Venturing into dairy-free baking is not something I would have envisioned doing way back when my love of sweets and baking first struck me down. Times have changed, and I am embracing the challenge. I’m not going to lie and say it’s easy, or that it’s easy to replace the flavour and texture that cream and butter bring to desserts.
Thankfully, good-quality dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa solids is not difficult to find, and cocoa butter itself is dairy-free. This pathway into dairy-free chocolate baking, and more specifically this Chocolate Mocha Cake, probably wouldn’t be worth pursuing if the ingredients weren’t readily accessible. Dark chocolate, rich cocoa powder and espresso will make you forget, at least for a little while, that butter is even absent.
Despite my love of butter, I will admit that replacing it with vegetable oil keeps this cake incredibly moist with a surprisingly light texture. High-cocoa dark chocolate does the heavy lifting in the frosting. I was worried the flavour of the dairy-free baking block would be difficult to disguise, but the combination of dark chocolate, espresso and coffee liqueur keeps it very well hidden.
This cake is worth making, without a doubt. However, if you need to travel with it like I did, it is not worth frosting in the middle. The layers didn’t hold together particularly well, and the whole transportation exercise — followed by serving it without plates or cutlery — would have been considerably easier with a generous layer of frosting on top instead.
But don’t let my mistake put you off. Layered when you’re serving it at home or simply frosted on top when it needs to travel, you won’t regret making this cake. And I wouldn’t sell it to whoever you’re sharing it with as dairy-free unless you have to. No one will ever guess.
Worth Making?
YES – Vegetable oil instead of butter keeps the cake soft and moist, while also making it an easy dairy-free alternative
YES – If you struggle to find dairy-free frosting that doesn’t taste horrible. Dark chocolate (quality dark chocolate) is the prominent flavour here, so no one will know it’s dairy-free.
YES – The coffee isn’t just there to deepen the chocolate. There’s enough espresso throughout the cake, syrup and frosting that make it hard to miss.
SKIP IT – If you don’t enjoy dark chocolate or rich cocoa. Those flavours are prominent here and are what make the lack of butter or cream almost impossible to notice.
SKIP IT – FROSTING ONLY – If you don’t need the cake to be dairy-free. Keep the cake exactly as it is, but frost it with a traditional chocolate or coffee buttercream instead.
Chocolate Mocha Cake (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
Chocolate Mocha Cake
- 180 g plain flour
- 45 g Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 180 g light brown sugar
- 40 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 120 ml neutral oil
- 180 ml strong espresso or very strong coffee cooled
- 120 ml unsweetened oat milk or almond milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp coffee liqueur or dark rum optional
Coffee Rum Syrup
- 75 ml strong espresso
- 50 g brown sugar
- 30 ml dark rum
- Pinch of salt
Dairy Free Chocolate Mocha Frosting
- 150 g dairy-free dark chocolate 60–70%
- 80 g dairy-free baking block
- 60 G icing sugar
- 30 ml strong espresso cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 25 ml coffee liqueur optional
Instructions
Chocolate Mocha Cake
- Heat the oven to 170°C fan / 190°C conventional. Grease and line with baking paper a 20 cm square tin.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugars, bicarbonate, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl whisk the eggs, oil, coffee, dairy-free milk, vanilla and optional alcohol. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk just until smooth. It will be a fairly loose batter.
- Pour into the tin and bake for approximately 35–42 minutes, until a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs rather than wet batter.
- Cool for 10–15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool completely.
Coffee Rum Syrup
- Heat the espresso and sugar until dissolved. Cool slightly, then stir in the rum and salt.
- Poke the warm cake lightly with a skewer and gently pour syrup over the warm cake.
Dairy Free Chocolate Mocha Frosting
- Melt the chocolate and allow it to cool until barely warm.
- Beat the dairy-free baking block until smooth and slightly aerated. Beat in the icing sugar, vanilla and salt.
- Beat in the cooled espresso a little at a time, then the melted chocolate. Add the coffee liqueur last, if using.
Make it your own way
- No alcohol: Replace the rum and coffee liqueur with extra strong coffee.
- Keep it simple: Skip the middle layer and pile the frosting on top. For a more travel friendly version, I recommend this approach
- Dial back the coffee: Use less espresso in the syrup and replace with dairy free milk of your choice in the frosting for a more chocolate-forward cake.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter: Add a tablespoon or two of peanut butter to the frosting and remove the rum for a chocolate peanut butter combo.
- Add crunch: Finish with chopped dark chocolate or toasted cacao nibs.
- Finish with salt: A little flaky sea salt on top cuts through the rich dark chocolate frosting.
