Vegan Cola Cake with Fudgy Frosting

New Recipe! Betsy is a true perfectionist. Years ago she shared her fantastic recipe for vegan coca cola cake with us, which was well-loved from the get-go. But she has continued to test and tweak her formula, which she says is now EXACTLY right.

If you have ever perused a “church cookbook,” as we call them down South, then you’ve undoubtedly seen a recipe for coca cola cake.  And if you’ve been to a “dinner on the grounds” at said southern church, then you’ve surely seen such a cake, and possibly even savored a slice.

Coca cola cake looks like a basic chocolate sheet cake, but it is oh-so-much more: dense, moist, and though it contains a small amount of cocoa, it’s very chocolaty and caramel-like from the cola.

This is my third and final iteration of trying to veganize this old classic. Why final?  Because I finally got it. I posted the previous two versions of my vegan coca cola cake because I thought I had it each time. The moistness and flavor of the most recent formula was spot-on, but it sunk a bit resulting in a layer of frosting that was as thick as the cake. Truthfully, too much frosting isn’t a huge problem in my book, but, for the sake of keeping up appearances, this new and improved recipe is perfection.

And it was an accident. In the hopes of achieving a bit more sophistication in the flavor, I planned to try my recipe with Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. But all I had was self-rising flour; the original recipe calls for all-purpose flour and baking soda. As luck would have it, self-rising flour, which includes baking powder, proved to be the trick, along with flaxseed meal! Combining both baking powder and baking soda provided the proper lift and prevented that dreaded post-baking sink. Because most folks don’t keep self-rising flour around, I converted this vegan coca cola cake recipe based on the generally-accepted amount of baking powder in each cup of self-rising flour.

Special Diet Notes & Options: Coca Cola Cake

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, peanut-free, optionally nut-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian.

For a soy-free and vegan coca cola cake, use a dairy-free soy-free buttery spread (Earth Balance has a couple options).

Though this is called a Coca Cola Cake, you can definitely use another brand of cola, such as Blue Sky or China Cola, for a natural alternative. Betsy uses a natural brand, too, instead of Coke.

4.0 from 2 reviews

Vegan Coca Cola Cake with Fudgy Frosting

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

For the most authentic flavor, I recommend using regular cocoa powder. But for a darker color and richer flavor profile, try the Special Dark cocoa, which is a blend of natural cocoa and Dutched cocoa.

Author: Betsy DiJulio

Serves: One 9x13-inch cake

Ingredients

Vegan Coca Cola Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose or white-wheat flour
• 2 cups natural sugar (such as demerera)
• 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup dairy-free buttery spread or sticks
• 3 tablespoons cocoa, natural or Hershey’s Special Dark
• 1 cup natural cola (or if you drink Coca-Cola, by all means)
• ½ cup dairy-free milk beverage (tested with soymilk, but a soy-free version will work)
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal / ground flaxseed
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pecan halves, for garnish (optional)

Fudgy Cola Frosting:

• ½ cup dairy-free buttery spread or sticks
• ½ cup natural cola
• 3 tablespoons cocoa, natural or Hershey’s Special Dark
• 1 box (16 ounces) powdered confectioner’s sugar
• 1 cup broken or chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

For the Vegan Cola Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the soymilk, flaxseed meal, vinegar, and vanilla.
4. Add the buttery spread, cocoa and cola to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook just to boiling, reduce the heat and stir occasionally until the buttery spread is melted. Remove from heat.
5. Make a well in the center of the flour and sugar mixture. Pour in the soymilk mixture followed by the buttery mixture. Whisk just until smooth and well combined.
6. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and gently smooth the top. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, checking for doneness with a wooden pick inserted in the center after about 20 minutes.
7. Place the pan on a wire rack and make the frosting and pour it over the warm cake. Smooth the frosting over top of cake. Garnish, if desired with the pecan halves.
8. Let cool completely before servings. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

For the Fudgy Cola Frosting:

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the buttery spread, cola, and cocoa to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir occasionally until all is melted.
2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth and completely incorporated. Stir in the pecans, if using, and immediately frost the cake.

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