“Who ever heard of a vegan physicist?”
Someone (a physicist) once said this to me when they found out I was vegan. I think it’s a bizarre question, because if you are a physicist, then you understand that the greenhouse effect is caused by blackbody radiation, and why greenhouse gases (GHGs) contribute to global warming. You understand why more GHGs make the effect stronger, and that the right thing is to reduce GHG emissions.
Animal agriculture contributes to (14.5% of global GHG emissions – roughly equivalent to all transportation combined). In 2022, enteric fermentation – that is, cow poops and farts—alone accounted for (27.4% of total US methane emissions). This doesn’t just mean beef – it means dairy, too.
If you put these things together, the solution that follows is to reduce animal product consumption. I am here to tell you that this does not have to be painful. For me, the hardest part about going vegan was desserts. I love desserts. I. LOVE. DESSERTS. But continuing to harm animals and contribute to the climate crisis wasn’t worth it. So, I set out to become an expert vegan baker. It has taken years of reading, learning, testing, failing, and more testing, but I finally have a small repertoire of go-to, reliable recipes that taste excellent. And I don’t mean they taste excellent “for vegan baking” – I mean they are excellent.
My first priority was getting chocolate cake figured out. This had to be absolutely correct. I love chocolate cake. When I heard about the tariffs, I panic-bought 3 kg Valrhona cocoa powder. I don’t mess around with chocolate cake. So, here is my guarantee that my chocolate cake recipe is the best chocolate cake I have ever had. Since finishing this recipe, I have been disappointed when I order chocolate cake in restaurants. Even the fanciest vegan restaurants’ chocolate cake does not match this. I recommend pairing this cake with (this frosting).
Before you bake, I have a tip for you to help make your bake taste great. It’s obvious, but not sufficiently internalized by many home bakers: your bake tastes like the ingredients you use. So use high-quality ingredients. This is especially important for any flavor additives, like cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
To make this recipe gluten free, replace the all-purpose flour with gluten free flour 1:1 by weight. Leave out the baking soda and apple cider vinegar. Increase the baking powder to 2 tsp. After you combine the wet and dry ingredients, let the batter rest in the fridge for an hour before baking. This is super important to the final texture; gluten free flour takes more time to absorb moisture than wheat flour, so it needs the extra time to be less grainy. I have only tested this with King Arthur Baking’s Measure-for-Measure gluten free flour mix. The GF version of this cake won’t be identical to the wheat flour version, but it’s still darn good.
Ingredients:
400g all-purpose flour
100g dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
525g sugar
250g full-fat coconut milk (from a can! NOT a carton! There is different fat content!)
400g almond or soy milk
140g vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180°C.
2. Sift together dry ingredients.
3. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl (sugar is a wet ingredient).
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing to combine gradually. Do not over mix. You can start with your electric mixer, but as soon as the clumps stop mixing in easily, switch to whisking by hand. I whisk the whole thing by hand. Do not combine the wet and dry ingredients until the oven has finished preheating. Otherwise, the apple cider vinegar will react with the baking soda, and by the time you get your cake in the oven, the reaction will have completed and it won’t rise well.
5. Pour cake into a pan. Bake ~45 minutes. This recipe makes two to three 9″ cake layers. Cupcakes are also fine.
PS: Lauren posted her recipe in our slack channel #food and with this warm-hearted recipe we hope to inspire many more of you to give the vegan option a try today. Or maybe you have been vegan for ages and have your own tips and tricks? Feel free to share your insights about planet-friendly nutrition with fellow A4Eers in this channel!
If you want to know more, contact Lauren Aldoroty on slack or join the #food channel.
