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Desserts

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

July 7, 2020 by Alexandra Daum
This one-bowl vegan chocolate raspberry cake is topped with a creamy coconut milk ganache for a decadent summer dessert made with healthier ingredients.
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Chocolate ganache covered cake topped with fresh raspberries on a cake stand.

This recipe was originally published in July 2018. It’s been updated with improvements to the text and recipe as of July 2020.

Graham always gets a good birthday cake, since his birthday is in summer – this year it was this vegan, one-bowl, chocolate raspberry cake with a coconut milk ganache. It looks a bit fancy, doesn’t it? But it’s really simple, I promise, even the icing. I just tossed it on there and made some swoops with a spoon.

It’s a basic vegan chocolate cake, made with light spelt flour, cocoa powder, non-dairy milk, olive oil, and a little coconut sugar. I adapted it from my pumpkin and chocolate layer cake and reduced the sugar a bit. Half a cup of coconut sugar for a whole cake is pretty all right, I think.

The cake has a nice light texture and deep chocolate flavour, with some raspberries tossed in halfway through filling the tin with the batter for a berry surprise in the centre. This lightens an otherwise rather rich cake, and makes it into a properly summery dessert.

Close up of chocolate cake batter with fresh raspberries.

Ingredients

  • Light (sifted) spelt flour
  • Coconut sugar
  • Cocoa powder
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Sea salt
  • Non-dairy milk
  • Olive oil
  • Vanilla extract
  • Raspberries
  • Dark chocolate
  • Full-fat coconut milk
Chocolate raspberry cake with a slice cut and being lifted from the cake.

Method

Preheat the oven and grease a springform pan with coconut oil. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl and whisk it very well – no lumps! Once it’s mixed, add the milk, oil, and vanilla, then stir until just mixed (don’t over-mix) and there aren’t any visible streaks of flour.

Pour about half the batter into the prepared tin, then scatter a generous handful of raspberries over it. Top with the remaining batter, then bake for about 45 minutes or until your cake passes the toothpick test.

It’s a single bowl method because dishes are the worst and cake shouldn’t involve more dishes than necessary, especially when hot water should be avoided at all costs during steamy summer weather. Mix, bake, cool, ice, done. 

To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan until simmering, then pour over the chocolate. Let this sit for 30 seconds, then whisk to combine. This needs to cool fully in the refrigerator before icing the cake.

Since both the cake and the icing need plenty of time to cool fully, you might want to make them the night before you plan on serving them to ensure plenty of time for that. Warm cake means melting ganache and you don’t want that.

Left: Chocolate cake on a white stand with slice cut to show interior texture. Right: Close up of chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache

I need to write a whole post about this, I think, so that’ll be coming up soon. This recipe – along with these vegan chocolate tarts and chocolate hazelnut cake – uses a full can of coconut milk instead of scooping the cream from the can. It’s easier and less wasteful, and tastes just as good – if anything, it’s even easier to work with.

There’s a caveat, though, in that you need to be very certain that the coconut milk you’re using has a very high fat content. At least 65% is key. If it doesn’t specify, then stick to the safe side and scoop out the cream only. The cake linked above includes some tips on how to fix your ganache if it does turn out too thin, which will happen if you use light coconut milk or a brand that cheaps out on the amount of cream included.

Tips and Notes

The ganache is a full can of coconut milk, including the watery bit, four squares of baking chocolate, and some maple syrup. I’ve posted variations of this ganache before but this is the most streamlined & simple version yet. The trick here is to make the ganache and the cake the night before so everything has cooled down when you’re ready to assemble it.

Don’t worry about raspberries sinking to the bottom of the cake. The batter is relatively thick, and since they’re going in the middle rather than being mixed throughout, they’ll float in a nice even layer.

Make sure you’re using cocoa powder, not cocoa drink powder, which is something quite different. There should only be one ingredient. If you see anything like sugar, milk powder, etc., then it’s not for baking.

Chocolate ganache covered cake topped with fresh raspberries.

Substitutions

I don’t have a gluten-free substitution for this cake. A good GF blend might work, but I recommend going for a recipe that was developed specifically to be gluten free instead – like this one-bowl gluten free chocolate cake (it has a vegan option). You can, of course, use all-purpose flour in place of spelt for this recipe, and whole-wheat pastry flour works too.

Don’t have fresh raspberries? Use frozen, no problem. Strawberries, cherries, and apricots all make good alternatives, though I don’t recommend frozen strawberries here as they’re too watery. You can also leave the fruit out in a pinch and have an excellent basic vegan chocolate cake.

Olive oil can be replaced by any light-tasting liquid oil. Grape seed, avocado, and so on. I don’t like coconut oil in this cake, it makes it too heavy after cooling. Cane sugar can be used instead of coconut sugar if you prefer.

More Chocolate Desserts

Almond Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Coconut Pie with Strawberries
Flourless Chocolate Tahini Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
Chocolate Chia Mousse

Chocolate raspberry cake on a stand with a slice cut and partly out.

Let’s connect! For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email. If you make this recipe, I’d love to see! Tag your instagram versions with @occasionallyeggs.

Yield: 12

Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
4.43 from 42 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American

Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Cake

  • 300 grams light spelt flour
  • 100 grams coconut sugar
  • 60 grams cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 375 ml non-dairy milk (oat, almond, etc.)
  • 125 ml olive oil*
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large handful raspberries

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ganache

  • 100 grams dark chocolate
  • 400 ml canned full-fat coconut milk
  • 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup to taste (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Raspberries for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 20cm (8 inch) springform pan. 
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk, olive oil, and vanilla. Use a wooden spoon to stir until just mixed and no streaks of flour remain.
  • Pour half of the batter into the prepared spring form, sprinkle a layer of raspberries in, and top with the remaining batter. Transfer to the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
  • Cool the cake on a rack for 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool completely before icing. 

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ganache

  • Finely chop the chocolate and place it into a heatproof bowl.
  • Pour the whole can of coconut milk into a small saucepan, and heat over low-medium until just simmering. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds before whisking to combine.
  • Add the maple syrup and vanilla, and sweeten to taste. Let the ganache cool fully in the refrigerator (at least four hours) before icing the cake.
  • To ice, make swoops with the back of a spoon, and top with a couple generous handfuls of fresh raspberries. Store leftover cake in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Notes

* You can use another light-tasting oil instead of olive, like avocado, but avoid coconut oil as it will make the cake too dense when it cools.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g Calories: 310kcal Carbohydrates: 37g Protein: 13g Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 4g Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g Cholesterol: 3mg Sodium: 229mg Fiber: 10g Sugar: 13g
© Alexandra Daum
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
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More Desserts:

Apple hazelnut cake on dark wooden surface.Vegan Apple Cake
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A stack of three oatmeal cookie chocolate ice cream sandwiches, decorated with raspberries and flowers.Three Ingredient Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Previous Post: « Chocolate Coconut Pie with Strawberries
Next Post: Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream »

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Comments

  1. Marco says

    November 29, 2020 at 8:35 am

    I made this a few days ago for my wife’s birthday and she loved it! We both did 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • Alexandra says

      December 1, 2020 at 8:52 am

      I’m so happy to hear that, thanks Marco!

      Reply
  2. Jen Ungar says

    September 19, 2019 at 6:52 pm

    Hello! I am going to try making the ganache later. Would coconut cream work instead of coconut milk? I happen to have that on hand and don’t want to run to the market.

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      September 19, 2019 at 7:08 pm

      Coconut cream will be even better : )

      Reply
  3. Shawn says

    September 18, 2019 at 10:11 am

    Great recipe, excited to try it out! I’ve read that dusting the fresh raspberries in flour before putting them in the batter will help them from sinking in the cake. Your recipe does not say to do that — have you had any problems with the berries all sinking to the bottom?

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      September 18, 2019 at 10:13 am

      I would dust them in flour if they were being mixed in with the batter, but as they’re being layered, it’s not really a concern. The batter isn’t particularly thin and so I’ve never had issues with the raspberries sinking at all – they’ve always stayed right in place. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  4. Georgia says

    July 26, 2019 at 6:44 pm

    Gorgeous cake! I made it for my bestie’s birthday and I’m excited to bring it to her today. What a great idea to just bake raspberries in the middle instead of baking two cakes and layering them.

    Sadly my icing came out reeeeally runny and needed some major TLC. In case anyone else has the same problem, I fixed it by adding some icing sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and finally some more melted chocolate, all blended with a hand mixer to eliminate lumps and then chilled so the extra chocolate would set. Worked a treat!

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      July 27, 2019 at 6:15 am

      I’m so glad you liked it, Georgia! The icing can turn out a bit runny if the coconut milk doesn’t have a high enough fat content – I’m glad you found a solution that worked for you. You can also see my comment above responding to someone with the same problem and how I’ve fixed it in the past when using lighter coconut milk by mistake : )

      Reply
  5. Vanessa says

    May 19, 2019 at 10:36 am

    Made this for my best friend’s birthday yesterday night, everyone loved it so much thanks for the amazing recipe

    Reply
  6. Krisit says

    April 20, 2019 at 2:26 pm

    HELLo! My ganache has been in the fridge overnight but it still doesn’t seem think enough. Any suggestions to thicken?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      April 21, 2019 at 5:20 pm

      Yes! I made this once with light coconut milk by mistake and here’s what I did – put the not thick enough ganache in a heatproof bowl, add another 50g of chopped dark chocolate, and heat over a saucepan of simmering water (a double boiler) until the chocolate melts. Whisk to incorporate and then chill again. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  7. Sarah says

    March 10, 2019 at 9:12 am

    Hi 🙂 Is there another fruit that I could use instead of raspberries? Where I live, I can only get frozen raspberries. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      March 10, 2019 at 12:17 pm

      Hi Sarah! You can use frozen raspberries no problem in this cake, but any other berries will work well. Apricots might also be nice!

      Reply
  8. Rebekah Miller says

    February 13, 2019 at 3:25 pm

    Hello , This looks amazing and I want to make it this week. Is there a gluten free flour alternative that would work? I have to be gluten free for health reasons now 🙁

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      February 17, 2019 at 3:00 pm

      Hi Rebekah – I think an all-purpose GF flour blend would work fine here.

      Reply
  9. Jo says

    September 25, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    This looks great! To clarify, I can use all-purpose flour instead of spelt? And what about raw cane sugar instead of coconut sugar? Just trying to save myself a few bucks lol.

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      September 25, 2018 at 9:53 pm

      Hi Jo!
      I haven’t tried with regular sugar but I’m certain both those substitutions will work perfectly. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
      Alexandra

      Reply
  10. Rachel Leung says

    July 31, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    This looks utterly delightful! Definitely putting it on my baking bucket list!

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      August 2, 2018 at 7:09 pm

      Thanks, Rachel! I’m looking forward to making it again soon too 🙂

      Reply
  11. Natalie says

    July 30, 2018 at 4:02 am

    Chocolate and raspberry is such a delicious combo! This cake looks divine!

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      August 2, 2018 at 7:09 pm

      Thank you so much, Natalie!

      Reply

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