Vegan Easter Egg Chocolate Cake (Gluten-Free)

This Vegan Easter Egg Chocolate Cake is a rich and fudgy vegan chocolate cake with a smooth and luscious chocolate cream cheese buttercream decorated with shards of hazelnut chocolate easter egg and dark chocolate mini eggs. This cake can be easily gluten-free and is the chocolate lover’s dream!

There is so much chocolate this time of year (it’s currently Easter Monday as I am posting this) and I hope you are ready for even more chocolate. This cake is the best way to use up “leftover” chocolate eggs as you can melt some chocolate for inside the cake and top the cake with even more shards of Easter eggs and mini chocolate eggs. It’s pretty chocolatey and so delicious.

How delicious is this Vegan Easter Egg Chocolate Cake?

This chocolate cake is such a favourite at home as it’s:

• Easy to make
• Rich dense moreish and chocolatey
• Packed with three layers of chocolate
• Moist and fudgy
• Naturally vegan and nut-free and easily gluten-free
• Delicious for all the family
• Topped with the creamiest chocolate cream cheese buttercream

If you already love this chocolate cake, then read on to the recipe card below, or first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.

What ingredients do I need?

Firstly, the chocolate cake:

• Dark chocolate: chop this small and then melt the chocolate to make a rich and fudgy cake. This is similar to brownies to make the cake moist and chocolatey. You can use any chocolate, I prefer dark chocolate e.g. 85% cocoa but use your favourite chocolate here.
• Vegan butter: or you can use vegan margarine spread, too. This melts with the chocolate to add a lovely texture. I have not tried this with coconut oil and would advise to stick to butter.
• Plant-based milk: any milk will do here like oat, almond, soya or coconut (from a carton).
• Warm water: this really makes the cake so special and makes the batter so silky and glossy, like you would have for brownies.
• Lemon juice: this helps to bind the cake batter as it reacts with the milk to form a buttermilk.
• Plain or GF plain flour: if using GF flour make sure it’s a blend that you usually bake with and contains xantham gum. If in doubt, stick to white flour where you can for the best, richest and most moreish of cakes.
• Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda: for the rise.
• Cocoa powder: or cacao powder is also great (they are pretty much the same as long as you purchase 100% cacao/cocoa without added sugars). This one is the cocoa powder from Divine Chocolate. This adds so much richness to the batter.
• Coffee: this is optional but adding coffee to chocolate batters doesn’t mean that they taste of coffee but it intensifies the flavour and makes the cake richer. You can use decaf, or skip this all together.
• Sugar: I used golden caster sugar as I think it’s richer than white caster sugar but either will work. I can imagine coconut sugar will also be great.
• Salt: to bring together all the flavours.

And onto the frosting and topping:

• Vegan butter: stick to butter for the frosting as it makes it thick, luscious and rich. Allow the butter to rest at room temperature for 1 hour or until softened as this makes the frosting texture much smoother and easier to work with.
• Vegan cream cheese: topping this cake with a chocolate cream cheese buttercream makes it less sweet and adds a lovely tang, too. Allow the cream cheese to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before mixing.
• Cocoa powder: as above, you can use cacao powder too.
• Icing sugar: for the most perfect buttercream.
• Easter egg: use up an Easter egg that you haven’t eaten yet by smashing it to pieces and topping the cake. This was the dark hazelnut chocolate egg from Divine which is my favourite.
• Mini eggs: also add on some chocolate mini eggs. I used the dark eggs from Divine Chocolate here.

How do I make this cake?

This cake is easy to make in a few steps:

• Melt together the chocolate and butter: till glossy and smooth.
• Warm together the milk, water and lemon: and stir.
• Sift together the dry ingredients: and add the sugar and salt.
• Pour the chocolate mix and the milky mix into the flour: and whisk till smooth and glossy.
• Pour into a tin: and smooth over the top.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes: until an inserted skewer comes out basically clean. Allow to cool.
• Beat together all the buttercream ingredients: till fluffy and smooth.
• Spread over the frosting: to evenly coat the coat.
• Smash the chocolate egg: and add the shards on top of the cake as well as the mini eggs.
• Slice and enjoy: with a cup of tea, coffee or ice-cold plant-based milk.

Is this cake gluten-free and nut-free?

Yes, this cake is easily gluten-free if using a recommended baking GF flour that contains xanthan gum. This cake is naturally nut-free but please check that you chocolate, milk, butter and cream cheese do not contain nuts.

How long will this Vegan Easter Egg Chocolate Cake last?

You will be going back for seconds so it won’t last long, but if you can resist, the cake will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature in a sealed container or for 3-5 days in the fridge. You can also freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 1 month and allow to de-frost at room temperature before decorating.

I love cake, what else can I bake?

I hope you are going to love this Vegan Easter Egg Chocolate Cake and for more baking ideas, how about my:

• Black Forest Gateau
• Vegan Carrot Cake with Orange Buttercream
• Blueberry Streusel Cake
• Vegan Fruit Cake
• Vegan Strawberry Lemonade Cake

I look forward to hearing what you think of this Vegan Easter Egg Chocolate Cake so please let me know in the comments below. If you do make this cake, I’d love to see so please tag me in them, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With choc Easter egg cake love x