Vegan Chocolate Cake

Secret Recipe: Vegan Devil's Food Cake from Greens Restaurant

I made these cupcakes for Britney's birthday. We went bowling at the same place we went last year. It's a restaurant & bar that serves southern food and then it also has a few bowling lanes in it. I made the vegan cupcakes with rolo candies stuck in the center of some of them. I then used store-bought frosting and decorated them with the words "Happy Birthday Britney" on them (not shown here). 

(This picture is from their website, mine are below--it was just such a good pic I wanted to keep it too!)

This chocolate-lovers cake from chef Sandi Sumaylo of Greens Restaurant is dark, dense, and, believe it or not, vegan. Make it for Easter dinner or someone’s upcoming birthday. You can tell them that in March, Twitter’s Biz Stone (a vegan) made his birthday wishes over the cake topped with candles.

Makes 1 cake

1 cup hot water                                   

½ cup cocoa powder                       

1 cup soymilk                                      

½ cup maple syrup                                   

½ cup rice bran oil                                   

1 tablespoon champagne vinegar           

1 tablespoon vanilla                                      

1 cup cake flour                                   

1 cup all purpose flour                                   

½ cup maple sugar                                   

1 tablespoon baking powder                       

1 tablespoon baking soda                                   

1 teaspoon salt                                               

1.  In a large bowl, combine hot water and cocoa powder. Whisk until cocoa powder has dissolved

2.  Add soymilk, maple syrup, rice bran oil, champagne vinegar, and vanilla, and whisk well. 

3.  In another bowl, sift dry ingredients and add to wet

4. Whisk dry and wet ingredients together until combined.

5.  Pour batter into parchment-lined springform pans

6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, when cake feels springy and an inserted skewer comes out clean.

7.  Let cool, de-pan, and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

8.  Cut top off cake to even out, and cut into two layers to frost.

Here you can see that lighter brown in the middle which is the rolo. 

Frosting (I didn't make this frosting but I thought it would be good to keep for reference in the future)

4 ounces vegan butter                                   

1 ¼ cup soymilk                                      

1 cup organic powdered sugar           

½ teaspoon vanilla                                      

8 ounces vegan chocolate chips           

1.   In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, bring vegan butter, soymilk, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a simmer, whisking at all times so that soymilk does not burn on the bottom of the pot.

2.  Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Let cool until it is warm to the touch.

3. Place in a food processor, and let it run until the frosting is smooth and shiny

4. To assemble, place cake on a rack over a sheetpan. Spread 1/3 of the frosting in between the cake layers, pour remaining frosting over top layer, and let it pour over sides. Let it set in refrigerator or at room temperature before cutting.  

I wanted to add this picture because these are the measuring cups I used to make the cake. Claire gave them to me for Christmas and they are just too cute. They are those little Russian stack-able dolls. The upper part and the lower part are both measuring cups! SUPER AWESOME!! Thanks Claire!