Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake (No-Added-Oil!)

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake made with almond flour, cacao, and bursting with cherries. Add Chocolate SunButter as frosting for a decadent dessert.

In Germany, it’s common to serve tea and cake as an afternoon snack to guests *before* serving dinner!

M’s mom makes a mean Black Forest Cake for said tea times that was…out of this world good. 

It had delicious layers of fluffy chocolate cake, juicy cherries, and sweet buttercream frosting. 

I don’t know about where you live, friend, but, at in my household in the U.S, I grew up eating broccoli and brussels sprouts before getting any dessert. 

So I politely served myself a small slice, thinking to myself, I’ll just have a bite or two and save room for dinner. 

Well, that plan totally failed.

Because this cake was amazing and it’s not every day you’re in Germany with your boyfriend’s mom’s baking. 

So, naturally, I enjoyed every morsel on the plate, delicately collecting the crumbs with the back of my fork. 

If we’re being honest I probably would have licked the plate, had M’s extended family not been around, but, I held back. 

Ever since then I’ve been wanting to make a vegan and gluten-free chocolate cake at home. 

This Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake is an ode to the Black Forest Cake I had in Germany. 

It’s rich, moist, chocolatey, and bursting with cherries with a Chocolate SunButter frosting.

This is a cake that will have you eating dessert, first, too! 

Here’s what you need for the Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake:

• super-fine almond flour 
• raw cacao powder
• baking powder
• maple syrup 
• Chocolate SunButter
• unsweetened almond milk
• cherry juice
• lemon juice
• dark sweet cherries

That’s it!

The end results of this cake might look fancy, but I can promise you it’s quite literally a “piece of cake” to make.

Pun totally intended. 

First, preheat the oven to 350° and prepare a cake pan for baking. 

I chose a circular cake pan, but you can also use a square baking dish or even a pie pan; anything of similar size. 

Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper, or alternatively, you can grease the pan with a little coconut oil. 

To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cacao powder, baking powder, maple syrup, Chocolate SunButter, unsweetened almond milk, cherry juice, and lemon juice.

Stir everything until it’s well-combined without any clumps.

The final batter should be thick and sticky. 

 

Next, prepare your cherries. 

If you chose to use frozen cherries for this recipe, be sure to thaw them in advance. 

If you’re using fresh cherries, make sure to halve and pit them in advance so they’re ready to layer! 

 

To layer the cake, creating an alternating layer of batter and cherries.

Add half of the batter to the baking pan, then add half of the cherries on top.

Spread the remaining batter on top, then top with the last of the cherries. 

Transfer the cake pan to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until it’s mostly firm to the touch and slightly brown on the edges. 

Now that your cake is in the oven, let’s talk about how Chocolate SunButter is the star of this recipe. 

It’s super rich, creamy, and decadent while being packed with plant-based protein and surprisingly low in sugar. 

Not only do we use this delicious chocolate-y sunflower seed butter spread in the cake itself, but we also use it as the 1-ingredient frosting! 

Which leads me to my next point…cake decorating. 

While the cake bakes, prepare your toppings. 

I like using: 

• Chocolate SunButter
• Cherries, pitted and halved 
• Shaved dark chocolate 

You can serve the cake as in, but I highly recommend topping it with Chocolate SunButter as a good-for-you frosting. 

Allow the cake to cool *completely* before frosting with Chocolate SunButter in an even layer.

Spread a big dollop on top of the cake and spread it with a spatula or the back of a spoon until it’s in a nice even layer. 

Top the finished cake with optional more pitted cherries (arranged however you’d like!) and shaved dark chocolate. 

Now your Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake is ready to serve.

It’s tea time, friends! 

Store the cake at room temperature for three days and in the refrigerator for up to one week.

I shared this cake with my girlfriends when I hosted our February bookclub this month! 

It didn’t look as pretty as it does here, but they loved it (me?) anyway. 

Enjoy this Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake for birthdays, dinner parties, or anytime you’re craving something intensely chocolate-y and cherry-y. 

You can leave it unfrosted for more of a sheet-pan cake vibe, or go all out with frosting and cherry chocolate finishes. 

This cake is perfect paired with a mug of coffee or a tall glass of almond milk. 

The best part is that it’s totally vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free, so you can share it with friends and family of all dietary wants and needs. 

Enjoy! 

If you make this Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake, let me know!

Be sure to leave me a comment, rating, and review so I can use your feedback to create more yums.

Give me a shout on Instagram and use #floraandvino to show me your creations.

Check out my Pinterest page to pin more recipes like this one to make later.

Want more chocolate cake?

Check out my Vegan Chocolate Cake with Sweet Potato Frosting. 

If you love this post and want more? Go to my homepage and subscribe to get updates delivered right to your inbox!

XO Lauren

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This post is brought to you by SunButter but all words and eats are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep me hungry!