Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
This Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake is one of my all time favorite cakes, and I'm not even vegan! I love this simple, rich, and moist chocolate cake with a hint of spice and creamy vanilla frosting.
If you are looking for more vegan cake inspiration, check out Vegan Strawberry Carrot Cake, Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes, or Vegan Lemon Chamomile Tea Cake.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
- Ready In: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Makes: 3 layer 6-inch cake
- Main Ingredients: olive oil, cane sugar, Dutch cocoa, all purpose flour, sweet potato
- Flavor Profile: rich chocolate in every bite
- Dietary Info: vegan, eggless, gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: rich, fudgy chocolate cake without dairy or eggs!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Chocolate Lovers: This Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake is for all the chocolate lovers. Rich and moist chocolate cake is topped with vegan vanilla frosting and chocolate ganache swirls for the ultimate rich chocolate cake experience. If you love Small Batch Chocolate Cake With Sourdough Discard, Avocado Oil Chocolate Cake, or Eggless Chocolate Carrot Cake, you'll love this cake!
- Easy: I love making this vegan naked cake cake because it's so easy! It's a one bowl cake, basically meaning you can just dump everything into one bowl and mix it up. It's frosted in a rustic naked style, so it's easy for beginners and a breeze if you're a pro.
- Dairy Free & Vegan: This homemade chocolate cake is both dairy free and vegan. If you have someone with allergies or avoiding dairy, this Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake checks all the boxes. And, it's so good that even non vegans will love it!
- Organic Cake: While you can get a chocolate cake at grocery store bakeries, they can be filled with potentially harmful ingredients. Making your own organic cake at home will give you a much tastier dessert with high quality ingredients.
Ingredients
- Olive Oil: I use organic extra virgin olive oil, but canola oil, sunflower oil, or avocado oil all work too!
- Sweet Potato: I use organic pureed sweet potato from a can for ease (I love Farmer's Market), but you can use fresh pureed too, either works.
- Coconut Milk: I use organic coconut milk, which is my favorite nondairy milk for cakes. Coconut milk is thick and creamy, its consistency is most similar to whole milk. While you can substitute almond milk or oat milk, these milks have more water in them and that can dry out cake, so I don't prefer them.
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: I use organic Dutch cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor.
- All Purpose Flour: I use organic all purpose flour for a little more structure in this cake versus cake flour.
- Baking Powder: Use baking powder, not soda. Be sure to check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening agents.
- Vanilla Bean: I use organic ground vanilla bean as it provides more depth of flavor in this chocolate birthday cake. But, if you don't have this you can also use vanilla extract.
- Chocolate Ganache: You'll need Vegan Dark Chocolate Ganache Sauce if you want to do the chocolate swirls. You can skip this part if you prefer too.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips for Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Make the Vegan Dark Chocolate Ganache Sauce first, so that it has time to cool while the cake is baking. That way it's ready for the frosting once your cake comes out of the oven.
- You could also substitute for a canola, sunflower, or even avocado oil if you prefer.
- If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of organic vanilla extract instead. I love to use vanilla bean with certain chocolate recipes as I feel it really brings out the flavor of the chocolate and compliments it more so.
- Be sure to store extra cake in an airtight container in the fridge because of the chocolate ganache.
- Gluten Free – Replace the all purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten free flour substitute, I prefer to use Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend. Be sure to weigh the flour for the best results.
- High Altitude – Follow the recipe as noted.
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven 350°F. Line two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, add the olive oil, coconut milk, cane sugar, light brown sugar, and sweet potato puree.
- Mix with a hand mixer to combine.
- Add in the all purpose flour, Dutch cocoa powder, ground vanilla bean, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Mix until combined into a smooth cake batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pans, they should weigh about 700 grams each. Spread out evenly.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely before removing from the pans.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can also use a hand mixer) add the vegan butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean.
- Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and whip, adding in the coconut milk as needed. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl part way through mixing to ensure everything is combined into a smooth frosting.
- To assemble the cake: Place the first cake layer on a cake plate and add half the frosting on top.
- Spread it out evenly.
- Drop small dollops of chocolate sauce on top of the frosting.
- Using the back of a spoon swirl it around.
- Top with the second cake layer and add the remaining frosting, spread it out evenly.
- Add the dollops of chocolate sauce and swirl it around.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, feel free to use any kind of dairy free milk you like. I really prefer coconut milk for baking as it's sweet, which is why I use this one. But, you can also use oat, almond, or even pistachio milk too.
You can use pumpkin puree in its place if you want.
Replace the all purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten free flour substitute, I prefer to use Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend. Be sure to weigh the flour for the best results.
Yes, if you want to frost the whole cake you can definitely do that. I just love the naked look! Either way is totally fine. Check out How to Crumb Coat a Cake if you want to frost the whole cake.
If you need to prep in advance, I recommend baking the cake ahead of time. Remove from the cake pans and wrap each layer in plastic wrap. You can freeze until you're ready to assemble. I recommend assembling on the day you plan to enjoy because this is a naked cake, so the side are exposed and it can dry out if left uncovered. I recommend storing in a cake dome!
Because the sides are exposed with a naked cake, they can dry out easily. So, it's best to store this type of cake under a cake dome (even if it hasn't been cut into yet!). You can stores the extra cake slices under the cake dome or in an airtight container.
No, this cake can sit out at room temperature for a few days while you enjoy it, so long as it's in an airtight container or under a cake dome. It will last longer (up to a week) in the fridge though. You can just let it come down to room temperature before enjoying.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
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Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- 6-inch Cake Pans
- Parchment Paper Cake Rounds
Ingredients
Batter
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- 213 grams cane sugar
- 113 grams light brown sugar
- 170 grams sweet potato puree
- 308 grams all purpose flour
- 75 grams Dutch cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Frosting & Topping
- 226 grams vegan butter softened
- 454 grams powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- 2 to 3 teaspoons coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons Vegan dark chocolate ganache sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 350°F. Line two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, add the olive oil, coconut milk, cane sugar, light brown sugar, and sweet potato puree. Mix with a hand mixer to combine.
- Add in the all purpose flour, Dutch cocoa powder, ground vanilla bean, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix until combined into a smooth cake batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pans, they should weigh about 700 grams each. Spread out evenly.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely before removing from the pans.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can also use a hand mixer) add the vegan butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean.
- Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and whip, adding in the coconut milk as needed. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl part way through mixing to ensure everything is combined into a smooth frosting.
- To assemble the cake: Place the first cake layer on a cake plate and spread half the frosting on top.
- Drop small dollops of chocolate sauce on top of the frosting.
- Using the back of a spoon swirl it around.
- Top with the second cake layer and add the remaining frosting, spread it out evenly.
- Add the dollops of chocolate sauce and swirl it around.
- Store extra cake under a cake dome or in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Make the Vegan Dark Chocolate Ganache Sauce first, so that it has time to cool while the cake is baking. That way it's ready for the frosting once your cake comes out of the oven.
- You could also substitute for a canola, sunflower, or even avocado oil if you prefer.
- If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of organic vanilla extract instead. I love to use vanilla bean with certain chocolate recipes as I feel it really brings out the flavor of the chocolate and compliments it more so.
- Be sure to store extra cake in an airtight container in the fridge because of the chocolate ganache.
- Gluten Free – Replace the all purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten free flour substitute, I prefer to use Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend. Be sure to weigh the flour for the best results.
- High Altitude – Follow the recipe as noted.
Nutrition
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The best vegan chocolate cake!
Simply delicious!