Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe
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Our favorite vegan dark chocolate sheet cake recipe slathered with a rich chocolate frosting and dusted with a blanket of shredded coconut. You can top yours with sprinkles, crunchy nuts and even fruit. Makes a great birthday cake and it’s perfect for bringing to a summer barbecue or holiday party to feed a crowd.
It’s the best sheet cake ever!
If you like Texas sheet cake you are sure to love my decadent, moist olive oil chocolate cake even more. No eggs, no dairy, entirely homemade from scratch in under 1 hour, using simple and classic ingredients. Perfect for any Family celebration, from birthdays to Easter and Christmas!
About the Cake Batter
Incredibly rich, basically you mix your wet and dry ingredients separately then combine in one bowl until a creamy batter is achieved. Transfer to a pan, bake and cover with a thick layette of frosting. Heaven!
The Chocolate Frosting
Rich coconut milk and vegan butter get whisked together with cocoa and powdered sugar until lusciously creamy and silky. The key detail here is to sift the cocoa and sugar so no lumps form in the smooth frosting.
Topping Ideas
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut as shown
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate sprinkles or shavings
- crunchy walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts
- 1 cup fresh cherries, blackberries, raspberries or nectarines. (If using fresh fruit hold off on topping until serving as they need to be refrigerated).
Sheet Cake vs Traditional Cake
(Pan Size Notes)
As the name would suggest a sheet cake is baked in a flat rectangular pan or a shallow sheet pan / jelly roll pan, so it is thinner and cooks faster than a regular layer cake. I baked mine in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan which is a European size pan I’ve had forever. I love this ratio of the thickness of the cake and the frosting. If you are using a shallow 12 x 18 size pan just remember to check for doneness at the 15 minute mark. Your cake will be ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or nearly clean.
Storage
A great cake to make ahead and store at room temperature tightly covered for a couple of days. There is no need to refrigerate unless you top it with fresh fruit in which case is best to wait on adding any fresh fruit at all until serving. You can freeze any leftovers in freezer proof lidded containers for up to 3 months and thaw out in the refrigerator overnight.
Dairy-Free Desserts
- No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Vegan Baklava
- Nutty Cookies
- Best Vegan Christmas Cookies
- Vegan Custard Napoleons
- Shortbread Cookies
- Pumpkin Crunch Cake.
how to make vegan chocolate sheet cake
Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 cups warm coconut milk canned full fat
- 3/4 cup extra light olive oil
- 1.5 tsp vailla extract
Frosting
- 1/2 cup vegan butter I used Miyokos’ European butter
- 1/3 cup coconut milk canned full fat
- 5 tbsp cocoa powder sifted
- 3.75 cups powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350”F.
Make the Batter
- In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt) until combined.2 cups granulated sugar, 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- In a separate bowl mix the warm coconut milk, olive oil and vanilla extract util combined. Pour over the dry ingredients. Whisk everything together until a smooth batter is achieved. You could use a mixer if you wanted to but it isn’t necessary.2 cups warm coconut milk, 3/4 cup extra light olive oil, 1.5 tsp vailla extract
- Line a 9 x 13 inch baking sheet / pan with parchment paper. (any similar size sheet pan will work, just adjust the cooking times accordingly, see notes below).
- Pour the cake batter into the pan and give it a little shake to distribute evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you are using a sheet pan that is wider and shallower like a 12x18 inch, make sure to check your cake for doneness at the 15 to 20 minute mark to make sure you don't overcook it.
Make the Frosting
- In a medium size sauce pan on medium low heat add the 1/2 cup of vegan butter + 1/3 cup coconut milk. Heat through until the butter is melted and whisk into the coconut milk. Add the cocoa powder and powdered sugar and continue whisking until a smooth creamy frosting is achieved.1/2 cup vegan butter, 1/3 cup coconut milk, 5 tbsp cocoa powder, 3.75 cups powdered sugar
- Pour the chocolate frosting over the sheet cake and using a spatula make sure to spread it around evenly.
- Topping: Sprinkle with shredded coconut or get creative with a few topping like fresh cherries, blackberries, nectarines or chocolate sprinkles.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi Florentina
Do you personally have an actual recipe book for purchase, or are all your recipes in the Forks Over Knives Cook Book?
Thank you and love your recipes!! 🙂
I do not have a cookbook in print at this time but you can find all my recipes on this blog for free anytime ~ Florentina Xo’s
Finally an awesome cake I can bake all by myself. I was a little skeptical about the olive oil but it turned out amazing and can’t even taste it but the cake is all kinds of amazing. Covered the entire sheet in coconut and it was fine the same day. Don’t refrigerate it unless you put fruit on it, it’s so much better at room temp.
Can I substitute the coconut milk for something else?
Sure, you could use cashew or oat milk instead. I prefer coconut for its rich fat content.
I want to take this cake to a party. One of the kids has an egg allergy. I wanted to use a disposable cake pan. It’s size is 12 1/4 x 8 1/4 x 1 1/4. will the batter fit in this size pan can I fill it to the top?
Thanks
That should be fine, yes you can fill to the the top.
Anyone tried this with gluten free flour??
I’d love to know how this chocolate sheet cake goes on gluten free flour too. There are no comments yet, so I’ll have to pioneer it tomorrow myself.
Hi Donna, I have not made this cake gluten free, hope it turns out great for you. Report back! ~ Florentina