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This moist vegan chocolate cake with vanilla mint buttercream frosting is organic, uses fair trade chocolate, and is naturally colored. Using a wrapped buttercream transfer method, you can decorate it with any cute design. I drew kawaii bats on mine and topped it with some plant based peppermint bark and pink sprinkles.

This recipe makes a 3-layer six-inch cake (16 slices).

Table of Contents

(click the links below to skip to the section you’re looking for)

• Chocolate Cake Recipe
• Vanilla Mint Frosting
• Cake Decorations
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Ingredient Substitutions
• Video
• Contact Me with Questions
• Similar Recipes

It’s that time of year again…Izzy’s birthday! This year, she requested a chocolate mint cake. I made her a grasshopper cake for her birthday 3 years ago too, so I guess she thinks enough time has passed since then that she can request it again. She knows me so well. One time, Josipa asked for a flavor of cupcakes that I had just made Jessica that same year, and I had to shut that down, haha.

I’m participating in a cake collab where all the cakes are decorated with buttercream transfers to look like they’re wrapped with wrapping paper. To check them all out, just visit the #wrappedcakecollabpart2 hashtag on instagram. Normally, you do this technique by tracing a wrapping paper you like, but since Izzy’s taste is more unique / goth, I had to design her wrapping paper myself. I went for a cute kawaii theme featuring her favorite animal: bats. The more stylish bats have bows, of course. Now that I think about it, this would be a good cake for Halloween too.

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Ingredients for Vegan Chocolate Cake

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• 1 ¼ cups (300g) nondairy milk
• 1 tablespoon (15g) apple cider vinegar
• 2 ⅔ cups (350g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup (55g) cocoa powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons (8g) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon (4g) baking powder
• 3-4 pinches (1g) of salt
• 5-6 ounces (150g) vegan yogurt
• ⅔ cup (144g) safflower oil
• 1 ½ cups (325g) organic sugar
• 2 teaspoons (8-9g) vanilla extract

How to Make Vegan Chocolate Cake

prep time: 30 minutes; bake time: 35-40 minutes

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Coat three 6" round cake pans using a paper towel with safflower oil on it.

Cut three round pieces of parchment paper by tracing the cake pans.

Set each piece of parchment paper on the bottom of each cake pan and then coat again with safflower oil.

Combine a tablespoon (15g) of vinegar and 1 ¼ cups (300g) nondairy milk, stir, and let sit.

Sift the 2 ⅔ cups (350g) flour, ⅔ cup (55g) cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons (8g) baking soda, 1 teaspoon (4g) baking powder and a few pinches (1g) of salt into another bowl and whisk together.

Add 5-6 ounces (150g) vegan yogurt, ⅔ cup (144g) oil, 1 ½ cups (325g) vegan sugar, and 2 teaspoons (8-9g) vanilla extract to the milk mixture and stir well.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet, half at a time, and mix on low speed until smooth.

Quickly divide the batter evenly into the three 6" round cake pans .

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until when you insert a toothpick into the center of one, it comes out clean. (If making cupcakes, bake for 18-20 minutes, and if making a 8-9” cake, bake for 40-45 minutes.) Set cake pans on cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes before flipping over. Then cool completely on cooling rack.

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Ingredients for Vegan Vanilla Mint Buttercream Frosting

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• 1 ⅓ cups (300g) vegan butter or margarine
• 1 ⅓ cups (255g) organic palm shortening
• ½ tablespoon (7g) vanilla extract
• ½ tablespoon (7g) peppermint extract
• 7 cups (840g) organic powdered sugar

How to Make Vegan Vanilla Mint Buttercream Frosting

Whisk the 1 ⅓ (300g) cups vegan butter, 1 ⅓ cups (255g) spectrum sustainable organic palm shortening , ½ tablespoon (7g) vanilla extract, and ½ tablespoon (7g) mint for 1 minute using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer.

Sift and add the 7 cups (840g) of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing for at least a minute on low speed between each addition.

Spread or pipe the frosting between the 3 cake layers. I piped mine using a piping bag fitted with a Wilton large round tip 1A (the largest round one). If the cakes aren’t flat on top, use a bread knife to slice the hump off the tops before assembling.

Pipe 2 rings of frosting around the gap between cake layers if there is one.

Frost the entire outside of the cake, using an offset spatula to smooth out the crumb coat. This thin layer of frosting covers the entire outside of the cake and keeps the cake from leaving crumbs in your final product.

Freeze the entire cake while you make the buttercream transfer for your wrapped cake. If it’s going to be more than a day before you have time to get around to the next step, freeze it for a few hours and then wrap it well with plastic wrap before returning it to the freezer. This will ensure that no air can get to the cake. Sometimes I freeze cakes for up to 3 weeks so I can get a head start on cakes during weeks when I have more free time.

Ingredients for the Cake Decorations

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• dutch cocoa powder

• black cocoa powder

• activated charcoal

• pink Color Garden natural food coloring

• vegan sprinkles

• Up to 2 tablespoons nondairy milk (optional, to achieve a creamy consistency if needed for the black cocoa frosting)

• acetate or parchment paper

How I Decorated The Chocolate Mint Cake

Transfer around a two-thirds of a cup of the frosting to a bowl. Add 1-2 tablespoons of sifted dutch cocoa powder to get a darker color and mix well.

Add some sifted black cocoa powder and mix well.

Add some activated charcoal and mix well.

Add some nondairy milk (only if it gets too thick) and mix well.

Transfer the black chocolate mint frosting to a disposable piping bag fitted with a Wilton small round tip 1 . If you don’t have a piping bag, you can try using a ziplock bag with a small hole cut from the corner.

Transfer around a quarter cup of the white frosting to a bowl.

Add some Color Garden natural food coloring pink color and mix well. You can use any vegan food coloring you like. Color Garden is all-natural, which is nice, but it does alter the flavor of the frosting (the pink makes it taste fruity).

Transfer the pink vanilla mint frosting to a disposable piping bag fitted with a Wilton small round tip 1 . If you don’t have a piping bag, you can try using a ziplock bag with a small hole cut from the corner.

Print out pictures of the design you want to trace.

Cut the acetate or parchment paper to the size you need. I measured the circumference of my cake and then added 2 inches to get my length.

Tape it to the design so it doesn’t move and shift while you trace.

Trace the design, filling the entire area with frosting. You don’t want any gaps. Remember that whatever color you do first is what shows on the outside of the cake, so I started with the bat’s bows, and then moved onto the bats, and then did all the white last.

Wrap the completed design around the entire cake. Do not remove the parchment paper or acetate yet. Some people chill their design in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before doing this step. I didn’t. Maybe my lines would have been crisper if I had.

Freeze the cake with the parchment paper or acetate still stuck to it. It will peel off easily once the frosting is completely frozen.

Prepare the remaining frosting for decorating the top of the cake later. I made sure each color of my leftover frosting was in its own disposable piping bag with no tips.

Place each disposable piping bag side-by-side inside of a piping bag fitted with a large Wilton star tip 1M .

Remove the cake from the freezer after 3-4 hours of freezing. Slowly and carefully peel the parchment paper or acetate off of the cake.

Pipe the remaining frosting around the top of the cake in any design you like.

Sprinkle vegan sprinkles all over the top of the cake. I used pink hearts from Fancy Sprinkles to match the bat’s bows, but Fancy Sprinkles no longer makes vegan sprinkles, so check out my list of vegan sprinkles to find other options.

I also added peppermint bark that I had made for another recipe.

Freeze the cake until 24 hours before you’re ready to serve it, and then move it to the fridge. Remove it from the fridge 30 minutes before you want to serve it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I convert this recipe into a cupcake recipe?

To convert this recipe from a 3-layer 6” cake to a 2-layer 8” or 9” cake, follow all the instructions the same, but when you prepare the pans, prepare only two 8” or 9” cake pans and divide the batter evenly between them. You’ll have to bake them a little longer, but just use the oothpick test and you’ll be fine.

To convert this recipe from a 3-layer 6” cake to 24 cupcakes, set your timer to check them after 18 minutes. They should only take 18-21 minutes to bake as cupcakes.

Can I reduce the sugar content in this chocolate mint cake?

Reducing the sugar in a cake recipe is an easy modification because it won’t change other ingredient ratios. Simply reduce the sugar in the cake recipe by one-third. To reduce the sugar in the frosting, reduce it by a third, but also omit the nondairy milk so the frosting keeps it stiffness.

Is this really a moist chocolate mint cake like the recipe says?

This chocolate mint cake gets its moisture from the vegan yogurt and the vegan buttermilk you made by mixing apple cider vinegar with vegan milk. You can typically tell a cake will be moist if you see that yogurt is one of the ingredients.

How can I make this into a Christmas-themed chocolate mint cake?

To make this chocolate mint cake for Christmas, choose your favorite holiday-themed wrapping paper and use that to make the buttercream transfer.

Can I freeze chocolate mint cake?

You can freeze this cake the same way I freeze all my cakes. See the instructions in my galaxy cake recipe FAQ.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Nondairy Milk: You can use any kind of milk in the cake and filling. I used the organic 365 store brand from Whole Foods because it’s cheap AF. If you avoid soy, use whatever vegan milk you usually buy. Don’t have the full amount of nondairy milk that the cake recipe requires? Substitute any amount with water, coffee, or nondairy creamer. You can also mix and match different nondairy milks. I do this if my macadamia milk only has a little bit left at the bottom. I use it up, and then I open a new container of almond, oat, or soymilk.
• Vinegar: You can replace the a tablespoon (15g) apple cider vinegar in this recipe with the same amount of white vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice. You just need some sort of acid to interact with the alkalinity of the baking soda to make the cake rise.
• Flour: I used unbleached organic all-purpose flour in this recipe. To make this a gluten-free cake, just replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend.
• Cocoa Powder: I use fair trade, organic cocoa powder, but you can use whatever kind you have.
• Baking Soda: Out of baking soda? Replace the 1 ½ teaspoons (8g) baking soda with an extra 1 ½ tablespoons (22g) baking powder.
• Baking Powder: I use the non-aluminum baking powder, because I need all the brain cells I have left. Out of baking powder? Replace the teaspoon (5g) baking powder in this recipe with an extra quarter teaspoon (1g) baking soda.
• Sea Salt: I buy pink salt because it has trace minerals in it, but you can use any salt in this recipe. You can also omit the sale altogether.
• Vegan Yogurt: I have 3 kinds of vegan yogurt that I buy because I prefer the taste and think they are well-priced: Kite Hill, So Delicious, and Forager. But in cakes, the taste of the yogurt is less important than when you’re just eating it, so use any brand you want. I usually use my homemade vegan yogurt, because my instant pot has a yogurt setting.
• Safflower Oil: I recommend using safflower, sunflower, avocado oil, or coconut oil for baking cakes because those oils are made for high heat, which helps you avoid transfats. However, you can use any other oil such as vegetable oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, etc. People even make cakes with olive oil, but I don’t recommend it.
• Sugar: For the sugar in the cake recipe, you can use any number of sugars, as long as they’re vegan: sucanat, coconut sugar, raw sugar, organic sugar, or demurara. If you’re not sure if your sugar is vegan, you can contact the company and ask, but basically, just avoid conventional white sugar or granulated sugar, and you should be ok.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla flavoring and vanilla extract can be used interchangeably. The only difference is that vanilla extract is in a base of alcohol and vanilla flavoring is in a base of glycerin. Try to use 100% pure vanilla extract or flavoring. If the ingredients don’t specifically say vanilla bean, then it may be made of chemicals. More rare, but still possible, it could be made with animal products.
• Vegan Butter: I usually use organic whipped Earth Balance because I like the flavor and the consistency. It always works great in every recipe. If you avoid soy, they make a soy-free version too. You can use any brand of vegan butter or margarine that you prefer, but results do vary depending on the brand you choose. For instance, Miyoko’s vegan butter doesn’t work well in my opinion. The frosting comes out grainy and not creamy.
• Vegan Shortening: If you don’t have access to vegan shortening, you can replace it with an additional 1 ⅓ cups vegan butter or margarine. I use Spectrum shortening because they get their palm oil from sustainable sources, but you can use any brand, as long as it’s vegan.
• Peppermint Extract: Natural peppermint flavoring is a good substitute for peppermint extract. Make sure you’re using all-natural peppermint extract or flavor. If the ingredients list flavoring without the word natural, it can be made with non-vegan sources. If you stick with buying organic, you’ll be safe.
• Powdered Sugar: If you’re not sure if your powdered sugar is vegan, read my list of vegan powdered sugar brands.
• Food Coloring: I used color garden for the pink frosting. I used black cocoa and activated charcoal for the black frosting. You can look at my entire list of vegan food coloring for other options.
• Vegan Sprinkles: I used fancy sprinkles pink heart sprinkles for this cake, but that brand no longer makes vegan sprinkles. Luckily, I have a comprehensive list of vegan sprinkles you can check out to find your perfect sprinkles.

Video

Here’s a video of how I did the buttercream transfer for the wrapped cake design.

Comments or Questions?

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

Similar Recipes

If you like bats but aren’t into mint and chocolate, you might also like my purple and black bat halloween cake that’s chocolate and blackberry flavored.

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I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook. I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to buy only organic ingredients. So, I only specify organic on the ingredients that matter: when buying the organic version is the only way to ensure that an item is vegan.

This post links to items I used when I made this recipe. If you click on the purple Buy Now button on a product page, you will go to a website (like Amazon) where you can buy the same product I used. Sometimes, the store you purchase from (Amazon, Etsy, etc.) will pay me for referring you. This costs you nothing extra, and I would never recommend a product that I don’t use. These affiliate programs help me buy the ingredients to create these recipes for you. Read more about this in my privacy policy.

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