I have been craving the combination of chocolate and peppermint for weeks. I have also been dying to try baking with the vegan egg substitute called Aquafaba (more on that in a few days). There was a recipe I found a few months ago that used Aquafaba in a chocolate cake. I offered to high altitude it to get my sweets fix, but I swapped out a peppermint frosting to make the lovely holiday pairing of peppermint and chocolate.

The original recipe was gluten-free, but I thought I’d tackle Aquafaba solo in order to test how it works. Maybe I’ll try the cake gluten-free when I feel like wrestling that type of baking. Besides changing the flour, I added flour and liquids for high altitude. The interesting thing I discovered was that the batter seemed thicker like a traditional batter with eggs. The cake was moist and tasty and fantastic with the frosting.

The fire was roaring as I completed the cake so I thought it would be a nice setting for a picture. I learned that fire and frosting don’t play well together. Melted or not, it still tasted great.

The Coconut Sugar and Cacao Powder were provided to me by Navitas Naturals to test in my kitchen. I am not paid to use their products or endorse them.

Until next time, happy baking!

Print Recipe

Candy Cane Chocolate Cake

I have been craving the combination of chocolate and peppermint for weeks. I have also been dying to try baking with the vegan egg substitute called Aquafaba (more on that in a few days). There was a recipe that used Aquafaba, but I swapped out a peppermint frosting.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Vegan

Keyword: Aquafaba, Baking, Cake, Chocolate, High Altitude, Peppermint

Servings: 9

Author: The Decadent Vegan Baker

Equipment

• 8 x 8-inch pan

Ingredients

Cake

• 6 tablespoons Aquafaba (chickpea liquid)
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
• 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon soymilk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 cup Navitas Naturals Coconut Sugar
• 1/3 cup Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup refined coconut oil melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

• 8 ounces vegan cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cups organic powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• crushed candy canes for garnish

Instructions

• Prepare the cake:
• Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly grease and dust with cacao powder a 8x8” pan. In a bowl whisk together Aquafaba and ground flaxseeds. Let sit for 10 minutes. In another bowl whisk together soymilk and apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cacao powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well combined. Add wet ingredients (coconut oil, vanilla extract, milk + apple cider vinegar, Aquafaba + flax) into dry and whisk until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake on center rack for 40 minutes, or when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean with sides of the cake pulling away from pan. Remove cake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
• Prepare the frosting:
• While cake is cooling, prepare the frosting by stirring all ingredients together until smooth. Let chill until needed. Turn cooled cake out onto a cake plate. Frost and garnish. Store leftovers in an air-tight container, in the fridge, for up to 4 days.

Notes

Adapted from the Plant Strong Vegan