This Vegan Dark Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake is a total stunner for Valentine's Day! Vanilla cake is studded with fresh cherries and chocolate chunks, sandwiched with a fresh cherry filling, and crowned with a dreamy chocolate ganache.
Ooooh you guys! Happy Tuesday! I am seriously so excited to share this beauty with you today. This Vegan Dark Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake is my most recent layered mini and I am all sorts of obsessed! It features a vegan vanilla-almond cake base that's studded with chunks of sweet cherries and dark chocolate chunks, sandwiched together with a cherry buttercream, covered in a vanilla-almond buttercream and of course, crowned with the most epic dark chocolate ganache drip. You know me and my drips. I just can't resist!
Off topic, but I am seriously so sorry if you tried to access the blog on Sunday (or mid-day Monday) and got an error page ???? I had some issues with my server and on top of that, the blog traffic was going crazy with searches for my infamous queso and so everything just got overloaded and shut down! Wah. Worry not, everything should be back to normal now and you shouldn't have any problems seeing my recipes ???? Which is good, because you guys really need this dark chocolate cherry layer cake in your life. It's absolutely perfect for Valentine's day!
So if you follow me on Instagram, you probably know I am super active on stories! I shared a brand new blog series idea on there last week, and with all the Super Bowl madness, somehow I forgot to share it on here! You guys know I do a lot of vegan baking and while I love it, I know it can be a scary topic for some people, even those who are great bakers! It is a completely different science than traditional baking, which I know can be intimidating. Which is WHY I want to start a series called #VeganBakingBasics! I want to share a different "base" vegan baking recipe every week or twice a month, which can then be tweaked and flavored as you please to create a whole gamut of delicious desserts. I've also been really wanting to experiment with making videos, so I think this will be a super fun project!
This dark chocolate cherry layer cake, for example, is a great demonstration of the #VeganBakingBasics in action. I started with my go-to vegan vanilla cake recipe and I added almond extract, cherries, and chocolate pieces. The filling is my traditional vegan frosting mixed with a homemade cherry jam/compote that I whipped up. The outside frosting is still the same as the filling, but left plain and with just some vanilla and almond extract added. And my ganache is just dark chocolate mixed with a bit of nondairy milk and melted until super smooth and creamy. This layer cake does include a lot of elements, but when broken down like this, it sure seems less intimidating 🙂
I hope you guys will give this vegan dark chocolate cherry layer cake a spin for Valentine's day! It is crazy delicious and we absolutely loved it! If you make it, be sure to tag me on social media... it seriously gives me life when y'all do that ???? LOVE YOU, MEAN IT! Happy baking!
Tips for success:
- Prepare the flaxseed and water mixture first so it can set while you make the rest of the cake batter
- Dark chocolate plays well with the super sweet cherries, but you can use semi-sweet chocolate instead if you prefer it!
- Add nondairy milk as needed to your frosting if it's too thick or appears lumpy.
- Be sure your vegan butter and shortening are both at room temperature so your frosting comes out nice and smooth! It also helps to beat these until totally smooth and lump-free BEFORE adding in any powdered sugar.
- To get the streaked pink effect on the cake, just place a dabs of the pink cherry frosting all over the cake with an offset spatula. When you use the bench scraper to smooth the outside, it will streak! Be sure not to press too hard, or you will remove all the pink.
vegan dark chocolate cherry layer cake
Ingredients
- *for the cake*
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoon water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter at room temperature
- ⅓ cup nondairy yogurt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ⅔ cup unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 cup pitted cherries fresh or frozen & thawed
- 3 oz dark chocolate chopped
- *for the filling*
- ⅓ cup pitted cherries fresh or frozen & thawed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in some water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ¼ cup vegan shortening
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon unsweetened nondairy milk as needed
- pinch of salt
- *for the frosting*
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup vegan shortening
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2-3 tablespoon unsweetened nondairy milk as needed
- *for the ganache*
- 3 oz dark chocolate
- 2-3 tablespoon nondairy milk more or less as needed
Instructions
- First, make the cake. Preheat oven to 350F and spray two 6" round cake pans with nonstick baking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed with the water and set aside to thicken.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- Add in the vegan butter, and beat on low until it's incorporated and has a sandy texture.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, flaxseed mixture, nondairy yogurt, almond & vanilla extracts, and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Pour in the unsweetened nondairy milk, and beat on medium-low until smooth and creamy.
- Cut the fresh or frozen cherries into quarters, and stir into the prepared batter along with the chocolate pieces.
- Divide batter evenly among the 2 pans, and bake for 45 minutes until cake is set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, prepare the compote for the filling. In a small nonstick pot, combine the cherries and granulated sugar. Heat over medium and cook, stirring often, until sugar has started to dissolve and cherries are jammy and soft.
- Stir in the almond and vanilla extracts, followed by the dissolved cornstarch. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until it thickens. Set aside to cool completely.
- When ready to assemble, make the small batch of frosting for the filling. With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together ¼ cup of vegan butter and ¼ cup of shortening until creamy.
- Add in the cooled off cherry mixture, then add in powdered sugar as needed to create a thick frosting.
- Next, prepare the frosting for the cake coating. Using a stand mixer, beat together the rest of the vegan butter and shortening. Add in the vanilla and almond extract, and add in powdered sugar as needed to create a thick frosting. You can add a few spoonfuls of nondairy milk if it's too thick.
- To assemble the cake, divide the 2 cake layers in half to create 4 thin layers.
- Place one cake piece on your cake stand or platter, spoon some cherry frosting in the center, and spread it to create a thin layer. Repeat with all.
- Frost the outside of the cake with the prepared white frosting as desired. Place cake in fridge while you prepare the ganache.
- Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 15-20 second increments until melted. Add in nondairy milk as needed, stirring well, until ganache is smooth and creamy. If it appears lumpy or grainy, don't worry! Just add more milk and keep stirring. It will come back together!
- Drizzle the ganache on top of the cooled cake, and decorate the top with fresh cherries. Enjoy!
Alisha Ross says
Making this again tonight – it is delicious! Even the picky kids likes it! And I love how quick and easy it is – with things I have on hand! Thanks for a great, easy recipe!