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The recipe you need for upcoming spring and summer celebrations: my vegan chickpea flour chocolate cake! Made in one bowl, it is grain-free, gluten-free and vegan. It’s not a miracle, but it is most definitely marvelous! 
Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope this post finds you well and (wishful thinking for all) enjoying the first glimpses of spring.
But enough about spring. Let’s talk cake.
Namely, deep, dark, chocolate layer cake, with an equally decadent, velvety-smooth chocolate frosting.
Recipe Benefits
With all kinds of spring celebrations just around the corner, this is just the cake you need for gatherings big and small, especially because it is:
- Made in 1-Bowl
- Made without an electric mixer
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Grain-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Easy
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
For the Cake Layers
- chickpea flour
- coconut sugar, (or brown sugar or granulated sugar)
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- baking soda
- salt
- full fat coconut milk (1 standard size can)
- hot (not boiling) water
- virgin coconut oil
- vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting
- virgin coconut oil, solid, (not melted)
- maple syrup
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- nondairy milk (e.g., coconut milk, soy milk, almond milk or cashew milk)
- pinch salt
The Star Ingredient: Chickpea Flour
Chickpea flour is the solo flour in this recipe, adding perfect structure, height and texture without the addition of any other egg replacements or starches. In short, it takes the place of traditional wheat flour and eggs in one fell swoop! Pretty nifty.
If you have any worries about tasting chickpeas, don’t: a combination of full fat coconut milk and coconut oil produces lush layers that are all about the chocolate (i.e., no hint of chickpea at all, and no coconut flavor for that matter, either).
Step by Step Instructions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Oil or spray the bottom and sides of two 9-inch (22.5 cm) round cake pans (with 2-inch sides).
- In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until no lumps remain.
- Add the coconut milk, hot water, coconut oil and vanilla to bowl. Vigorously whisk until completely smooth. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Transfer cakes to cooling racks and cool 15 minutes before inverting onto racks. Cool completely. Wrap cakes in clean dish towels and refrigerate until cold.
Chocolate Frosting
- Place the coconut oil, maple syrup, cocoa powder, milk and salt in a food processor or high speed blender. Process, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl several times, until completely blended, thick and smooth, adding a bit more milk, if needed.
- Place one chilled cake layer on a cake plate or stand and spread with half of frosting. Top with second cake layer and spread top with remaining frosting. Serve, or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pro Tip: Chill Cake Layers Before Adding Frosting
Once the layers (which rise high and even) have cooled, wrap them up and give them a chill in the refrigerator. This will make for easier frosting, especially the middle layer of frosting (it will not immediately squish out of the sides when the second cake layer is placed on top–pet peeve number 5 million and 73).
You can use plastic wrap or wax paper, but I prefer wrapping each layer in a clean dish towel (easy & eco-friendly).
Easy Vegan & Paleo Chocolate Frosting
And oh my heavens, the frosting! Make it in minutes with either a food processor or high speed blender using ingredients you most likely have on hand (e.g., coconut oil, cocoa powder, maple syrup). It is also naturally vegan, Paleo, grain-free & gluten-free.
Bonus: no advanced chilling is required for the frosting! Make it and use it immediately.
FAQ
- How Should I Store the Vegan Chickpea Flour Chocolate Cake? Store the frosted cake in a covered cake keeper for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Can I Use a Flour Other than Chickpea Flour? No. Other grain-free flours (for example, coconut flour, almond flour or cassava flour) will not work in place of the chickpea flour in this recipe without significant reworking of the ingredient (proportions and other added ingredients) and re-testing.
- Can I Make Cupcakes with this Recipe? Yes! If you do not want to make the cake in layers, you can make 24 cupcakes (see my notes in the recipe for specific details). You can also make one big 13×9 sheet cake.
- Can I Use a Different Oil, Besides Coconut Oil, in the Cake? Yes, an equal amount of another vegetable oil, such as avocado oil, can be used in place of the coconut oil.
- Can I Use a Different Oil, Beside Coconut Oil, in the Frosting? No, you need to use coconut oil for this particular frosting.
Happy baking!
More Delectable Vegan Cakes to Try:
- Vanilla Almond Flour Cake {oil-free}
- Vegan Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes (oil-free, nut-free, GF)
- Vegan & Grain-Free Vanilla Layer Cake
- Easy Cashew Cheesecake
- Vegan Coconut Flour Cupcakes
- Gluten-Free & Vegan Vanilla Bundt Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Chickpea Flour Gingerbread Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Hemp Heart Cheesecake
Vegan Chickpea Flour Chocolate Cake (Grain-Free, 1-Bowl)
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 2 2/3 cups chickpea flour
- 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar, (or brown sugar or granulated sugar)
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 13.5 ounces full fat coconut milk, (1 standard size can)
- 1/2 cup hot (not boiling) water
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting
- 1 1/3 cups virgin coconut oil, solid, (not melted)
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon nondairy milk (more, if needed)
- pinch salt
- Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Oil or spray the bottom and sides of two 9-inch (22.5 cm) round cake pans (with 2-inch sides).
- In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until no lumps remain.
- Add the coconut milk, hot water, coconut oil and vanilla to bowl. Vigorously whisk until completely smooth. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Transfer cakes to cooling racks and cool 15 minutes before inverting onto racks. Cool completely. Wrap cakes in clean dish towels and refrigerate until cold.
Chocolate Frosting
- Place the coconut oil, maple syrup, cocoa powder, milk and salt in a food processor or high speed blender. Process, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl several times, until completely blended, thick and smooth, adding a bit more milk, if needed.
- Place one chilled cake layer on a cake plate or stand and spread with half of frosting. Top with second cake layer and spread top with remaining frosting. Serve, or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Hi I want to make a lemon cake or vanilla or fruit flavored can I leave out the cocoa powder and add a different flour? How would it work if I incorporate strawberry’s to make it flavored or something like that?
Hi Brenda! I do not think that will work as a simple substitution. Cocoa powder is starchy and adds to the texture of the cake, as well as adding chocolate flavor. I do not think fresh strawberries will work well for cake, they add a lot of water and do not have a lot of flavor in the final bake. You could, however try adding freeze dried strawberries (pieces or grind into a powder) to one of my other chickpea flour cake recipes, such as my grain-free vanilla layer cake or my chickpea flour banana cake.
Can you freeze the sponges and decorate at a later date?
Hi Catrina,
Yes, that should work fine! Be sure to tightly wrap in plastic wrap and then place in an airtight container or plastic bag of some sort . Cheers.
Hi there! Wondering if you know if this recipe will work without baking soda? Also, if date sugar would work? I am trying to bake a gluten free alkaline cake. I was thinking about using aquafaba to help it rise instead of the baking soda. I appreciate your time in creating this recipe and your response very much!
Hi Mary Dee!
I think the date sugar will work just fine without any need for modifications. Regarding aquafaba as a replacement for any leavening agent (such as baking soda, or baking powder: I don’t know. I have not used aquafaba in grain-free cakes, so I cannot predict. You would have to treat it as an experiment. I would love to know if you give it a try!
I baked this, but substituted the coconut milk with 1.5 cups of whole dairy milk and bumped the oil up to 2/3 cups so the combined volume was 99% the same. I baked it in a Bundt pan for 45 minutes and it came out exceptionally dry. Could I have overbaked it? It didn’t spring back when poked at 40 minutes.
Hi Indrik,
Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that the cake dd not come out as expected. I am surprised that it came out dry with the subs you made. This is a very moist cake, so I am wondering if the issue was not the substitutions, but instead, (1) the pa you used, and/or (2) too much chickpea flour.
Regarding the pan: I have not tested this cake in a Bundt pan, so that may be the issue. With regular wheat flour cakes, you can usually adapt to bake in other can pan sizes, but it’s not the case with cakes that are both grain-free and egg-free. I find that grain-free vegan cakes usually need to be baked in shallower pans (they cannot always maintain their structure in large pans) or smaller pans (like mini loaf pans or muffin tins). Baking it longer to accommodate for the deeper Bundt pan is likely what caused it to be so dry.
Regarding too much flour: If you were measuring with cups, rather than weighing the chickpea flour, it could be that the cups were overpacked with the chickpea flour. It can be very easy to get too much flour in the cups unless you very lightly spoon the flour in and then level the tops with a knife or other flat edge.
All the best.
Wowww! Above expectations ! I followed the exact recipe, but didn’t do the frosting. I used 200 grams (normal) sugar instead of 250 grams, because it was finished and i didn’t have coconut sugar . But it came out perfect!! Going to make this again for sure.
What a wonderful review, thank you, Libro! So happy to know you love the cake 😊
Outstanding, although I did make some mods:
– subbed 2/3 cup almond flour for the 2/3 cup chickpea flour
– I only had coconut cream, so used 3/4 cup coconut cream diluted in 500mL warm water as the liquid
– reduced the coconut oil to 2 tbsp to account for the fat in the almond flour
– I hydrated the chickpea flour in the coconut cream/water mix for 1 hour before adding the rest of the dry ingredients for better digestibility.
The taste and texture were wonderful. You can’t taste the chickpea or coconut at all in the sponge. The texture is cakey, soft, spongey, and holds together very well, although it is soft and best eaten with a spoon (I made cupcakes; they are not easy to eat by hand, but still utterly delicious.). I topped with jam and vegan ganache. Very delicious!!!
Wow, that sounds out of this world, Ella! I LOVE chocolate combined with jam (and ganache!). Kudos! Thank you for sharing your changes. Cheers!
Hi, I have just discovered the versatility of chickpea flour from exploring your website and decided to bake this for church tomorrow and I imagine that I will have them all scratching their heads when I ask them to guess what flour I have used.
I did follow the recipe mostly apart from using less oil about 1/4 c and only using 1/2c of muscovado sugar with 1t of stevia powder. I also added 1/2t of alternative coffee powder and used carob instead of cocoa powder. The cake has risen beautifully and having nibbled on a small section of a corner it tastes light, chocolatey with a subtle sweetness.
I predict that it will be much appreciated by the church members and there will be requests for a repeat performance. I have been trying to encourage members to bake healthy vegan for some time now and the fact that this is also gf what is there not to like.
Thank you.
You are so welcome, Jennifer! Thank you so much for the lovely review 🙂
Can I substitute the coconut sugar with white sugar? Or even turbinado sugar?
Hi Kristina,
Yes, regular cane sugar or brown sugar will work fine 🙂 Turbinado sugar may not be the best choice since the large pieces do not fully dissolve in baking. You could, however, process it in a food processor for a few seconds until it is finely ground— that would work!
OMG, this cake! It is one of the best chocolate cakes ever and fit the bill for my niece’s birthday cake. She has a number of food sensitivities and can tolerate chickpea flour. Everyone loved the cake. I was worried that there would be a chickpea taste, but not at all, it tasted like a traditional chocolate cake. Thank you so much!
I made this and it turned out great! Next time I may use a little less salt for the cake. I did modify the frosting by replacing the coconut oil with firm tofu, and added a little stevia and extra cocoa powder to make up for the loss in flavor. With my modifications the cake should have ~18g protein and ~12g fiber per piece (Cake divided into 8 pieces)
Yay, I am so glad the cake was a success, Kaylie! I love the sound of your modified frosting, thank you for sharing that. Now I am seriously craving some chocolate cake 🙂
Hi, is it possible to freeze the vegan chocolate cake, with or without the frosting? Thanks
Hi Annie,
Yes, you can freeze it. I recommend freezing it unfrosted. Tightly wrap the layers in plastic wrap and place in a freezer storage container or bag. You can freeze it for up to 6 months 🙂
Thank you
Hi, in one place you list 1/2 cup as 60ml and another as 118ml. What the correct quantities for hot water and coconut oil, pls? Thanks.
Hi Lys,
Thank you for catching that. It is 118 mL for both (I have corrected it). Cheers.
Hi,
The cake looks great and I’m keen to try this recipe but I dont have coconut sugar-would it work with white or brown sugar?
Thanks!
Hi Doug, yes it would work with either of those sugars.
@Camilla, Thanks!
Hello Camilla
Just a few queries please as I am new to baking…
1. Is 1 tsp of baking soda equal to 4 or 5 gms?
2. Can I use olive instead of coconut oil?
3. Can I use plain brown sugar instead of coconut sugar?
4. Instead of coconut milk, can I use almond or soy milk please?
Thank you so much,
SKM
Hi SKM,
There are different answers with baking soda. Some argue it is 4, others 6. I go with 5 grams.
Yes, yes, and yes to the remaining 3 questions 🙂
hi! can i substitute all the coconut sugar for powdered stevia sugar?
Hi Jana, I am not sure if it would work exactly as written by substituting Stevia for all of the coconut sugar. But I’m not sure since I’ve never used it for this recipe is this a special Stevia that’s meant for baking? If so, you might want to try adding a little bit more liquid to the recipe since sugar adds moisture to the recipe as well as sweetness. I would love to know how it turns out.
This looks amazing! My son is allergic to coconut. Can I sub the coconut stuff for organic cane sugar, organic soy milk and a vegan butter?
Hi Andria,
Yes, yes and yes! 🙂
I made this today and it is great! Thanks for the recipe.
Fantastic, Mahshid! So glad you like the cake 🙂
Hello, I don’t understand what is this ons? How many grams of coconut milk should I use? You are Wonderfull. Thank you very much😊
Hi Eda! Sorry for the confusion. Ozs is an abbreviation for ounces. In metric, 13.5 ounces is 385 grams or 400 mL. I have added it to the recipe 🙂
Made this today. Texture and rising was remarkably good.
This recipe came to the rescue for a friend who is vegan and eats grain-free! She loved it, and so did everyone else, it is delicious (and very easy, too). THANK YOU!!!
Hi I tried this (halved recipe) and the texture is phenomenal! You wouldn’t know it is vegan or gluten-free (: However the chickpea flour leaves a taste for me, and I don’t want to increase the sugar to mask it – do you recommend subbing some of it for almond flour or cornstarch maybe? any idea about ratios?
Hi Silas, I am glad you like the recipe! Perhaps use hot strong coffee in lace of the boiling water, that would add another flavor dimension and deepen the chocolate flavor. You could swap some of the chickpea flour for, perhaps, some oat flour or almond flour. But not too much as the structure of the cake depends on the chickpea flour.
Can this be made as a vanilla cake by replacing the cocoa with additional CP flour? I saw you had a vanilla cake with Chickpea Flour but it included almond Flour and I’m making for a friend with a nut allergy.
Thank you 😊
Hi Sierra,
I am not sure. It will be heavy with all chickpea. Can she do coconut flour? You might want to try half the amount of coconut flour to replace the cocoa powder, plus a tablespoon of starch (e.g, tapioca of potato)
Hi Camilla. I want to make a cake for my toddler’s birthday and since he is allergic to dairy, eggs and gluten, it’s been a bit of a challenge to come up with a recipe. I was wondering if I could use a can of chickpeas in place of the chickpea flour & if yes, how do I modify the recipe. Thanks.
Hi Carine! Alas, I do not have a method for converting chickpea flour in a recipe to cooked chickpeas. So sorry! If you do decide to give chickpea flour a try, it is inexpensive (always a plus when tryin a new flour) and very versatile (I have a lot of vegan chickpea flour recipes here ).
We have recently turned vegan and gluten free . Tried 1 layer cake by making the ingredients half. Used almond milk and jaggery powder. It turned out perfect. Kids and husband loved it. Thank you so much. I used chickpea flour made from grinding chickpeas and not besan. Do you use besan or chickpea flour for all your recepies?
Hi Karishma! Happy to hear the cake was a success! I mostly use chickpea flour (labeled as suc), but have used besan many many times, too, both work great.
Just a few months back I transitioned to gluten free, and have been trying different products, noting that most of the breads are dry and lack of fluffiness. I made the cake today without the frosting as a test, since my birthday is coming soon and it was amazing, everybody in my family wanted a piece, it was so fluffy, tasty and not dry at all. I don’t eat chocolate, so I made it with carob, and it turned out delicious. Everybody believed it was chocolate cake. I will be making the frosting test soon, and hope to do double of the cake the recipe on my bday! Thanks for this awesome recipe.
You are so welcome, Liz! I am so glad it turned out so well, and thank you for sharing that it worked well with carob, that’s great!
Making this cake for my Mother in Law’s birthday as I’m vegan and she’s gluten free. Giving it a test run tomorrow! Wish me luck!
Hoping all goes well, Kate!
Hi
I’m confused by the receipe.
Starting from the beginning is it 2 AND 2/3 chick pea flour or 2x 2/3
Also, to make the double layer do I need to scale it x2 or is that the original receipt?
Apologies, Alexa–I have updated the recipe card to clarify. It is 2 and 2/3 cups of chickpea flour (320 g).The recipe makes two layers.
Quarantine cake for my mom’s (zoom) birthday party–we’re gluten free and all out of gf flour so i used the only thing i could find, since running to the store was not an option! Searched recipes for chickpea flour cake and went with yours. I added an egg and the results were amazing! Super rich and chocolatey without too much sugar and a boost of protein .My kids loved it! My new favorite cake! Thank you!!
Oh wow, talk about good news , Jodie, that is so wonderful! I love that you did a zoom birthday with your mom AND that this simple cake came through for you (and the kids like it too–yippee!).
Camilla, what a beautiful cake! I don’t know how you get such great results with grain free, nut free, egg free ingredients! I love your recipes.
Thank you for sharing them.
June, you are so welcome! It usually take quite a few disaster batches, first! 🙂 I have a cookie recipe post coming next–I can hardly wait to share! Take care, June 🙂
Hi Camilla! Do you have any recommendations on baking a 6” cake? Would I use the same amounts as the recipe calls for or should I reduce by half to make a layered 6” cake? Thank you!
Hi Diana,
To be safe, I would make the full recipe, filling the 6 inch layers about half to 2/3 full. You could bake the remaining batter in cupcakes and freeze for future eating! Start checking for doneness much earlier than the recipe states.
Hi Camilla, what shoud the batter look like once mixed. Mine looks very runny/liquidy ? Is that right or suposed to be thicker? Thanks so much. I am baking this right now 🥹
Hi Bianca,
The batter is pretty runny (high percentage of liquids to dry ingredients)–so it sounds like you did everything right 🙂 I hope that it came out ok!