Vegan Black Velvet Sheet Cake
This vegan black velvet sheet cake is made with black cocoa powder for that signature jet-black colour and rich chocolate taste. It is moist, tender, decadent, and surprisingly easy to make. Decorated with colourful buttercream monsters and candy eyes, this Halloween monster cake tastes even better than it looks!
Servings 20 people
Equipment
- 23 x 33 cm/9 x 13 in cake tin
- Electric mixer
- piping bags + couplers
- piping nozzles
Ingredients
Black Velvet Cake:
- 240 g (1 cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 1 Tablespoon cider or white wine vinegar
- 160 g (⅔ cup) vegan Greek style soya yogurt
- 147 g (⅔ cup) oil (olive/sunflower/vegetable/canola/avocado)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 350 g (1 ⅔ cups) light brown soft sugar
- 100 g (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) black cocoa powder*
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 240 g (1 cup) hot coffee
Black Cocoa Buttercream:
- 175 g (¾ cup) vegan block butter slightly softened
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50 g (½ cup + 1 Tablespoon) black cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon non-dairy milk
Monster Decorations:
- 100 g (7 Tablespoons) vegan block butter slightly softened
- 185 g (1 ½ cups) icing (powdered) sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon non-dairy milk
- gel food colourings
- candy eyes**
Instructions
Black Velvet Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 170℃/150℃ fan/325℉/gas mark 3. Line 23 x 33 cm/9 x 13 in cake tin with baking paper.
- Mix together the soya milk and vinegar in a large bowl, set aside for a couple of minutes to curdle then whisk in the yogurt using a balloon whisk.240 g (1 cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy), 1 Tablespoon cider or white wine vinegar, 160 g (⅔ cup) vegan Greek style soya yogurt
- Whisk in the oil, vanilla and sugar, followed by the cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Make sure there are no lumps.147 g (⅔ cup) oil (olive/sunflower/vegetable/canola/avocado), 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 350 g (1 ⅔ cups) light brown soft sugar, 100 g (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) black cocoa powder*, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Add the flour and stir until no lumps remain then add the hot coffee and whisk until smooth. The batter will be quite runny.300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 240 g (1 cup) hot coffee
- Pour the batter into the lined tin and tap on the counter a couple of times to burst any large air bubbles. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin.
Black Cocoa Buttercream:
- Place the butter in a large bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar, add the vanilla extract and whisk for a good few minutes at high speed until extremely light and fluffy.175 g (¾ cup) vegan block butter, 300 g (2 ½ cups) icing (powdered) sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sift in the cocoa powder, add the milk and whisk until smooth. When you first make the chocolate buttercream it will be more of a dark brown colour than black, be patient and the colour will darken over time.50 g (½ cup + 1 Tablespoon) black cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon non-dairy milk
- Remove the cake from the tin, peel off the baking paper and place it on a serving plate. Spread over the buttercream.
Halloween Monster Decorations:
- Place the butter in a large bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar, add the vanilla extract and milk and whisk for a good few minutes at high speed until extremely light and fluffy.100 g (7 Tablespoons) vegan block butter, 185 g (1 ½ cups) icing (powdered) sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon non-dairy milk
- Divide the buttercream into as many small bowls as colours you want - I recommend four different colours. Stir in gel food colouring a little at a time until you reach your desired shades.gel food colourings
- Transfer each colour of buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a coupler and piping nozzle of your choice. Pipe designs randomly on top of the cake, washing and swapping round the piping nozzles to make different designs of each colour.
- Add candy eyes to make them come alive! Give each one different numbers of eyes and make them as wonky as you like to add personality. If there are any gaps in-between the monsters you can press some eyes into the chocolate buttercream underneath to fill them in.candy eyes**
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- For the teaspoon and Tablespoon measurements, please use proper measuring spoons, not just regular spoons. A teaspoon is 5ml and a Tablespoon is 15ml.
- *For a more chocolatey flavour, you can swap 30g of the black cocoa powder in the cake for regular Dutch processed cocoa (not natural/cacao).
- **Candy eyes are not often vegan so be sure to check the packet. The ones I used are vegan as far as I can tell, but you can also make your own if you want to be 100% sure.
- You will need a few different nozzles to create the different piping effects, a grass one for the shaggy monsters, a small open star and a small plain round one. I also used a small closed star one for the wiggly monsters. You can get creative with what you have though!