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Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake with Fluffy Espresso Frosting with 3 squares cut

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Espresso Buttercream

This is a super moist, richly flavored chocolate cake, topped with a fluffy cloud of espresso buttercream. No sacrifices in texture or flavor are made to achieve this easy as...cake vegan treat!
4.74 from 38 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Vegan Chocolate Cake, Vegan Espresso Buttercream, Vegan Mocha Cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Cooling: 1 hour
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 15 slices
Calories: 458kcal
Author: Bronwyn

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup plant-based milk
  • ⅔ cup neutral oil eg avocado, canola etc
  • 3 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup fresh hot coffee or hot water

For the Espresso Frosting:

  • ½ cup vegan butter (stick, not tub style)
  • ½ cup non-hydrogenated shortening
  • 3 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 3 tbsp instant espresso powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-4 tbsp plant-based milk
  • chocolate shavings for garnish, optional

Instructions

For the Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9" x 13" with parchment paper, lightly greasing any areas not covered with paper.
  • In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the plant-based milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract.
  • Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and pour in the hot coffee or water. Whisk together just until combined.
  • Add the batter to the baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few cooked crumbs.
  • Let the cake cool completely.

For the Frosting:

  • In a stand mixer with a balloon whisk (or with a large bowl and beaters), beat the vegan butter and shortening together until fluffy. Add in the confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time. Beat for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally. Add in the vanilla and espresso powder and beat another 5-7 minutes. Add plant-based milk only if necessary and 1 tbsp at a time. I normally don't add any.  If you do add some, beat for a couple of minutes after each addition.
  • Spread the frosting over completely cooled cake. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings, if desired.

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 258mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Vitamin C: 1.2mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1.5mg
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