This one bowl cappuccino cake is a simple, easy and delicious cake that is flavoured with freshly brewed coffee. Topped with a creamy vegan coffee flavoured buttercream and an iconic dusting of cocoa powder, this dairy free cake is perfect for coffee lovers who just can’t get enough coffee.
When you think of coffee cake, what springs to mind? Mostly, (and this is backed up by a simple Google search), we’re going to be talking about a cake that you eat with coffee, not a coffee flavoured cake. A cake like this vegan coffee cake recipe that doesn’t contain any coffee and is rather just around to enhance the morning tea experience – just like this cinnamon tea cake that also contains zero tea.
But what happens when all you really want is a cake that tastes like coffee? Well, you make a cappuccino cake. Well that’s what I decided when I published my first iteration of this recipe in my very early days of blogging and sharing recipes back in 2016.
This new recipe is a version of that original cake recipe. I wanted this cake to be similar to my one bowl vegan chocolate cake – which happens to be one of my favourite easy cake recipes that I have on the site. This cappuccino cake is therefore designed to come together so incredibly quickly, with little effort, and using pantry staple ingredients.
This is the cake you need when you want to serve guests something sweet after dinner or for morning tea but you don’t need it to be a whole elaborate thing. Just a sweet, delicious slice of cake that is perfect for anyone who loves coffee!
Key Ingredients
This cake recipe is designed to be super simple. It’s the kind of cake you can whip up quickly using ingredients that you already have in your pantry. The cake is beautiful served with a light and thick vegan coffee buttercream, but honestly it’s also delicious without it!
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Plain flour – also known as all purpose flour in the US.
- Baking powder – to help the cake rise and create a beautifully soft texture.
- White sugar – all sugar in Australia, Europe and the UK is vegan, but if you’re in the US you may want to use organic to be sure.
- Canola oil – you can use any light tasting vegetable oil, but this is what makes this cake so soft and moist.
- Vanilla extract – I like to use a little extra in this cake to really enhance the overall flavour of the cake.
- Black coffee – I make my morning black coffee with either a drip coffee machine or a French press, so this is the coffee I like to use in my cake. Just make sure it’s cooled to room temperature before using. You can also make a strong coffee using instant and allow that to cool if that’s all you have.
Step-By-Step Instructions
This is the cake you make when you want to make a cake but you don’t want to spend all day doing it. I like to make my cake batter using my electric hand held mixer just because I have it and it’s super easy to use and clean but you don’t need one – a whisk will do just fine for the cake itself.
The cake is also going to come together in the one bowl (which you can also wash out and use again for the frosting). Mix together the sugar, canola oil, and vanilla extract until combined. Sift in the flour and baking powder, directly into the bowl.
Finally, slowly add the black coffee as you mix to prevent any mess and splashing. Mix until the batter is just combined. With this cake, it’s important we don’t overmix as it can make the cake dense.
Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan. I like to use a 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pan but you can also use a square pan depending on what you have. Just note that if you use a different sized pan you may need to adjust the cooking time.
Bake the cake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean so bake more for this queue and use the timings as a guideline as all ovens can be slightly different.
Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.
Once the cake is cool, make the coffee buttercream. This is basically a scaled down version of my best vegan vanilla buttercream, except we’re adding more coffee instead of dairy free milk to add a subtle coffee flavour to complement the cake. You could also use this vegan cream cheese frosting which would be amazing with this cake!
Frost the cake using a cake knife or spatula – it can be rustic that’s totally fine here! To finish, I like to lightly dust the cake with some cocoa powder to give it the full ‘cappuccino’ look and taste.
Recipe FAQs
Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature. It should remain fresh for 3-4 days.
Yes you can! Wrap either the whole cake or individual slices tightly in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn and then you can freeze for 1-3 months usually. Let the cake defrost at room temperature before unwrapping and enjoying!
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More simple vegan cakes:
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Vegan Coconut Cake
Biscoff Mug Cake (single serve!)
Mini Vegan Chocolate Cake
One Bowl Cappuccino Cake (Vegan!)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¾ cup white sugar/granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup plain flour/all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup black coffee cooled to room temperature
For the frosting:
- ¼ cup (60 grams) dairy free butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 – 2 ½ cups icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon black coffee cooled to room temperature
- Cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and line a 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pan with baking paper and oil spray.
- In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, canola oil and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder directly into the bowl. Slowly add the black coffee a little at a time, mixing through completely each time before adding more.
- Once the batter has come together, pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting by beating the dairy free butter and vanilla together using an electric mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted. Add in 1 cup of the icing sugar. Continue beating until creamy. Add in the additional cup of icing sugar and about a tablespoon of black coffee. Continue beating until it becomes smooth and creamy. Add more icing sugar and black coffee if needed to reach the desired creamy consistency.
- Using a cake knife or spatula, spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake. Dust over a little cocoa powder to give it that cappuccino look. Slice and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
A version of this recipe was originally published on August 8, 2016 but it has since been updated with an improved recipe, new photos, and better information and instructions.
Alicia O'Brien says
Looks good Sally! Pinned for later 🙂
Sally says
Thanks so much Alicia!
sophie nadeau says
This looks just heavenly- will totally have to try this!!!
Sally says
Thanks Sophie! You will have to let me know if you do 🙂