So many good things to celebrate today, let me count the ways:
- Chocolate.
- It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken is officially 2 years old! That means I have been posting my recipes, and blabbing my heart out via keyboard to you guys for two full years now. Yay, happy birthday blog! Thanks blog.
- Chocolate.
- Shall we say it again, CHOCOLATE!!!! Can you believe that I went an entire year without using chocolate as a feature ingredient!? I saved the best for last, because that's what you are supposed to do with dessert... apparently. Let's celebrate all of these exciting things with Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake.
This is a picture of love if I ever saw one. This Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake is so amazing! Its warm, ooey-gooey, fudge-y, chocolatey, and it has a secret super power: it makes its own chocolate sauce! You just pop it in the oven, and when you scoop it up, you find all of these amazing pocket of chocolate pudding sauce hidden right in the cake. So cool and exciting (not to mention crazy delicious)!
Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake is made in three layers, the bottom cake layer, the middle powder layer, and the top water layer. It seems very odd, but then amazing things happen in the oven. So we are just going to go with it and trust the process.
Let's get baking!
To Make the Bottom Cake Layer:
Whisk up the dry ingredients...
Then add in the wet and mix it all up together.
Spread that out in a lightly greased pan. Cake layer, done.
The Middle Powder Layer:
Is a mixture of brown and white sugar, and cocoa. Just whisk them together...
Sprinkle it over the cake layer. Shake the pan a little so the powder layer is even. Done with that layer. See, easy.
For the Final Layer:
Just pour the hot water right on top of the cake. It will make a big old puddle, and you might be curious about your creation, but just trust me, good things happen in the oven. Don't stir it, just let the water be, and pop it in the oven.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes and when you take it out it will look something like this chocolate amazingness. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before serving then dive in!
This Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake is stellar served warm, but it's still pretty darn good when served cool as well. Serve along with a big scoop of dairy-free ice-cream such as So Delicious Dairy Free Creamy Vanilla.
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake
Servings: servings
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Ingredients
For the bottom cake layer:
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, (optional to enhance flavour*)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup plant-based milk, (such as soy or almond)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the middle powder layer:
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
For the top water layer:
- 1 ¼ cups hot water
- vegan vanilla ice cream, (optional for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease an 8"x8" pan and set aside.
- To make the bottom cake layer, in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, the sugar, flour, cocoa, instant espresso, and baking powder. Add the coconut oil, plant-based milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Don't over mix. Pour the batter into the pan, and use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly across the pan.
- To make the middle powder layer, in another bowl, mix together the white sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder. Sprinkle the powder mixture evenly over the bottom cake layer in the pan. Give the pan a shake, so the powder layer evenly covers the batter layer.
- For the top water layer, pour the hot water on top of the powder layer. Do not mix. It will look like a puddle, and that's the way it should be. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the centre looks almost set. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with dairy-free ice-cream on the side if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
Bon Appetegan
Sam.
Mia says
So easy and delicious!!!
Jess @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Wonderful!
Lindsey says
I was excited to find a vegan dessert that I could easily make gf (used gf 1:1 flour). Few simple changes to make this 5⭐️ Sugar can be decreased, as previous commenters mentioned, as this is way too sweet (and I LOVE sweets) as written. I’ll use a more neutral oil next time because the coconut flavor didn’t pair well with the chocolate, and the bottom layer DEFINITELY needed a bit of salt to really kick up the flavor.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Thanks for sharing your experience and tips!
Judi Sweat says
what can be substituted for coconut oil.. I don't do saturated fat.
Thanks.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
We don't recommend leaving out the oil but other readers have tested mashed banana and also applesauce. Results will vary.
Anu says
I made half of this portion recommended as there was only 1 person eating it - me. I left it in the oven for 23minutes - I think 20mins would have been plenty because I wondered if there was a slightly burnt taste to the sauce. But honestly - I am just trying to get it right after my first attempt at this ABSOLUTELY AMAZING CHOCOLATE PUDDING! THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS SIMPLE, DELICIOUS, PLANT-BASED RECIPE. My big sister last made this at home when she was 11-12yo. Almost 30yrs later I am making a vegan version - OMG - I can't wait to tell my sister! Bless you!
katya says
I made this as written, wasn't quite sure it would come out right (my 'puddle' was more like a small pond) but it did! I think I could have left it a little longer. One question - is there supposed to be salt in this? The cake layer tasted a little flat, even with the coffee. I wonder if a pinch of salt would have helped, but didn't see it in the recipe.
melrem says
Amazing. I lowered the sugar to 1/3 each in the powder mixture and to 2/3 in the cake and it was still sweet enough for me (and I have a sweet tooth, bad one). I honestly cannot believe I didn't know this type of cake existed until now. I feel like I wasted a huge part of my 42 years on the planet without this recipe lol.
DEBORRAH PALMER says
Delicious. I just put less sugar
Zaskia says
How much sugar do you use? I've decreased it also but it is still way too sweet.
emmegebe says
I used 2/3 cup white sugar in the bottom layer, and 1/3 cup each of white and brown sugar in the powder layer, and it worked perfectly fine and was still plenty sweet -- could probably be cut back even more with good results. I also added 1/2 tsp salt to the bottom layer and a pinch to the powder layer, which helps to highlight the chocolate flavor and balance the sweetness.
Julie says
Absolutely YUMMY! as if there weren’t enough chocolate…I added vegan chocolate chips to the first layer
Laetitia says
From the pictures it looks like the sugar added to the batter (first layer) is brown sugar but in the recipe it says white sugar. Which one do you use?
Mel says
I have made this pudding twice now, never looked at the recipe photos until now! But both times I used white sugar in the first layer and it turned out lovely x
Zaskia says
I can't thank you enough for this recipe! It's one of the best chocolate deserts I've ever had! And it's such an easy and quick recipe. Really ideal when having guests over for dinner.
I'd imagine kids would find it fun to do as well. I certainly enjoyed the puddle turning into a cake!
I highly recommend trying it! Thank you.
Kristen says
Very good, but verrrrry sweet!
Emma H says
Hi Sam,
Do you think this would work with gluten free flour and coconut sugar instead of white sugar? I might do a test run as want to make it for a dairy and gluten intolerant nephew on Christmas Day.
Beata says
From what I know, coconut sugar would work as a sub, but using a gluten free flour in place of APF is not an easy swap. I know that if you are looking to use almond flour, you should roughly double the amount of flour (so if this recipe calls for 1 cup of APF, you want to use 2 cups of almond flour). With that said, I am not familiar with any other gluten free flour swaps and from what I've read over the years, different recipes may require different gluten free flours and different ratios.