Leading up to Mother’s Day, I love to share some special treats, and this rich vegan dark chocolate bundt cake should do the trick. The cake itself is already made with chocoholics in mind, but it’s further elevated with an intense dark chocolate espresso glaze. The recipe was originally shared with us back in 2007 by Chef Claire Criscuolo (RN, CCP), but we’ve given it new life with a format update and some tips.
Vegan Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake with Dark Chocolate Espresso Glaze
In 1975, Claire and her husband established Claire’s Corner Copia, a vegetarian restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut, and it’s still going strong. Their breakfast and lunch menus are filled with vegan options, and they have various sweets on rotation, including daily vegan desserts. In fact, Claire still makes bundt cakes regularly. You might even spot mini versions of this vegan dark chocolate bundt cake on display. But even if you aren’t in the New Haven area, you can enjoy this recipe. Here are a couple of quick notes before you get started.
- Cocoa Powder: This recipe uses quite a bit of cocoa, and uses baking powder instead of baking soda, so be sure to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder. It’s darker, sweeter, and less bitter than natural cocoa powder because the acidity has been removed. Popular brands of Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder include Hershey’s Special Dark, Whole Foods 365, Anthony’s Culinary, and Ghirardelli Majestic.
- Tofu: Don’t worry, if you can’t do soy, I have a soy-free option below. If you can, Mori-nu is a popular silken tofu brand. It’s technically shelf-stable, but some stores sell it refrigerated, just so it’s with the other tofu. If you don’t see it with the other tofu, look for it on the shelf in the Asian section of your grocer. When blended, the soft version of silken tofu is like a cream.
- Espresso: Technically, it can be optional. The espresso adds more depth of flavor to the glaze, complements the chocolate, and will be loved by coffee fans. But if you don’t have it on hand, you can omit it. The glaze will still be intensely chocolate and delicious.
Special Diet Notes: Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
For a soy-free dark chocolate bundt cake, you can substitute 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream for the tofu. Or you can pour one 14-ounce can of full fat coconut milk into a glass measuring cup and add water to reach 2 cups. Use this in place of both the milk beverage and tofu.
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dark or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 cups sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup soft silken organic tofu, drained
- 1 cup plain dairy-free milk beverage
- ½ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon organic almond extract (can sub vanilla extract)
- 1 cup sliced almonds (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup dark or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon ground espresso
- ¼ cup dairy-free milk beverage (can use less for a thicker glaze)
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 12-cup bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt until all clumps of cocoa are combined.
- Add the tofu, milk beverage, oil, and almond extract to your blender, and puree until smooth.
- Pour the blended ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fold in the almond slices (if using).
- Using a wooden spoon, stir ingredients to combine, then beat for about 10 seconds until smooth. Stir in sliced almonds.
- Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and even it out.
- Bake the cake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake sit for about 2 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a cake dish. Let the cake cool to room temperature.
- While the cake cools, sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl.
- Whisk in the ground espresso.
- Whisk in the milk beverage until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled cake.
More Vegan Cakes for Special Occasions
Emerald Isle Vegan Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Classic Vegan Lemon Cheesecake
Prize-Winning Chocolate Marble Vegan Pound Cake
