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A slice of eggless orange chocolate cake sits on a plate. There is a orange slice on top of the cake.
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Eggless Chocolate Orange Cake

You will love this easy eggless chocolate orange cake recipe. This recipe provides some essential tips to make a perfectly delicious, soft, and moist chocolate cake infused with orange flavor. Combined with creamy chocolate frosting, it's the ultimate cake experience!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Diet Vegan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Resting time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 14 slices
Calories 289kcal
Author Marly McMillen

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 medium orange
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural, not dutch processed)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium orange
  • 1 cup water (see note)
  • ½ cup vegetable oil (see note)
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • ¾ cup hot water
  • 1 batch vegan chocolate frosting
  • Optional Toppings: Thinly sliced orange wedges
Cups - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Coat 3 8-inch round cake pans with vegetable cooking spray. Cut parchment paper into two 8-inch circles. Place the round parchment paper in the bottom of the pans. Spray papers with vegetable cooking spray. Set aside. 
  • Mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Zest the orange and add the orange zest to the cocoa flour mixture. Mix until combined.
    Orange zest is sitting on top of a cocoa flour mixture in a mixing bowl. There are oranges around the bowl and a microplane zester.
  • Juice the zested orange. You should have roughly ¼ cup of orange juice. Supplement with lemon juice if it's not quite ¼ cup.
  • In a separate bowl combine orange juice, cold water, vegetable oil, applesauce, vanilla, and instant coffee. Stir to combine. Pour this in with the cocoa/flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  • Measure the water into a pyrex (heat resistant) measuring cup. Heat in the microwave until hot (not boiling). Pour the hot water into the batter and stir to combine.
    A hand holds a pyrex measuring cup, pouring hot water into chocolate batter in a mixing bowl. There is a spoon in the mixing bowl and two oranges sit next to the bowl.
  • Pour half the batter into each of the prepared pans.
    Chocolate cake batter is being poured into a round cake pan. There are oranges barely visible by the pan.
  • Bake for 25 to30 minutes until the edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan and the center of the cake is set. A tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
  • If using a 9x13 cake pan, bake for approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
  • Remove cakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto wire racks and cool completely before frosting.
  • While the cakes are cooling, make the vegan chocolate frosting. Spread half of the frosting over one of the cooled cakes. Add the second cake on top and top it with more frosting, reserving some frosting for the sides. Garnish with orange wedges.
  • Store leftover cake in the fridge.

Notes

This cake is divided into 14 slices. The nutrition estimation is based on one serving without frosting.
I have used both a thick, creamy nut-based milk and a more "watery" almond milk for the plant-based milk ingredient in this recipe and both have worked great!
You can substitute vegetable oil instead of melted coconut oil, but I find coconut oil yields the best results.

Nutrition

Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 207mg | Potassium: 187mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg