Espresso Chocolate Cake. Enough said.
But of course, there’s always something more to say about vegan cake, right? I mean, what’s not to love about this perfect dessert? And to think it involves no eggs, no dairy, hence no cruelty!
Miss Trunchbull’s punishment
If you saw the movie Matilda, you must remember the punishment Miss Trunchbull gave to Bruce Bogtrotter, right? Eat an entire chocolate layer cake in one sitting. OMG so how is that a punishment?! Well, I guess Miss Trunchbull did make everything seem scary and torturous but, chocolate cake?! That was a thing of beauty! That kid got off easy, IMHO.
Can you imagine just sitting down to a whole chocolate cake without any reservations? No thoughts of calories, getting sick, having to share? Just eating and eating as much as you want. Hmmm. Give me a minute.
Real life with Espresso Chocolate Cake
Okay, I’m back. And yeah, that’s only good for dreaming about but not really doing. But what a fun dreamy moment it was!
So whether you want to recreate the scene from Matilda or you just want to make a beautiful chocolate cake to share, our Especially Espresso Chocolate Cake is your go-to recipe.
This cake is a tried and trusted recipe that we make often at our house. And whether in cake or cupcake form, it has never failed to turn out perfect every time. Because the espresso (or coffee) addition gives a depth of flavor that makes this cake stand out from the rest.
Okay… I said the cake has never failed but I didn’t say my attempt at a layer cake with squishy filling was always successful… I was going for the Matilda cake, but…
Will travel for chocolate cake
So this recipe is from a cookbook I’ve had for years that came from The Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. Several years back, our family was travelling in upstate New York, visiting our oldest son Bryan in college. Finally an opportunity to eat at one of the iconic vegetarian/vegan friendly cornerstones of the restaurant world! We drove a bit out of our way that day to make a stop at Moosewood. But it was a delicious experience and now a fond memory. And in a perfect world, Moosewood’s vegan selections would take the place of all McDonald’s restaurant foods. Because we’d all be the better for it. Daydreams are a beautiful thing.
Keep making cake
But until that perfect world becomes a reality, we’ll all just have to keep pushing forward, making positive changes wherever we can and encouraging others to join us. And I will just keep making vegan cakes for everyone! You can too! (No Trunchbull force-feeding necessary!)
P.S. To top off this cake try our Better Buttercream Frosting or our Bougie Brown Sugar Frosting.
And for a light dinner to go with your rich dessert, how about the Miraculous Minestrone Soup
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Espresso Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups espresso or coffee, chilled
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 4 tablespoons vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 2 round 8 or 9-inch cake pans or 1 9×13-inch cake pan by greasing and lightly coating with flour or cocoa powder. Or prepare 24 cupcakes liners in a cupcake tin.
- Sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Combine the vegetable oil, cold espresso or coffee, and vanilla.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and blend until smooth. (1-2 minutes by hand)
- Add the vinegar and stir quickly to combine until the vinegar is evenly distributed. Don't over-blend it.
- Pour the batter into the pan right after blending.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes for 8 or 9-inch pans, 30-35 minutes for 9 x 13-inch pans, or 20-25 minutes for cupcakes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Cool on a wire rack.
- If making cupcakes, pop the cupcakes in liners out of tins after 3-5 minutes to prevent liners from peeling away from the cupcakes.
- Frost as desired. Try our better buttercream frosting. Link in notes.