February 10, 2020
(last updated September 22, 2022) 
This vegan chocolate bundt cake is the solution to any and all of your chocolate cravings! A chocolate ganache glaze makes decorating easy and beautiful. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion.
It’s no secret that I have a thing for cake. And bundt cakes of all kinds are some of my favorites.
This vegan chocolate bundt cake has become my favorite dessert for Valentine’s Day. I’m someone who prefers chocolate flavored things (cake, brownie, pie) to chocolate itself. So, while other people look forward to boxes of chocolate on February 14th, I’m holding out for a chocolate-themed dessert.
Of course, the bundt cake isn’t only for Valentine’s Day. It’s a lovely chocolate treat at any time of year. And the fact that it’s a bundt cake means that it’s easy to decorate.
Tips for a perfect bundt cake
There’s so much I love about bundt cakes! I love their domed and decorative appearances. Because bundt cakes come out of the pan with beautiful shape, they require very little decoration. A dusting of confetioners sugar is usually enough. For this vegan chocolate bundt cake, a ganache glaze takes things over the top.
The tricky thing about baking with bundt cakes is, of course, getting the cake out of the pan in one piece. I use a nonstick bundt cake pan for this reason. Even if I only give it a light spray of cooking oil, my cakes emerge cleanly and without any moments of panic.
I also recommend baking this cake and any other bundt cake for at least the full recommended time in the recipe. Five minutes longer is sometimes a wise idea. Bundt cakes tend to collapse a little and become dense at the edges once they’ve been turned out and cooled. Cooking them until they’re truly set and risen will help to give you a prouder, taller bundt cake.
This post has more good bundt cake baking tips. Note that, if you have a nonstick coated bundt cake pan, flouring it in addition to greasing it may not be necessary. I’ve found that either greasing the pan with vegan butter or spraying the pan with avocado oil spray is enough—provided the pan has a nonstick coating.
Don’t fear a glaze
The whole idea of glazing a cake used to terrify me. But actually, pouring a glaze over a cake is a much easier way to decorate than, say, piping frosting. Or attempting to perfectly frost a layer cake.
To pour the glaze over the cake, you’ll need a good setup. Line your work surface with parchment paper sheets or foil. Then, place a cooling rack over that surface. Place the cake on the cooling rack.
At this point, you can pour your glaze over the cake. The glaze will drip down the sides and through the cooling rack, landing on the parchment or foil below. Simply toss out the parchment for a very easy cleanup of your work surface.
Remember: lopsidedness and uneven dripping are totally OK. Each slice will have enough glaze when you cut the cake.
And the ganache in this recipe is so simple! It’s just melted vegan dark chocolate and non-dairy milk. The trick to making it pourable and smooth is to whisk it furiously as you mix the hot milk and chocolate together. The more you keep whisking as you melt the chocolate, the glossier your glaze will be.
If the glaze is a little too thick, you can simply thin it with an extra tablespoon or two of non-dairy milk.
Vegan chocolate bundt cake ingredients
Flour
Unbleached, all-purpose flour is what I bake with most of the time, and it’s my choice here. Using all-purpose flour will allow this cake to have a perfectly light, moist crumb: not too dense, not too airy.
Cocoa powder
If you can, try using a Dutch process cocoa powder in the recipe. Dutch process cocoa has lower acidity than natural cocoa powder. It results in darker chocolate color and more vibrant, chocolatey taste in baking. I love this variety from King Arthur Flour.
If you don’t have Dutch process cocoa, another cocoa powder that’s marked as “baking cocoa” or suitable for baking will be fine. I don’t recommend using raw cacao for this cake; the flavor will be a bit bitter.
Coffee
Yes, coffee! There’s a whole, brewed cup of coffee in the recipe. Coffee intensifies and complements the flavor of chocolate. In this vegan chocolate bundt cake, hot coffee also adds moisture to the batter.
Vegan yogurt
I’ve made this cake many times by now, which means that I’ve experimented with many types of yogurt in the wet ingredients.
I’ve baked the cake with soy, almond, cashew, and coconut yogurt. Any plain or vanilla flavor should work fine. If you can only find a vegan yogurt that is labeled as “Greek-style” or designed to be like Greek yogurt, you may want to add a couple tablespoons of water to thin it out.
Oil
Choose a neutral-flavored cooking oil for the cake recipe. While I like baking with olive oil, it’s not my first choice here. My favorite oil for baking and high-heat cooking is refined avocado oil. You could use grapeseed, canola, walnut, or safflower oil instead.
Cane sugar
Regular old cane sugar works best in this cake. However, I’ve had success substituting coconut sugar as well.
I’m often asked about reducing sugar in recipes. You can always try, but note that sugar helps to moisten baked goods, so lessening sugar can result in cakes that are either dense or dry (or both). I formulate my baked good recipes around a level of sweetness that works for me, so I can’t predict how they’ll work with greatly reduced sweetener.
Can vegan chocolate bundt cake be made gluten-free?
Yes, this bundt cake can be made gluten-free! But I don’t recommend the use of a single, gluten-free flour (like oat flour or almond flour). Instead, I recommend an all-purpose, gluten-free baking blend. My favorite is King Arthur’s Measure for Measure flour.
The Vegan Week
Embrace the joy of eating homemade food every day with the hearty and wholesome recipes in The Vegan Week.
Whether you have three, two, or even just one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will show you how to batch cook varied, colorful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.
Storing vegan chocolate bundt cake
It’s pretty easy to store this cake, and it happens to be a cake that keeps very well. For the first few days of storage, simply keep your cake slices in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Or, you can wrap whole chunks of the cake in saran wrap.
After three days, be sure to transfer your cake to the fridge. If you plan to store it longer than five days, I recommend freezing rather than longer refrigeration. Speaking of…
Can the leftovers be frozen?
It sure can be. Freeze slices of the vegan chocolate bundt cake for up to six weeks at a time. You can make it in advance of any gathering and defrost when you’re ready to go.
Serving vegan chocolate bundt cake
So many lovely things to do with this cake!
You can slice the vegan chocolate bundt cake and have it with coffee or or a cup of tea in the afternoon. The cake also works well as a low-stress dessert. You can top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re feeling fancy, or go with chocolate ice cream for a double chocolate treat.
It can also be fun to double the ganache in the recipe and spoon extra, warm ganache over the cake before serving to friends at your table. Sometimes more is more 🙂
Vegan Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Author –Yields: 12 servings
Ingredients
For the bundt cake
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (96 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup hot, brewed coffee
- 1 cup soy, oat, almond, cashew, or light coconut milk
- 5.3 ounces vegan plain or vanilla flavored yogurt of choice (2/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup refined avocado oil
- 1 1/4 cups (240 g) cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the ganache glaze
- 1 1/2 cups (8 oz) vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips or morsels
- 1 cup soy, oat, almond, cashew, or light coconut milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and oil or grease a bundt cake pan.
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa. Whisk in the salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the coffee, milk, yogurt, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract. Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to mix the batter on low speed until it's glossy and evenly mixed (a few tiny clumps are OK). Alternately, use a handheld mixer on low speed to achieve the same consistency. If you don't have a mixer, you can combine the ingredients with a spatula; just be sure that there's no unmixed flour hiding at the bottom of the bowl.
- Pour the batter into your prepared bundt cake pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is set and a toothpick comes out almost completely clean. Rotate the cake pan halfway through baking time to ensure an even rise.
- Once the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for an hour. Then, place a cooling rack over the pan and carefully invert it to release the cake. Allow the cake to continue cooling until it reaches room temperature.
- To make the ganache glaze, place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer over the stovetop, pour it over the chocolate, and stir with a whisk, continuing to mix until the ganache is glossy and everything has melted.
- Place the cooling rack with the cake on it over a few sheets of parchment or aluminum foil (to catch your ganache drips!). Pour the warm ganache over the cake. Allow the cake to cool for another few hours, until the ganache glaze has set.
I hope you can enjoy the gift of this luscious, yet simple cake some Valentine’s Day. Or any time when you need the boost that only chocolate can give.
xo
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So bad
I baked this cake for a New Yearโs Eve dinner. It came out beautifully: rich in chocolate, rose nicely. Lots of compliments. I look forward to enjoying it again. Thank you, Gena!
The ganache never โsetโ enough although I added the additional two ounces of vegan bits from the pkg. Still a winner! Beautiful! Easy! Nearly perfect outcome! I would use decaf coffee next time. Will try more recipes from this site! Thanks!
Full disclosure, I only made the glaze and not the bundt! If you pour it on immediately after melting the chocolate I feel it would be too runny. I let it cool in the fridge, stirring every 5 mins or so, til it was a thick enough consistency to pour but still set and have those nice drips. Really nice simple glaze and exactly what I was looking for. Just needs a little Sprinkle of salt mixed in and then it’s perfect.
I used this recipe to make cupcakes instead of a bundt cake and I substituted the flour for a gluten-free flour blend and they came out incredible!!!! Iโve been on a hunt for a reliable vegan chocolate cake recipe and this is by FAR the winner. Thank you!!!
Hey Marisa, I’m so glad that they turned out well! And that’s great to know about the cupcake variation.
A complete disaster! After buying expensive special ingredients for this cake for a friend who doesn’t have dairy, it was an abject failure. The glaze was like water, and the cake split in four places. Couldn’t possibly serve it, had to make another
Can I make this is an Instapot? I have a Bundt pan for it; wondering how long I should cook it?
Hi Teresa! Unfortunately I don’t have an Instapot and haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for certain how it’ll work. If you find a way to adapt, I’d love to hear how it goes ๐
What an incredible recipe! Best vegan chocolate cake I have ever had. I added a little bit of applesauce because I am always paranoid about a lack off eggs haha. Thank you so much for this!
So, so glad you liked it!
Should the coffee be hot for this recipe?
It can be! It can be hot or cold.
I made this recipe and it is insanely good. It strikes the perfect balance of being moist but light in texture and the flavor is out of this world. Do not skip the coffee! It adds this je ne sais quoi special element to this cake that sets it apart from other chocolate cake recipes. I topped mine with freeze dried raspberries, which tasted and looked fantastic. I would definitely make this again.
Your raspberry topping was out of this world! So glad you enjoyed, and I agree that the coffee adds something really special to it!
Ottima!great recipe…we have just reduced the amount of sugar to 1/2cup…because we like a less sweet taste.
Hi Gena
This is an utterly delicious photo! Wow! May I ask where you got your exquisite cake stand from?
Thanks
Certainly! https://aheirloom.com/products/walnut-cake-stand-stout-base
This looks amazing. Would the batter be able to handle some additions like walnuts or chocolate chips? Do you recommend that? Or perhaps keep the walnuts as a topping for the ganache?
I think chopped walnuts over the glaze would be really nice. But you could also very safely fold in about 3/4 cup chocolate chips or walnuts. Or a mix of both!
Can you put the cake in the fridge after? and if so, what happens to the glaze consistency?
Hi there! You certainly can, but the consistency may dry out a little as it stays in the fridge. I’d keep it at room temp in an airtight container if you plan to eat within a couple days, but definitely in the fridge (or freezer) if you’d like to stretch it longer.
I made this cake 5 11 2020.
It came out deeeeelicuous.
I used chocolate almond milk and chocolate almond yogurt to give it triple chocolate.
Is a very nice flavor. Thank you for recipe
Instead of AP flour can I use almond flour?
I don’t recommend it. Almond flour will give you a very different texture, and the recipe wasn’t developed for it, so I don’t know if the ingredient amounts will work.
is there a way I could substitute the yogurt? I would love to make this in quarantine, but am don’t have yogurt ๐
Yes! Use 1/3 cup extra non-dairy milk, mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice ๐
Made this today, EXCELLENT!!
Hooray!
You just gave me the perfect excuse to buy a bundt cake pan
This looks heavenly! I hate to be “that” person, but can you bake this in a different cake pan (9 x 13 or two smaller cake pans)? I’m looking for a “go-to” chocolate cake recipe and I think this could be it! Also, that cake stand is BEAUTIFUL!
Hey Shana, no worries! ๐ 9 x 13 will work well, and so will 2 8-inch round pans. You’ll get thin layers with both, but this would be too much batter for a single 9 inch round pan. Because your layers will be thin, you’ll need to adjust the baking time; I’d start checking around 25 min and I’d guess it needs 25-30 total. Let me know how it goes!
Wonderfull! I’m going to make it tomorrow! Can I use a loaf cake pan?
Thank you,
Silvia
I think this may be too much batter for a loaf pan, but I’m not sure! I haven’t tested it, but I worry it might take too long to cook through. You could also try a 9 x 9 square pan. Check it after the 35 minute mark to be sure it’s not cooking too fast ๐
Wow, this recipe looks so delicious! And I like that it will have a bit of a savory taste.
Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I donโt have the oils mentioned in the recipe. Would you recommend using avocado or coconut oil instead?
Absolutely! You can use coconut or refined avocado oil. Good question ๐
Thank you Gena!
Oh my Goodness this looks too delicious! I love that you used vegan yogurt and a hint of coffee. I’m looking forward to this:)
I hope you enjoy it!
a perfect treat! And I too like the Forager Project products.
if I want to make cupcakes with this recipe how long should I bake them?
Oooh, good question. I’d say 22-25 minutes, but start checking at 20 to be sure ๐
Looks amazing! Can I omit the coffee? Want to make this for my kids and we canโt have too much caffeine. Thanks!