vegan chocolate cake

with coconut pecan frosting

Since we were out of town for Marty's birthday I offered to make him a cake before we left.  Every time I ask him what kind of cake he wants the answer is always chocolate cake with coconut frosting. Every time.

Needless to say, over the past few years, I've gotten pretty good at making it. I've tried many different recipes but my favorite is one I modified from Kittee's chocolate cupcake recipe.  It is rich and moist and perfect for every occasion.  The coconut pecan frosting is an amalgam of the different recipes I've tried over the years.

Vegan Chocolate Cake
makes a 2-layer 8" cake or 24 cupcakes

• 1 cup coffee
  
• 1 cup soy milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups unbleached white flour (Sometimes I substitute half the flour for cake flour to give it a more delicate texture, however, it my preference to use only white whole wheat flour for a "healthier" cake.)
• 2 cups granulated sugar 
• 2/3 cups cocoa powder 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour (cocoa works great here) two 8" cake pans.
2. If you don't have your coffee pre-made, make it now and make it strong!
3. In a small bowl, mix the soy milk and the apple cider vinegar or the lemon juice and set it aside for a few minutes to curdle.
4. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla extract and coffee to the curdled soymilk.
6. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well with a big whisk, beating out all of the lumps.
7. Pour the batter evenly into each cake pan.
8. Bake for 40-50 minutes (I like to test the center with a toothpick around 35 minutes and every few minutes thereafter. When tester comes out clean it is done. Also, the cake will start to pull away from the sides. Do not cook it too much longer past this point or the edges will get very crispy).
9. Cool for ten minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

While the cake is baking make your frosting.

Coconut Pecan Frosting
makes enough to generously frost top & sides of a 2-layer cake

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 3 cups unsweetened shredded coconu
• 1 cup pecans, chopped (I like to chop half of them coarsely and half of them finely)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In medium sized sauce pan on medium heat, melt the Earth Balance. Add the coconut milk and brown sugar. Stir frequently until it boils. Turn heat down to low and cook, stirring frequently, for another 5 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, mix the soy milk and arrowroot.  Add to the sauce pan along with the shredded coconut and pecans and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 more minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
4. Make sure both the cake and the frosting have cooled to room temperature before frosting.