This Vegan Walnut Cake is the perfect way to add more walnuts into your life.. in cake form! This nutty and delicious cake is topped with a vegan chocolate buttercream for a decadent and delicious treat!
Who loves walnuts? Cause this recipe is full of ’em! This recipe loosely pays homage to the motherland.. The land of my mother, which is Hungary!
For pretty much my entire life, my mom’s Hungarian baking has been very walnut centric.. walnut this walnut that.. you get a walnut, you get a walnut… you know what I mean. So for her birthday this year, I decided to make a whole damn Vegan Walnut Cake!
I had made a similar cake like this many years ago in the pre-vegan days, and all I remember is that there were a hell of a lot of eggs, and a hell of a lot of butter in that thing. The task became to completely reinvent a new and improved version of that cake. And reinvented it was!
What’s one dessert you would love to have reinvented in vegan form? Let me know in the comments down below!
I was honestly a bit skeptical about trying to make something similar to a “traditional” Hungarian cake in vegan form. With all the eggs, milk, butter, etc. that would be missing, I didn’t know how much of the original flavor would be affected by vegan substitutes. I was pleasantly surprised when, “it tastes like home“, was her reaction. Success! The cake is nutty and not overly sweet, and is complimented by a vegan buttercream with a hint of chocolate flavor. Ground walnuts top it all off. And just like that, you’ve got yourself a Vegan Walnut Cake!
This is an absolutely fantastic alternative to typical cake flavors like chocolate and vanilla. It’s especially great for those who happen to love walnuts! Walnuts are healthy, right? And what better excuse than that to eat some cake!
Enjoy, friends!
Ingredients
- Cake:
- Dry Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups ground walnuts
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup + 2 tbs granulated sugar
- 6 tbs coconut oil, melted & room temp
- 450 mL dairy free milk, unsweetened – room temp so it won’t solidify the coconut oil
- 3 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Frosting:
- ¾ cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbs cocoa powder
- 1 ½-3 tbs dairy free milk, unsweetened
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Topping:
- Ground walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F
- Begin by prepping 2-8 inch round cake pans by greasing and/or lining the bottoms with parchment paper
- In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, ground walnuts, baking soda, baking powder and salt) and stir until combined
- In a separate bowl, combine sugar and melted coconut oil, and mix until thoroughly combined
- Add dairy free milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract to the sugar/oil mixture and mix until combined
- Add half of the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined
- Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix gently until combined
- Divide the batter between the 2 prepped 8 inch cake rounds, and bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out dry
- Allow to fully cool before frosting
- Using a stand or hand mixer, cream vegan butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and 1 tbs of dairy free milk, and continue to mix until combined
- Add in the rest of the powdered sugar, the cocoa powder and the vanilla extract
- Add another 1 tbs of dairy free milk – add more if too stiff, 1/2 tbs at a time
- Once desired consistency is reached, spread about 1/2 of the frosting onto one layer of the cake
- Place the other cake layer on top, and frost the top of that with the remaining frosting
- Sprinkle ground walnuts on top (optional)
- Enjoy!
For more cake action, check out these recipes:
If you make this recipe, snap a pic using the hashtag #sweetlikecocoa and tag me @sweetlikecocoablog on Instagram, I love seeing the deliciousness you guys come up with!
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