Easy Vegan Cake Recipe

With Valentine’s Day just one day away we wanted to share this easy vegan cake recipe with you – ya know, so you can bake it for your sweetheart to celebrate ❤️ Cause what better way to celebrate than with chocolate?! This Toasted Hazelnut Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache is heart healthy in more than one way! 😋

Products We Used In This Recipe

Seriously Sinful Cake

We initially thought about baking heart-shaped sugar cookie cutouts, but that’s just not the vibe we’re into this year! So we agreed on this unforgettably delicious, dark chocolate cake instead! It’s literally dripping in chocolate goodness. Try and eat just one slice. I dare you 😉

Bursting with Mouth-Watering Flavors

If you’re wondering what makes this cake so incredibly good here’s the secret… Frangelico liquor. It’s in the cake batter and the dark chocolate ganache glaze! Combined with the toasted hazelnuts, this cake is bursting with just enough flavor to perfectly balance the creamy dark chocolate ganache.

Spoiler Alert

Our taste testers all agreed that this cake had a texture to die for. It’s perfectly moist and unforgettably rich. The ganache is light and creamy and so tasty you can literally eat the leftovers with a spoon (we did)! But back to the cake, it’s really delicious and, did I mention, easy to make!

Drool-Worthy Taste

Once you mix the batter simply pop in the oven, bake and cool on wire racks. Once it’s chilled you can begin frosting it!

Just try not to eat all the ganache before you begin frosting the cake 😉

The one thing that is essential in frosting this cake is that it’s fully cooled and ideally, chilled. Chilled cakes are much easier to frost! Also, I linked to my favorite cake decorating knives below to make the decorating process a piece of, well cake – no pun intended, I swear! 😅

Creamy, Whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache

If you have a mixer, like the one above, you can very easily whip the ganache! If not, a hand-held mixer will work too! I’ll link to the Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer above as well as my favorite hand-held mixer below too. The ganache is simple to make, just melt the chocolate, whip and chill for a couple hours. So simple. It’s ready to go when it’s a mousse-like consistency!

Ultimate, Rich Chocolate Chunks

We used Enjoy Life semi sweet Mega Chunks for this recipe, which I’ve linked to below. They’re 100% vegan and taste incredible. If you love pure chocolate, you’ll be obsessed!

Jaw-Dropping Flavor

These mega chunks are bursting in sweet chocolate goodness and are 100% vegan! If you love them, you’re bound to love their semi-sweet chips and dark chocolate mega chunks too! In fact, you’re likely to enjoy many of their foods, they make much more than than these chocolate chunks! They make baking mixes, chocolate bars, cookies & more 😋

Time To Chill

Once you’re done whipping the ganache, pour half of the batter into a pie pan (like the image here) and the other half in another pie pan. No pie pans? No problem! Just separate the batter into two shallow bowls or something similar. This will speed up your chilling time! Once it’s on ice, so to speak, you get to chill for a couple hours too 😉

Easy Vegan Cake Recipe

Time to frost the cake! Once you ganache is fully chilled and resembles a mousse-like consistently it’s time to frost your first layer! Like I mentioned earlier, try not to eat all the ganache before you finish frosting the cake 😉 Oh, and feel free to sprinkle toasted hazelnuts on the bottom layer once it’s frosted for added flavor and crunch!

Dark Chocolate Dusted, Toasted Hazelnuts

Yep, you headed that right – they are so easy to make and will be impossible not to eat! But try, ’cause they look beautiful on top of your ganache glazed cake 🤩 I coated the toasted hazelnuts in the remaining ganache and then sprinkled cocoa powder on them. Easy and delicious!

Easy Vegan Cake Recipe

Here’s a link to my favorite cake decorating knife. I used this one as a cake decorated at Wegmans years ago and it’s still my favorite to this very day! Also, it really helps to put your bottom layer on a cake stand first, frost that, then add the top layer and frost the entire cake, spinning the cake stand as you frost. Maybe one day I’ll make a video of this, but for now, just drizzle the ganache on top, allowing a lot to fall over the edges. Once it’s falling over the edge, use your knife to guide it to the sides of the cake, point it downwards and flatten it against the sides while simultaneously using your left hand to spin the cake as your knife smoothes the ganache. Hopefully that makes sense! If not, just do your best because once you top the cake with the hazelnuts and cocoa no one will really notice the glaze anyways – all they’ll be thinking about is how soon they can taste it! 😉

Luscious, Toasted Hazelnut Cake Drenched In Dark Chocolate Ganache

Products We Used In This Recipe

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Toasted Hazelnut Cake with Dark Chocolate Whipped Ganache

This easy vegan cake recipe is seriously delicious and insanely rich! It's the best vegan cake recipe, and sure to impress you and all your party guests. Pin it now because you'll want to make this vegan cake more than once!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Vegan

Author Vegan Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Toasted Hazelnut Cake

• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 c plant-based milk (we used hazelnut)
• 1 1/2 c pastry flour
• 1/4 c ground hazelnuts *
• 3/4 c vegan sugar (we used Wholesome)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 c neutral flavored oil
• 1 tbsp hazelnut liqueur (we highly recommend Frangelico)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Whipped Ganache

• 10 oz vegan dark chocolate (we used Enjoy Life)
• 2 tbsp vegan sugar
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 13.5 oz coconut milk, full-fat
• 1 tbsp hazelnut liqueur

Instructions

Toasted Hazelnut Cake

1. Toast the hazelnuts for 15 minutes at 325 ºF. Once toasted, transfer to parchment paper to cool and, once cool, rub gently to remove the skins. 

2. * Add the toasted hazelnuts to a food processor and puree until finely ground.

3. Increase the oven to 350 ºF and coat your cake pans with a non-stick spray and place parchment paper circles on the bottom. Set aside.

4. Combine the plant based milk and apple cider vinegar in a medium sized bowl and stir. Set aside for 5 minutes while you mix the dry ingredients.

5. Combine the pastry flour, ground hazelnuts, sugar, sea salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl of a stand mixer and mix until combined. 

6. Add the neutral flavored oil, hazelnut liquor and pure vanilla extract to the medium bowl with the plant based milk and apple cider vinegar and whisk.

7. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl and mix until creamy and smooth. 

8. Pour the cake batter into two 6" cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, checking at the 25 minute mark. They are baked when the edges are slightly golden brown and a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

9. Remove and allow to cool on wire racks for approximately 10 minutes. Then, flip upside down to remove from the pans to the wire racks and cool completely. Remember to peel of the parchment paper from the bottoms! 

10. Cover the cake layers with plastic wrap or wrap in parchment paper and place in the refrigerator to chill. Decorate when fully chilled for best results!

Dark Chocolate Whipped Ganache

1. Pour the dark chocolate chunks into a heat safe mixing bowl.

2. Combine the coconut milk, sugar and sea salt in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow to come to a simmer. Stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

3. Once simmering, transfer the mixture to the bowl with the chocolate chunks and cover. Set aside for 5 minutes. 

4. Once the chocolate has melted, pour the ganache into a bowl of a stand mixer and whisk. Add the hazelnut liqueur and whisk once more until creamy and smooth. 

5. Allow the ganache to cool for approximately 30 minutes at room temperature. Once cooled, transfer to two pie dishes (or similar shallow bowls) and place plastic wrap over the ganache so it touches the top of the ganache. This will prevent it from forming a "skin" when cooling. 

6. Transfer the ganache to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 2-4 hours. 

7. Check after 2 hours. It will be ready when it's a thick, pudding-like consistency. Once ready, transfer it to a bowl of a stand mixer once again and whip for approximately 2-3 minutes or until creamy and smooth. 

8. Once whipped you may begin to frost your cake layers! 

9. Sprinkle any remaining chopped hazelnuts on the frosted bottom layer and again, on the top layer after frosting. 
   

10. To make the cocoa dipped hazelnuts you see on the top layer, simply coat the hazelnuts in any remaining ganache and dust with cocoa powder. 

11. Once decorated, you may want to transfer the cake back to the refrigerator (depending on the climate and or time of year) to prevent the ganache from melting if it's warm in your kitchen, or humid outside. Otherwise, slice and enjoy with a tall, cold glass of hazelnut milk!

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