This supremely moist vegan Bundt cake is dense yet soft and packed with wonderful chocolate flavors. Serve it plain or with a vegan chocolate ganache; no matter what you pick, this vegan chocolate Bundt cake is guaranteed to disappear fast. Everyone, even non-plant-based eaters, will crave more.
Adapted from my vegan German chocolate cake and chocolate cake, this vegan chocolate Bundt cake recipe has it all. It’s moist, with dense chocolate flavor, and way fancier than a classic cake with its chocolate ganache.
If you are after a fantastic vegan cake recipe for Christmas or to share with a large crowd, this vegan Bundt cake will steal all the attention.
Why You Will Love This Vegan Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Wonderfully dense and moist at the same time.
- Richer chocolate flavors than classic chocolate cake.
- Fancy old-fashioned look that is sure to impress.
- Easy to make – Bundt cake pans make it easier to bake without the risks of burning.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Unsweetened Almond Milk or any non-dairy milk you love, like oat milk, coconut milk, or soy milk.
- Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice to curdle the dairy-free milk and create buttermilk that increases the moist cake texture.
- Unsweetened Vegan Yogurt – I use plain coconut yogurt. It’s rich, creamy, and fattier than other dairy-free yogurt, which adds moisture to the vegan Bundt cake. However, you can also replace it with the same amount of unsweetened applesauce.
- All-Purpose Flour – I didn’t try the recipe with an all-purpose gluten-free flour, and I am not sure how this will impact the cake texture. By experience, vegan cake with gluten-free flour comes out gummy and dense if no other ingredient adaptations are made.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Bundt cakes contain way more cocoa powder than regular chocolate cake. They have a deep chocolate flavor. That’s why the quality of your cocoa powder matters. Make sure you use a high-quality baking cocoa powder for a delicious and robust cocoa flavor.
- Espresso Powder is the secret ingredient that enhances and boosts the chocolate flavor of the cake.
- Sugar like caster sugar or white sugar.
- Brown Sugar or even better soft brown sugar for extra moisture.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda to make the cake rise.
- Salt to boost the chocolate flavor.
- Vanilla Extract for flavor
- Light Olive Oil, canola oil, or melted vegan butter.
- Boiling Water – To bloom the cocoa powder. It helps dissolve the powder and makes the chocolate flavors pop out even more.
Making This Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Vegan Bundt cakes require quite a few ingredients and look fantastic, but they are surprisingly easy to make.
- In a small mixing bowl, add plant-based milk, full-fat coconut yogurt, and apple cider vinegar. Whisk to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 10 minutes to curdle.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder.
- Pour the wet ingredients from step 1 into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Add in the remaining liquid ingredients: vanilla extract, and oil, start whisking and gradually pour the boiling water at the same time to bloom the cocoa powder.
- The batter should be glossy, and thin with no lumps of cocoa powder. You can work with a hand whisk or hand beater as you like.
Baking The Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). If you are using a silicone Bundt pan, place it over a large baking sheet. Spray cooking oil generously on the pan to ensure an easy release of the cake later.
Pour the Bundt cake batter evenly into the pan and bake it on the center rack of the oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool down in the pan for 15 minutes, then place a serving plate on the cake pan and flip the cake upside down.
Cool completely before adding any frosting.
Optional Vegan Ganache Frosting
Bundt cakes are usually served with a chocolate ganache or vegan royal icing if it’s a lemon Bundt cake.
I made my vegan chocolate ganache recipe by melting semi-sweet chocolate chocolate chips with warm vegan cream and vanilla extract.
Pour the ganache on top of the cake and let it drip on the sides to create a beautiful dripping effect.
Sprinkle some grated vegan chocolate on the top or keep it plain.
Vegan Bundt Cake Serving Ideas
Serve the cake with some of the below:
- Vegan whipped cream
- A scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream
- Fresh strawberries
- Vegan custard
- Coconut whipped cream
Expert Tips To Easily Release Bundt Cakes
There’s nothing difficult in making vegan Bundt cake except the release! Here are my baking tips to release a Bundt cake perfectly every time.
- Use a silicone Bundt cake pan – To get the Bundt cake out of the pan perfectly and release it on a serving plate without breaking. The trick is to use a silicone pan. It’s a 99% no-fail process. Silicone pans are soft, and you can easily press and push the cake out when inverting. If you use a metallic pan, the Bundt cake will be tough to take out, but it’s still possible.
- Let the cake ‘steam’ in the pan for easy release – Cool down for 15 minutes in the pan at room temperature. The steam created during the cool-down makes the cakes unstick from the pan.
- Place a cooling rack over the base of the pan and flip it fast in a quick, sharp rotation to give energy to the cake and guarantee its release.
- Don’t use a knife – if it sticks to the pan, use a silicone tool to help the cake release from the sides but not a knife that will break the cake.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
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Vegan Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- ⅔ cup Dairy-Free Yogurt - (note 1)
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- ¾ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Expresso Powder
- 1 ½ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Light Olive Oil - (note 2)
- ¾ cup Boiled Water
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅔ cup Vegan Cream - soy, or canned coconut cream
- 1 ¼ cup Semi-Sweet Vegan Chocolate Chips - 6 oz
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Oil a Bundt cake with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, stir almond milk, vegan yogurt, and vinegar. Set aside a few minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the dry ingredients. Using the paddle attachment or hand whisk, stir flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add in the milk mixture made before, oil, and vanilla extract, and beat at medium speed, gradually adding the boiling water at the same time.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then place a cooling rack on top of the pan and flip it to release the Bundt cake.
Chocolate Ganache
- Add the chocolate chips to a glass bowl. Set aside.
- Bring the vegan cream to a boil in a non-stick saucepan, pour the chocolate chips, and let them sit for a minute.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and stir until the mixture is glossy and shiny and the chocolate is fully melted.
- Drizzle all over the Bundt cake, letting it drip on the sides.
Hi Carine,
I have the same issue with Joana about flour replacement and you did comment that it all depends on the blend we used. I will try my blend of almond, tapioca and coconut flour.
I will let you know how it turns out.
Yes! Very interested in gluten free recipes!
Thank you!!
Hi Carine,
Can you use gluten free flour with xanthan gum instead of all purpose? If so what would the measurements be, please? Thank you!
It might work, but these days I’ve stopped recommending GF swaps because all the blends I’ve tried behave very differently depending on what they’re made with. A blend with primarily rice and then tapioca is very different from one with primarily maize. So unfortunately, it depends so much on your blend that I’m not sure if it’ll work!
Do let me know if you happen to try!
Oh I see! I’m in the UK so I use Freee (fornerly Dove’s farm). These are the ingredients which I believe are by descendimg order of main component:
Ingredients: flour blend (rice, potato, tapioca, maize, buckwheat), raising agents (mono-calcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate), thickener (xanthan gum)
It *might* work 🙂