says to whisk in melted vegan butter. Which sh I use, oil or melted butter?
Oh I’m so sorry for the confusion, and great call! So I originally wrote in vegan butter, but further tested it with oil and preferred that more! So the oil goes where I said butter 😉 My bad! Thank you so much for catching that!