Ingredients

For the cake:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 cup water

For the frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups vegan butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons almond milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

For the cake:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together melted coconut oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, milk, and water.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, whisk until JUST combined. Be careful not to over mix.
5. Grease, flour, and line the bottoms (with parchment paper), three 8 inch circular cake pans. Pour an even amount of batter into each pan. Tap the pans on the counter to get rid of air bubbles.
6. Put in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Begin checking with a toothpick at the 30 minute mark. When the toothpick comes out clean, remove from the oven.  After a few minutes transfer from the pan to cooling racks. Allow to COMPLETELY cool before attempting to frost.

For the frosting:

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl.
2. With an electric beater, whip until all ingredients are combined. Set the beater speed to it’s highest speed and whip for a few more minutes until the frosting has doubled in size/is light and fluffy.

To frost the cake:

Spread an even amount of frosting between each layer. After all layers are stacked, frost the sides, and then frost the top. I usually do a “crumb coat” (a thin layer, to fill in gaps between cake layers and to catch crumbs). Then I add another layer of frosting to the entire cake to add any sort of design I want.

Here’s a great youtube video that really helped me: