Hey there chocolate lover! I baked this Back to school vegan chocolate cake two weeks ago when school began here in Finland. It was an emotional kind of “back to school” for us, as it was the start of First grade for my daughter. Oh the emotions! She seemed to be more relaxed about the start than me, but also loved to see me fussing around and baking a cake to celebrate the important day.
If you want to read this post in Finnish, click here.
The original recipe for this delicious cake is in my vegan baking book, Herkkuja – Sweet treats (published in Finland 5 months ago). It looked very different in the book: I made a Sacher cake parfait! This cake is perfect as a Sacher cake as it contains apricot jam – the jam used between the original Sacher Torte.
In my version, the apricot jam is inside the cake batter and together with melted dark chocolate, this makes a pretty amazing & unique sweet treat. Because of this magical combo, no extra oil is needed to make the cake moist. The frosting is special too: with coconut butter as the main ingredient, it’s soft and spreads into a nice thick chocolatey layer. Although not visible in the photos, we always eat this cake with cream. It’s just something that goes together without a question: chocolate cake & whipped cream ♥
Berries are a great chocolate cake topping, but unfortunately berry season is soon over. It makes me sad, it really does, as nothing can beat fresh berries. Berries from the freezer might look beautifully frosty in a photo, but the truth is they make a pretty unattractive cake topping when they defrost.
Btw, if you want to make this cake as a Sacher Torte or the wilder Sacher Cake jar version, just add apricot jam, melted chocolate and cream. Basically you can make this cake into your dream chocolate cake – add whatever toppings you like and enjoy 🙂
Happy cake day from the rainy forest!
♥ Tiina
- Chocolate cake
- 1,5 dl / 0,6 cups plant-based milk (almond or oat milk works well)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 dl / 0,4 cups almond flour
- 2 dl / 0,8 cups spelt flour
- 2 dl / 0,8 cups coconut sugar
- 1,5 tsp baking powder
- 0,5 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100 g / 3,5 oz dark chocolate
- 1 dl / 0,4 cups apricot jam
- Frosting:
- 1,5 dl / 0,6 cups coconut butter
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 5 tbsp plant-based milk (almond or oat milk works well)
- 1,5 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- Toppings: whipped cream and berries or other fruit.
- Preheat oven to 180 C / 356 F.
- Line a baking tin with parchment paper. I used a 28 x 18 cm baking tin.
- Combine plant-based milk and apple cider vinegar and let set for about 5 minutes.
- Mix almond and spelt flour, baking powder and soda, vanilla and salt.
- Melt dark chocolate until it's totally liquid.
- Add milk-ACV mixture and apricot jam to the dry ingredients and mix the melted dark chocolate in the batter.
- Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for about 35 min or until toothpick test comes out clean.
- For the frosting: melt coconut butter and mix in all the ingredients. Add more milk if needed. The frosting should be totally smooth and easily spreadable.
- Add the frosting to the cake while it's still hot from the oven.
- Enjoy the cake with plant-based whipped cream (coconut, soy, oat based) and berries or whatever fruit you prefer 🙂
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