Vegan Cappuccino Cake + White Chocolate Espresso Frosting

This vegan cappuccino cake with vegan white chocolate espresso frosting is a serious showstopper. It’s so full of flavor and sure to please everyone on your guest list!

So I was looking through my recipe notebook/idea book yesterday for where I’d written down this recipe. This is the book that ends up with all the random inspirations I have, notes, reminders, and of course recipes. As I was scrolling through it though, it occurred to me that to anyone else looking through the pages, it would look like complete gibberish and most likely have whoever was looking at it questioning my mental stability.

This post is all about Vegan Cappuccino Cake with White Chocolate Espresso Frosting

Ha, when I see those people who seemingly have it all together with those cutesy little decorated bullet journals and a separate notebook where they’ve compartmentalized there lives and planned out what time to brush their teeth I’m like “Who are you!?!?!” or “I’m sorry, I don’t talk to mutants.” Let’s just say I could be a little more organized.

I’m getting there, guys. Slowly, yes, but I’m way more organized than years ago when I started. Also, is anyone else getting lots of snow right now. I just woke up to the most gorgeous layer of white fluff coating the world outside my window an I’m loving it…….but I’m also slightly annoyed at it as well because it makes driving a bit of a challenge. You see, I haven’t been driving for very long because during the 4 years I lived in Chile I didn’t drive much because the majority of vehicles there are manual and I haven’t really mastered that yet. That’s why I’ve been really enjoying living back where most of the cars are automatic and I can drive myself around.

Anyway, the snow and I have this love/hate relationship going on right now because driving in it is another thing I haven’t mastered so it makes it harder to get out. Ugh, but it is sooooo pretty and I’ve missed it all these past Winters while I lived where there wasn’t snow. Clearly, I’m on the fence about the snow.

I think baking is such a great way to spend a snow day though, at least that’s my favorite distraction. This cake was inspired by the current weather because nothing says cozy and warm quite like a hot cappuccino and some sweet white chocolate in a cake form.

FAQs for How to Make a Vegan Cappuccino Cake

Can I make this vegan cappuccino cake recipe gluten free?

Yes, however not all gluten free flours are created equal. Some gluten free flour might bake into a gummier consistency. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose flour for this recipe. The base is chickpea flour and it tends to bake well in a cake like this. Other 1 to 1 GF flours might work but I have not tried it myself with this particular cake.

How long does it take to make a Vegan Cappuccino Cake from start to finish?

It takes about 2 hours from start to finish. If you can take a little longer to let the cake chill in the fridge it’s best. The assembly of the ingredients takes about  10 minutes. Mixing the batter and getting the cake into the oven takes about another 10 minutes. Then if you prep the frosting while the cake is baking that will save you time. The bake time is about 30 minutes. After that you need to let the cake cool completely. You can put it into the freezer as soon as it’s cool enough to handle to speed this up. That’s 45 minutes minimum to get it totally cold. Depending on your decorating experience the final assembly might take longer but it should only take about 15 minutes. That gives us a total of 100 minutes give or take.

An amazing vegan cake to make for birthdays and holidays!

For this recipe I like using espresso powder for baking but if you prefer a more vanilla cake with less coffee favor feel free to lessen the amount of espresso powder.

Here’s the espresso powder for baking I like to use.

Another thing you may not be sure about is where to buy vegan white chocolate? I have tried a few brands. My favorite is this Pascha vegan white chocolate. Some other good brands are King David white chocolate chips and Dee Best Vegan White Chocolate Flavored Chips.

This post was all about Vegan Cappuccino Cake with White Chocolate Espresso Frosting

Here are some other posts you may enjoy:

Super Fluffy Chocolate Chip Easter Bunny Cake (Vegan)

Strawberry (Ridiculously) Tall Mini Cakes (Vegan)

Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes + Coconut Frosting (Vegan+GF)

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Vanilla Cappuccino Cake + White Chocolate Espresso Frosting (Vegan)

Coffee is the perfect compliment to a piece of cake but when you add it to the cake it's a magical combination! 

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 1 cake (about 18 servings)

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup aquafaba liquid from 2 cans cooked chickpeas
• 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup organic vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or organic vegetable shortening melted
• 1/2 cup strong black coffee
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder *see note
• 150 g about 1 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips or chunks
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Frosting:

• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup 2 sticks vegan "butter", room temp
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons almond milk
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder divided
• 4 ounces 115g non-dairy white chocolate squares or chips
• cocoa powder for dusting top
• handful of dairy free semi-sweet chocolate chips optional

Instructions

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and line 2 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment paper. Pour aquafaba into bowl of stand mixer and beat until its begins to look light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Slowly drizzle in cane sugar while beating on high and continue until it forms stiff peaks (it should take about 5 more minutes).
2. In separate large mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar, lemon juice, coffee, melted coconut oil, oil, and extract. Add the flour, espresso powder, salt, and baking powder and gently stir.
3. Remove the mixer bowl from the mixer and use a large spatula to gently fold in the aquafaba into the other bowl of ingredients just until fairly combined. (It's actually better to leave some small lumps then to overmix and lose volume.)
4. Divide batter into the 2 pans as evenly as possible. Bake for 30-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and edges are lightly golden. Remove the cakes from oven and cool completely before frosting. (I prefer to cover them and place them in the freezer for at least an hour.)

For Frosting:

1. Beat butter in a large mixing bowl until creamed. Add vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar one cup at a time until incorporated into mixture. Add the almond milk beat until light and fluffy. Melt the white chocolate in a double-boiler or microwave safe bowl, stirring in intervals until completely smooth (it's important not to have lumps of white chocolate especially if you want to use smaller tips.) Pour the white chocolate into the mixing bowl while mixing on low then add the espresso powder and beat until light and fluffy again, about a minute.

Assemble:

1. To assemble, Gently loosen the cakes form pans by running a thin knife around edges and inverting over plates or trays shake them loose. Use a serrated edge knife to trim and level the cakes if needed. Spread frosting on one of the cakes and layer the second on top. Frost the top and all the sides with remaining frosting until smooth. I did a very basic frosting job and for the trim I didn't even use a tip on my pastry bag, I simply use the open tip of the bag to pipe and decorate a very simple edge. I also added a dusting of cocoa powder and some semi-sweet chocolate chips as a border, but this is optional. Coffee beans would look cute as well.

Recipe Notes

You can purchase espresso powder for baking online