Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

2 3/4 cups cake flour
2 cups natural sugar or baking sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups cool water
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl. With a spoon, make three indentations in dry mixture; 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large.

3. Pour oil into large indentation, vinegar into medium, and vanilla into small.

4. Add the water and mix (do not over beat). Put into pan and oven ASAP in order to ensure the reaction with the vinegar and baking powder works properly. This is how the cake rises.

5. Bake for about 15-20 minutes for cupcakes or 45-50 minutes for cake until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean. You will want to adjust the cook time depending upon the baking pan you are using.

This recipe will yield two 9 layers or 24 cupcakes. Just be sure to keep an eye on your cake 40-50 minutes, and cupcakes 15-20 minutes.

Prep Time: 10 minutesCook Time: 15-20 or 45-50 minutes

Amazing Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1cup margarine (I use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)

3- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. vanilla

4-6 Tbsp. soymilk (Chocolate is best)

1 cup cocoa powder

Mix together margarine, cocoa, and vanilla together. Add powdered sugar and soy milk slowly alternating between the two and mixing between additions. You can vary the amount of soy milk or powdered sugar to obtain the best consistency for frosting.

Here is the chocolate cake recipe I adapted. It is moist and fluffy - great for cupcakes too.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

Vegan Birthday Party

At the beginning of this month my baby girl turned one. After losing our first son to a stillbirth, first birthdays are a big deal at our house. When we threw our first vegan birthday party for my son Elliott I was overwhelmed with determining what to serve for food. 


I baked three practice cakes to find a recipe I felt was delicious enough to represent vegan food. Prior to that my cake baking experience comprised of veganizing the cake recipe on the back of Hershey's Cocoa Powder.

Below is more detail on what food we served for the various birthday parties we've hosted if you are looking for ideas. We chose simple food since we have two little ones to keep up with while cooking.

Food

PB & J sandwiches shaped like dinosaurs

Hummus & pita chips

Veggie tray with onion dip

Fruit Salad

Vegan potato salad (recipe from here)

Chips & Salsa or Guacamole

Pretzels

Spring rolls

Veggie Nuggets

Sloppy Joes

Warm 3 Bean Dip

Drinks

Lemonade

Tea

Juice Boxes

Favor Boxes

Ritz Mini Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Annie's Fruit Snacks

Skittles (check for gelatin free there are still ones with gelatin out there)

Temporary Tattoos

Stickers

Birthday Cakes & Cupcakes

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla Cake with Almond Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting, topped with chocolate fondant -and-

Almond Cake with Almond Buttercream Frosting, topped with vanilla fondant

Until my kids came along, I never really decorated cakes other than the simple frosting and adding the obligatory "Happy Birthday" writing. At the parties there were a lot of people who thought the cakes were store bought. Personally I think they were just being kind, but for a novice I think they turned out pretty good. My ideas were gleaned from a birthday cake site, where people submit their homemade cakes with instruction on how to do them. The ladybug and digger cake were a combination of ideas, but it is a great place to get inspiration.

Newbie Blogger

I've followed blogs before, but have always been too intimidated to start my own. Time has always been the biggest challenge preventing me from taking the plunge. It has been a desire of mine to chronicle the experience of parenting from a vegan's point of view. Childhood is a grand adventure and I am simply along for the ride. What follows is my family's story.