Author: So many good things to celebrate today, let me count the ways:
- Chocolate.
- It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken is officially 2 years old! That means I have been posting my recipes, and blabbing my heart out via keyboard to you guys for two full years now. Yay, happy birthday blog! Thanks blog.
- Chocolate.
- Shall we say it again, CHOCOLATE!!!! Can you believe that I went an entire year without using chocolate as a feature ingredient!? I saved the best for last, because that's what you are supposed to do with dessert... apparently. Let's celebrate all of these exciting things with Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake.
This is a picture of love if I ever saw one. This Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake is so amazing! Its warm, ooey-gooey, fudge-y, chocolatey, and it has a secret super power: it makes its own chocolate sauce! You just pop it in the oven, and when you scoop it up, you find all of these amazing pocket of chocolate pudding sauce hidden right in the cake. So cool and exciting (not to mention crazy delicious)!
Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake is made in three layers, the bottom cake layer, the middle powder layer, and the top water layer. It seems very odd, but then amazing things happen in the oven. So we are just going to go with it and trust the process.
Let's get baking!
To Make the Bottom Cake Layer:
Whisk up the dry ingredients...
Then add in the wet and mix it all up together.
Spread that out in a lightly greased pan. Cake layer, done.
The Middle Powder Layer:
Is a mixture of brown and white sugar, and cocoa. Just whisk them together...
Sprinkle it over the cake layer. Shake the pan a little so the powder layer is even. Done with that layer. See, easy.
For the Final Layer:
Just pour the hot water right on top of the cake. It will make a big old puddle, and you might be curious about your creation, but just trust me, good things happen in the oven. Don't stir it, just let the water be, and pop it in the oven.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes and when you take it out it will look something like this chocolate amazingness. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before serving then dive in!
This Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake is stellar served warm, but it's still pretty darn good when served cool as well. Serve along with a big scoop of dairy-free ice-cream such as So Delicious Dairy Free Creamy Vanilla.
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Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cake
Servings: servings
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Ingredients
For the bottom cake layer:
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, (optional to enhance flavour*)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup plant-based milk, (such as soy or almond)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the middle powder layer:
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
For the top water layer:
- 1 ¼ cups hot water
- vegan vanilla ice cream, (optional for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease an 8"x8" pan and set aside.
- To make the bottom cake layer, in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, the sugar, flour, cocoa, instant espresso, and baking powder. Add the coconut oil, plant-based milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Don't over mix. Pour the batter into the pan, and use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly across the pan.
- To make the middle powder layer, in another bowl, mix together the white sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder. Sprinkle the powder mixture evenly over the bottom cake layer in the pan. Give the pan a shake, so the powder layer evenly covers the batter layer.
- For the top water layer, pour the hot water on top of the powder layer. Do not mix. It will look like a puddle, and that's the way it should be. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the centre looks almost set. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with dairy-free ice-cream on the side if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
⭐ Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love if you left a rating and comment, it helps others find the recipe and makes my day! 💕Bon Appetegan
Sam.
Jessica McLaws says
This was so rich and delicious! Of course it was easy and quick to whip up as well. Thanks for another amazing recipe, Sam.
Sam Turnbull says
Awww you're most welcome, Jessica 🙂
Brenna says
I made this and it was delicious! I did substitute olive oil and it turned out well! Yum!
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you enjoyed!
Lillian says
Unfortunately my pudding didn't rise at all. I was left with chocolate water. I've lost a lot of confidence in cooking recently after some failures, do you have an idea as to why mine didn't work?
I followed the recipe exactly.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Lillian, it's difficult to know without being in the kitchen with you, but if you are having continued fails with different recipes it might be worth getting an oven thermometer. Ovens can often be off and if your oven was too cool, that would explain the pudding not rising. You might also want to check your baking powder. If it is too old it could stop the cake from rising. Hope that helps!
Sohil says
Can I use dairy milk instead of non dairy mentioned in most of your recipes
Sam Turnbull says
Dairy (cow's milk) isn't vegan so I do not cook with it or recommend it.
Tina says
Hi! I found your site on Pinterest and it is AMAZING!!! Does it make a different if I use only brown sugar or brown and coconut sugar? I stopped buying white sugar quite a while ago and don't wanna go back there. Thanks for all your fabulous recipes!!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Tina! Welcome. Thank you so much!! I don't use coconut sugar myself, but this article should be helpful on how to replace it for white sugar. And just heads up, brown sugar, is usually just white sugar with molasses added to it. The molasses adds moisture and can make food chewier. Enjoy!
Harpal says
It's interesting that you say this about sugar, white sugar flares up my candida where as brown doesn't ♀️
Tammy Tivis says
O-M-G, this was DIVINE! Unbelievably simple and it satisfied everyone's sweet tooth! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Always looking for scrumptious vegan recipes and I can't wait to spend more time on your site.
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome Tammy! Thrilled you loved it so much, I hope you enjoy many more recipes. 🙂
Charlotte says
Hi Sam,
We're looking to bake our first vegan dessert for the family and came across this - looks delicious! 🙂
This is probably a really silly question, but I just wondered what conversion you would use for your ingredients to grams/ oz? I've had a look online and everywhere seems to have slightly different conversions so I've confused myself haha!
Many thanks,
Charlotte
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Charlotte, yes, you will find slightly different results everywhere because the measurements I use (cups and spoons), are volume measurements, where as the measurements you use (grams and oz) are weight measurements, so you can see one does not equal the other. I'm afraid it's a bit of a guess. I know some of my readers who cook my recipes often but live in a place that uses grams picked up a set of measuring cups and spoons so they didn't have to try to do the conversion. Sorry I can't be more help!
Charlotte says
Thank you so much for all of your help! I didn't even think of getting some cup measurements - genius haha! I've just ordered one 🙂 Thanks again and I just want to say that I love your site so much - I came across it today after searching for vegan desserts on google & have really enjoyed reading your blogs 🙂 My husband and I only became vegan a month ago after watching Cowspiracy, Vegucated and 'What the health' so this is all very new to us 🙂 Thank you so much!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! So glad I could be of help. Yes, now it will be easy for you to make any Canadian or American recipes, no conversions needed. Just make sure when you are using the cups and spoons that you fill them and scrape the excess off the top with a back of a knife or your finger like this. That may seem obvious, but I have witnessed many of my friends being lazy about measuring properly, and you can't guarantee good results with bad measuring. Haha. Congrats on your new veganism! So happy you are enjoying my blog so much! Let me know if you ever have any questions or need any support 🙂
Sohil says
Can I use dairy milk instead of almond and soy??
Sam Turnbull says
Dairy (cow's milk) isn't vegan so I do not cook with it or recommend it.
sharon says
great recipe, quick easy and supa chocolatey....yum yum...made it for a dinner party for non-vegan friends and it went down a storm....thank you for sharing
Sam Turnbull says
My absolute pleasure! So happy it was enjoyed by everyone, Sharon 🙂
Christie says
Hi, Sam!
I just saw this today and I cannot wait to make it!
I am wondering what brand of sugar you use... I read on a couple of sites that a lot of white sugar involves bone char in production. Do you have any suggestions?
I have SO MANY of your recipes bookmarked. Out of all of the sites I have visited and tried recipes from, yours is my favorite and has the most success!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww shucks, thank you so much, Christie! Yeah, bone char is used mainly in the US and not so often in Canada or other parts of the world, so many of the common brands of sugar here are totally good to go, such as Redpath, which is my go to. Bone char won't be listed in the ingredients, but you can check on the brands website or email them. If you are having trouble, organic sugar is always totally vegan and good to go! Hope that helps 🙂
Tracy Kruger says
Absolutely amazing! The best PMS buster on planet earth. I make it all the time and even the omnis love it. My number 1 go to pudding. Thank You from South Africa. ❤
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Amazing!! You're most welcome, Tracy 🙂
Lynette de Kauwe says
Absolutely delicious - the AWW classic self-saucing chocolate pudding was a family favourite till I made this last evening for my vegan grand daughter - it is now the new family favourite for all vegans and non-vegans. Thank you
Sam Turnbull says
Amazing!!!! That's so awesome! 🙂
Amy says
Do you have to use coconut oil in this? I find that it makes everything taste really coconutty, can you use an olive oil instead?
Sam Turnbull says
Virgin coconut oil tastes like coconut, but refined coconut oil has no coconut taste. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature which is key to this recipe, so you could replace it with vegan butter, but not olive oil. Hope that helps!
Amy says
Oh wow i had no idea about that, ill have to go find some refined coconut oil. Or else ive got nuttelex if thatll work. Thanks so much! Excited to make this for easter
Sam Turnbull says
Enjoy!
Cat says
Yessss, I have officially found the perfect chocolate cake (i.e. the perfect cake - because *obviously* that would be a chocolate cake). Ok so notes to self: add bananas and molasses to the oat milk and reduce the sugar by 2/3; wholemeal spelt flour works great; a bit of salt is yum; recipe doubles well; used some baking paper in the springform pan to minimise leakage (only a bit came out and didn't drip down). So so good, thank you Sam! Happy to have finally tried one of your recipes. Been getting the alerts for ages 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha!! Woohoo! SO happy you enjoyed it, and I hope you try many more recipes 🙂
Karen says
How many bananas and how much molasses?
Anais says
Just made this today for a meat eater pal, she loved it! With your coconut cream it's delicious. Thanks for the recipe Sam. X
Sam Turnbull says
You are most welcome Anais! I hope you're well 🙂
Clare says
Just made this tonight, and WOW is that good! Already saved the recipe. Pairs great with coconut milk ice cream! My only issue was that the bottom half of the pan ended up pretty much liquid. It was delicious, but I wish it were just a bit thicker. Any suggestions on how I can thicken it a bit?
Sam Turnbull says
Chocolate cake and coconut milk ice cream... drooling!!!
The liquid part of the cake is the pudding sauce. That's what makes this cake so unique. If you want a sauce free cake, try The Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cake. Hope that helps!
Trudi Bourke says
Just let me say it. I love self saucing puddings and I love chocolate. Since switching to vegan food I've kicked my block-a-day chocolate habit but still like something nice after dinner. This is such a winning recipe. Even though Christmas day here in Sydney was pretty hot I made this as a dessert (in my family we always have at least 6 desserts) because I knew all of the other desserts would not be vegan. I was asked for the recipe by people who think I'm weird because I don't eat 'normal' food. I'm remaking the pudding today to take to a dinner party where I know everyone loves chocolate.
I'm also on to my 4th batch of cinnamon spice cookies with maple syrup icing. You provided a link to these under Christmas cookies and these have become a favourite. Their beautiful smell fills the kitchen as I type.
So, thank you for your wonderful recipes and joi de vivre. Trudi
Sam Turnbull says
It's always the best when vegan recipes get all the rave reviews! Haha. So happy you love it Trudi, and honored that one of my recipes made it to your Christmas day!I hope you continue to enjoy many more of my recipes 🙂
Brittney says
This recipe is amazing, I have made this twice now. I had to use white whole wheat flour, dutch cocoa (soo delicious) and make my own brown sugar, I also added some salt to the bottom cake layer. The second time I doubled the batch and subbed half the oil for mashed banana. Both batters weren't thick like your pictures, but they came out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you loved it Brittney! 😀
Lauren says
This cake was such a hit in my house! Unfortunately I used the wrong pan (it had a removable bottom) so most of the water leaked out in the oven, but it was still delicious despite it not having much of a sauce! Next time it will be even better! My meat eating boyfriend loved it so much he went back for seconds when I wasnt looking! Haha thanks for this recipe I love your blog and will deffo be making this again 🙂 x
Sam Turnbull says
Oh no! I hope the mess wasn't too difficult to clean up. So happy you liked the recipe so much! You know when people go back for seconds that it is a hit! Thank you for loving my blog!! 🙂
Kate says
Loved it, such a fun recipe!! Crazy how the cake rises! Just think it needed a pinch of salt 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you loved it Kate! 🙂
Carolyn says
Isn't white granulated sugar non vegan? At least that's what I've been told. Been vegan for going on 3 years now and still learning new things all the time. Can you use a raw sugar in this recipe?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Carolyn,
White sugar can be vegan or not just depending on how it's produced. Bone char is sometimes used to whiten the sugar, making it not vegan. I believe this is much more common in the US than in other countries. So just check with the company to see if it is vegan friendly or not. Here in Canada Redpath is a very common brand of sugar and you can see on their site that it is suitable for vegans. I think raw sugar would work just fine in this recipe as well. 🙂
Carolyn says
Thank you for your quick response!! Ahh, that must be it, I haven't ran across any brands of white sugar here in the states that's vegan friendly. Haven't checked every brand but to be sure, I just buy a brand that I know is vegan. Making this recipe for friends that are coming over for dinner tonight, so excited!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! I hope you enjoy it. A good tip is that organic sugar is always bone char free, so that's an easy one to grab without needing to do research 🙂