The Sunday Panics.
Do you get the Sunday Panics? Let me describe the symptoms and you can tell me whether or not I’m a strangebird, or if you relate. The Sunday Panics are most often characterized by: afternoon over-caffeination, tremendous amounts of NOT quality time spent on Twitter, a kitchen full of dirty dishes, a lengthy and daunting weekly to-do list, a fair amount of brain worry, possible nail biting, an intense desire for take-out Chinese food, and low motivation coupled with nagging laziness guilt.
Do you ever get the Sunday Panics?
Yea…. me neither. Of course not.
…except I totally do.
I’ve developed a cure for the Sunday Panics.
Movement! Up. Up. UP!! In the kitchen. Make a super easy cake. Definitely do the dishes. Make the to-do list for the week, then set it aside to rest until Monday morning. Write some greeting cards for friends. Call your mama. Enjoy cake during a several hour marathon of Grey’s Anatomy or Downton Abbey. When all else fails… try bourbon in the shower and an early bedtime. Give those Sunday Panics the boot!
This chocolate cake is a total godsend.
It’s designed to be made with ingredients you already have in your kitchen. The Sunday Panics aren’t easy to combat… and a trip to the store is not going to calm our nerves.
If you have cocoa powder and vegetable oil… this cake is yours!
I added dark chocolate chunks and cocoa nibs because they were lingering in my pantry. Lingering like chocolate always lingers.
Want to know a trick? Grease a bundt pan with vegetable shortening and… instead of dusting it with flour, try cocoa powder!
When the cake comes out of the pan, there will be no white flour powder! Just chocolate. Just cake.
This is our everyday chocolate cake.
It’s always super comforting when we can turn what’s in our pantry into a warm, moist, flavorful chocolate treat without softening butter, cracking eggs, or running to the store.
This cake is a tool. It combats the impulsive sweet tooth, the accidental grumpies, and the Sunday Panic. Consider yourself armed.
ps. Real Life.
Simple Vegan Chocolate Cake
makes 1 9-inch chocolate bundt cake
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm coffee
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
small handful of chocolate chunks and/or cocoa nibs (optional)
Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch bundt pan with vegetable shortening and dust with cocoa powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together coffee, oil, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks and cocoa nibs, if using.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. The batter will be relatively thick. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Cake will last, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 3 days.
291 Responses
This Simple Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe is fantastic, I love that it’s made with easy-to-find ingredients and doesn’t require any fancy techniques. The cake looks incredibly moist and rich, and it’s great to see a vegan recipe that doesn’t sacrifice flavor or texture. The frosting adds the perfect finishing touch. This is definitely a go-to recipe for when I need a quick and satisfying dessert that everyone can enjoy. Thanks for sharing such a versatile and delicious recipe.
A tip for putting the dough even more “together”, as if it had eggs: add, to the liquid (the coffee, for example), about three tablespoons of arrowroot. ;) It’s a great egg replacement.
Delicious is my favorite cake for over 10 years and i still love it! ?? i always loose the website and then ended up finding you always ??
Easy to follow recipe
This cake is ridiculously delicious. I’ve made it so many times I’ve lost count. I’m not vegan but my bf is and I actually prefer this to a “regular” chocolate cake.
This recipe worked great for Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes. I have great success with her recipes, some are the Vegan Pumpkin Bread and her Biscotti recipes.
I don’t think I’ve ever left you a comment, but this recipe became my go to chocolate cake recipe for one year and everybody always loves it. I just replace the vanilla by almond essence because I prefer, and substitute coffee by water because I am a bit lazy !
Thanks so much for sharing this !
I’ve just tried this, and it worked out great. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Hello Joy!
This cake looks amazing,but i have a question..
Could i substitute the sugar for honey?
I’m not a fan of sugar at all!
Thank you!
Adding honey will change the moisture of the cake and make the cake more dense. I have not tested this recipe with honey, so I would recommend finding a chocolate cake with honey instead.
Sadly, a total failure.
the batter was too firm to mix, it burned before it had a chance to rise, it was not fun trying to get the baking pan clean. Oh my, so much for my high hopes.
I don’t have a bundt pan – do you think I could make this in a regular cake pan?
Yes, but I would split it between two to three pans
This cake is becoming a yearly tradition :)
Can we substitute the coffee with anything? I absolutely hate coffee, and don’t have any in my home, haha.
I’m not sure, I haven’t tested it without coffee.
I have to leave a comment…
This is such a thing, why so brown and mysterious…
So moist and beautiful…. so delicious coffee-chocolate flavored!??
yum in Essex!
I love this recipe and i always do it when i feel like chocolate cake. Thanks for sharing such a amazing thing! Xx
I love your cake recipe, but also your recipe for the “Sunday Panics”. Excellent! I get the SPs when I have to make a dinner for two vegans (me and my husband) and my senior carnivore mom who lives with us.
Just made this and it came together exactly as you said. Amazing recipe, thanks.
I made this for my mom’s birthday. I turned it into a layer cake, though– doubled the recipe and put it into two round pans, and baked for 35 minutes. They came out very brownie-like; this is an extremely dense cake recipe. I would actually just use it as a brownie recipe; it didn’t quite have the crumb I would expect for a cake. That being said, it was very delicious!
How About measurements of coffee
Make this cake! I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and have made it 4 times in less than a month!
hi joy!! can you please add more eggless cake recipes..other than chocolate..this one is awesome..but since i bake from home..ppl want to order eggless cakes too..but i have nothing much to offer..need help!!! and this choc cake came out awesome..thanks!!!
I’ll have to start brainstorming and see what I can do!
This cake is incredible! Finally, I found a cake recipe that is vegan AND had a great crumb and texture. Thanks!!!!
Joy – I was really disappointed in this cake. I bake vegan a lot, and this was dense, crumbly and dry. I regretted serving it to people without testing it first. I did follow directions exactly, my baking soda/powder isn’t old, and my new oven’s temperature is accurate. I baked it for 30 minutes. Anyway, I still love your blog and your cookbook, even if this was not your best recipe.
This recipe looks perfect for me! I’m nursing and need to eliminate dairy, but desparately need my desserts! Chocolate cake in particular! Question, what could I substitute for the coffee? Or could it be eliminated altogether? Thanks! Love you Joy!
My husbands FAVORITE cake. It is the only breakfast food that he wants. Thanks Joy.
Yaaaay, love this recepie!! I am also allergic to dairy, so I REALLY appreciate some vegan love here. One question, why should the coffee be hot?
Hi Joy, this cake looks amazing! Does it have to be made in a Bundt pan or will a normal cake tin work? Love your recipies! x
Thank you for sharing. Good to see that more people suffer from these things. I usually make myself get up and do something I like and then one thing that has to be done.
The cake sounds nice and useful to have for vegan friends.
I’ve made this recipe lots of times for vegan friends and now for friends visiting who have a child with a severe dairy allergy. Love this recipe and I anticipate making it for many years to come! Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I have tried about six different vegan chocolate cake recipes ready to give up on either taste, texture, or appearance, until I found this one. It tastes great, binds and rises perfectly, and looks beautiful. Oh, the Joy!
I made this cake this rainy evening! It was the perfect distraction from the dismal skies outside, and my vegan roommate was thrilled. However, instead of using vegetable oil (I was out) I substituted for coconut oil. I happened to have some on hand. It worked wonderfully. I also greased the pan with coconut oil rather than vegetable shortening. I topped it with some powdered sugar, raspberries, and blackberries. It was great! Thanks so much for the EASY! recipe Joy. I will definitely be making this again in the future!
I made this on a Tuesday as I was stuck at home in the middle of a thubderstorm, and let me tell you it works fine any day of the week :) the only downside is I used organic sunflower oil (the alternative would have been olive) and the cake tastes more of sunflower than of cocoa. Oh well. Guess I’ll have to make a yummy glazing! Thanks for the recipe.
Cheers from the Alps.
I’m late off the mark with this one but I just found your recipe! I’m vegan and I’ve had so many issues baking the perfect chocolate cake. But not anymore! I don’t know what’s different about this, maybe it’s that I mixed my ingredients very carefully and made sure not to over mix, but it worked a dream. I’ve been craving a slice of chocolate cake for a little over a year and a half now and this afternoon I was able to :D thank you!
Made this cake at least 3 times for different occasions in October alone! For those who are new at this recipe, yes the batter has a dough like consistency. I haven’t compensated for it and have done the recipe as written and it comes out right every time. I’ve used large and mini bundts. For my oven it takes around 40 min. I love how no one can tell its vegan. Most if all my hubby never eats too much chocolate cake, but he LOVES this one.
looked this up to make my friend a vegan birthday cake…it’s in the oven now, and you reminded me to catch up on grey’s anatomy. <3
Hi, sorry for asking such a stupid question but what exactly would you say is warm coffee? I make coffee differently and sometimes it’s confusing with the milk and the water so, what is it? :)
Great recipe, by the way! Thanks a ton :D
I mean just drinkable coffee, not scorching hot.
My husband and I were getting ready to watch football last night and, at the very last minute, decided we wanted some cake. We threw this together in under 15 minutes, tossed it in the oven, and were eating dark chocolatey cake at half time. This cake is a winner in my book!
Success!!! The best vegan chocolate cake turnout I’ve had yet. I am neither a vegan nor a vegetarian, but I do have a thing for vegan desserts… I’ve found that vegan desserts can indulge the sweet tooth but don’t leave you feeling a sloppy mess. This (almost) guilt-free dessert hit the spot. Thanks, Joy!!!
Hi Joy,
Being vegetarian I’m always looking for eggless dessert recipes.. I had a small issue though – while making the cake, the batter looked more like a sticky dough than a cake batter.. I’ve put it onto the oven now and fingers and toes crossed that it will turn out right..
p.s. Another question: I mail baked goods from Michigan to California all the time. It usually takes 3 -4 days. Will this cake keep for that amount of time and a bit beyond?
I can’t say for sure, but if it’s wrapped airtight it should be okay for maybe 3 days. It’s really hard to tell without knowing the exact conditions so please don’t hold me to this.
Hey – this looks great, but can I substitute regular unsweetened cocoa powder for the Dutch processed?
Yes.
I made this cake yesterday and it turned out really well. I baked it in a 9 inch springform pan for 40 minutes and it rose to be deliciously fluffy while remaining soft. Even my father, who normally does not like vegan cakes made with oil, enjoyed this cake. Thank you, Joy!
This is going to be our daughter’s 3rd birthday cake tomorrow. I substituted the vegetable oil with coconut oil and blended it like I would buttered coffee. It went into a Darth Vader cake pan. It will have black fondant.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Love the cake. Love the blog. I know the “Sunday Panics” all too well.
I just made this and used warmed almond milk instead of the coffee then added a drizzle of PB Powdered Sugar frosting before serving. AMAZING! Thanks for the recipe!
Just made the cake, but silly me didn’t test the cake in the middle while baking, but at the sides of the pan. So when I flung it onto the cooling wrack it sunk and sunk and sunk. It might be to do with a) me being incredibly unpatient, b) my awful oven and c)me being a chocolate monkey, as I added and extra 200g of dark chocolate. Just in case. Oh well… so I flung it back in a jiffy – now it doesn’t look like a pretty little bundt cake but an enormous chocolate soufflé. I refuse putting it back into the oven though. It’s creamy! It’s chocolatey! It’s super moist! And most importantly it’s vegan – so no raw egg worries!
So lurvely Joy, even though the cake didn’t turn out as your recipe intendet: big fat THANKS! I shall carry it to the girly girls bubbly picnic tonight with pride and a hand full of spoons!
XXX
Your zucchini cake looks great. I wish I would have reeblled, too. Every month I pout a bit when my cake choice gets outvoted.I also enjoyed your shower post. My mom is throwing me a shower this weekend, but we will not have the delicious home-baked goods (or maybe I can throw together a CZ cake!).Lovely pictures, as always.
I made this with a mix of white flour and wheat flour on Friday and it was excellent. I also used raw sugar instead of white because it was what I had on hand. I’m totally getting ready to make it again, we’ll just call Friday a test run for the Sunday cake.
Your pictures make me feel so comfortable like I was at home.
Joy I made this cake today and needless to say that it was the easiest cake that I have ever made. It was moist and rich. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. Love your blog.
Just wanted to say that I made this using mashed strawberries in place of the coffee and it came out awesome. So adaptable!
This was the best chocolate cake I had ever had in my life — literally. SO GOOD!!! I used all white whole wheat flour.
This looks amazing…but…(I’m sorry to be THAT guy)…white sugar is not vegan; it’s ground through animal bone char.
yea… i know. you can totally buy vegan white sugar.
hey friend! just made this to take to a friend’s house. i was short on eggs and butter and you came to the rescue. So good and i love the coffee flavor!! mmmm mmmm
I wanted to make this cake iced for a birthday cake for my vegan boyfriend. Any suggestions on chocolate icing?
A vegan chocolate ganache with a sprinkle of coconut.
I am making this cake right now. I can finish making it only if I can stop eating the batter! You should have added that as a disclaimer ;)
That was easy : )
And my guests were more than satisfied!
Thought you might like to see what happens when you add too much chocolate to this cake: https://www.thedesertabode.com/2012/03/06/simple-vegan-chocolate-cake/
Whoops! It was still delicious the second time I made it (although less presentable, ha-ha!).
Great recipe, as always! Hope you’re enjoying the book tour. :)
This cake is just as great as a mid-week, law-school-is-giving-me-the-shits pick me up. My readings still aren’t done, but hey, I put a cake on the table. I’m being productive.
I just made this cake for my yoga teacher! (He’s vegan). Amazingly moist and decadent–I used a 9-inch cake pan, and it worked fabulously. I used rather weak coffee, for fear of overwhelming the chocolate flavor.
100% making this cake today. Love love love. Thanks Joy!
This cake looks amazing…don’t have a bundt pan but I really want one now, just so I can make this cake and feel less guilty about eating rich chocolate deliciousness. I always enjoy reading your blog, it feels like a comfortable space where I can read and browse easily. Your success is well deserved as I’m sure many others feel the same way. Congrats on everything!
I don’t have a bundt pan either, so I made the recipe as cupcakes and they turned out great! It was perfect, too, because they were already portioned out for me and I didn’t have to worry about cutting too big a slice. :)
I did the same, and if you take the cupcake route, may I recommend the vanilla bean buttercream frosting recipe from the Joy the Baker cookbook? OH MAN. It’s perfect. I can’t say how many cupcakes I ate, it’s slightly embarrassing…
Hello:: Love the pictures. How do you make them look that way? Do you use a warm filter or something? or is it Instagram? Thank YOU :)
Has anyone tried making these as cupcakes? If you have please let me know how it went!
Hi there, I need to be gluten, dairy and egg free so I was wondering if I could substitute a gluten free all purpose flour mix with success? I would probably need to add xanthan gum…
I sort of combined this cake with Tracy’s Earl Gray chocolate cake by subbing out the coffee for 1 cup of super strong (6 bags) of Earl Gray tea. I must have underbaked it because it completely fell apart when I inverted it. But, it’s a delicious, delicious disaster. So tasty. I’ll have to try it again and maybe in my oven we’re talking 40+ minutes as Gabi said, instead of the 33 I baked it for.
heck yes. Sunday Panics begone! baking is the best way to make the best of a bad situation (weekend ending) – the smiley accomplishment feeling accompanied by the treat of knowing you have something delicious and homemade to get you through the week. you are most brilliant, JTB. :)
I made this cake for dessert last night – my first since Lent started. Do you play the “Sundays don’t count rule?” ‘Cause they don’t. And I like it! It isn’t cheating so my Catholic guilt can’t get me. Particularly when I am enjoying this cake with some whipped cream and some of my lemony-orange marmalade. Scrumptious!
Just pulled this out of the oven, it smells fantastic in here. Only issue I had is that the cake wasn’t near done after 30 or even 35 min. I ended up having to bake it for 40 minutes, and it seems a bit crusty on the outside now. I can’t wait for it to cool down so I can slice into it. Thanks for the easy recipe!
One word: delicious! I just finished my 3rd slice. Good thing I spent 90 minutes slaving away at the gym this afternoon to burn all those calories ;-)
You Rock :)
just made this cake with my 3 year old daughter Lily – Love this recipe!!!! Super easy and super yummy!!! Thank you!
Its odd how I also have a more “complicated” (with the creaming of the butter, cracking of the eggs) and a more laid back throw it all on the darn bowl chocolate cake recipe. Both are good! Its amazing how chocolate just taste good, period. No matter how easy or complicated the recipe is!
Thanks for the tip, I will definitely keep that in mind. This Chocolate Cake recipe looks so easy, I can’t wait to try. ~Lucky, I have all the ingredients, yum!
This recipe is great!!! I used Apple Juice instead of Coffee and 1 cup Raw Agave Nectar instead of the Sugar. I also made cupcakes instead of a cake because I don’t have a bundt pan, but they turned out DELICIOUS!!!! I’m doing a fast right now for Lent which has me eating vegan, plus a couple other restrictions and I’m so glad I found this recipe! I’ll probably still use it even after Lent/the fast are over! :D
made this last lazy sunday! turned out great :) i didn’t have enough sugar so i improvised by mashing up some pitted dates i had. also totally cheated and added chocolate buttercream frosting…
I absolutely know what you mean by the “Sunday panics”. One of my new year resolutions was to try to get rid of that feeling on Sundays by working ahead and keeping up with things. Maybe this chocolate cake will help me with this resolution but probably not with the one about losing weight. :)
Hi Joy, I made this last night and it’s a huge hit at the office. But, I wanted to ask about and issue I had. When i mixed all the batter together it looked more like dough than batter. I added like 1/4-1/3 a cup of water to get the right consistency and added a little cooking time to compensate and it came out well. Anyone else have that problem?
I had the same problem but didn’t add more liquid. It’s in the oven now; my fingers are crossed.
I should have made this last night when my husband and I got an inexplicable chocolate craving and had NO chocolate on hand (sadness). I DID have cocoa powder and we recently got a Bundt pan so I could have totally made this cake happen.
I might have to surprise him with this cake tonight! :)
I made this cake yesterday, and it turned out so well!! It was so delicious, and you can’t tell that it’s vegan at all.
Here are the substitutions I made based on what I had at home:
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour + 1 cup all purpose flour
used Hershey’s special dark cocoa (part dutch-process)
1 c warm water instead of coffee
increased baking powder to 1/2 teaspoon
Just recently made vegan chocolate cupcakes that ended up falling flat…ugh. I’ll get this vegan thing one day!
Yes! I do get the Sunday panicks! And they usually lead to me eating handfulls of chocolate chips from the bag. This cake looks way, way better than that!
this is PERFECT for making for my cousin as a “thank you” for letting me stay with her as i travel across the country this weekend…she really loves coconut, do you think this would be good with coconut mixed into the batter instead of extra chocolate chips?
Awesome! my sis love chocolate cake she always bake us any cake that she want but her specialty is chocolate. If she see this she will definitely love this pages!~ haha..
Great post and thanks for sharing
I call it the Sunday Poisions. Sunday is always poisoned by Monday being next!
Grey’s Anatomy & Downton Abbey!?!??!?!!? We could totes be BFF! Annnddd I get the Sunday panics as well. I am making this cake and hoping it will help me avoid the Sunday panics this weekend!
I love your dishes!
I think my Sunday panics stem from years of having school or work the next day and feeling like I have something due. To stave them off this week, I went out for 69 cent tacos after church, watched three episodes of Mad Men, and went on a date with my husband, who took me out for chocolate raspberry cheesecake and hot chocolate. Problem solved!
I just got a bundt cake pan, so this may be the first thing I bake in it! :)
Joy!!!! You watch Downtown Abbey!!!! Isn’t it the best ever??? And the fact that I can make this cake with everything in my cupboards without doing any store running (just as you said) makes me happy happy happy. This is also perfect for the too-early-to-get-stressed-for-an-exam-but-know-you-have-to-start-studying panics. Cake solves all problems.
Joy, sometimes I think you have tinkered in my brain before posting your posts. Last Sunday was a complete panic Sunday. A lazy, unmotivated Sunday. A didn’t get anything done that I wanted to Sunday. Except instead of chocolate cake, I made orange blondies with brandy and cardamom. But seeing as how I do also have cocoa nibs around. And I do have excellent cocoa powder I’d like to put in my mouth, this may just do. And do very well.
Made it this afternoon, really loved it, so did the bundt tin though, it wouldn’t let go.
Sunday Panics are my Sundays often! Thanks for sharing this recipe; the cake looks awesome!
Joy, this is so simple and delicious looking. Can’t wait to give it a go! Thanks :)
This cake may be simple to make but I bet it tastes totally gourmet. I love chocolate and I love coffee, so I have a feeling this cake is going to totally blow my mind. Thanks for the great recipe, yet again! Sounds like the perfect cake to celebrate Fat Tuesday, especially if I throw a baby Jesus into the mix :)
In LOVE with this post. in LOVE with the fact that I now know what to call those horrid Sundays that I just don’t want to do anything (pretty much every Sunday). In LOVE with the simplicity of this cake. In LOVE with JoyTheBaker! You Rock, as always :)
I want this cake. My sweet tooth has been in my face all week. I have all of the ingredients and this might be a better choice than chocolate chip cookies…
That looks rich and delicious. Yum!
How did you know about my Sunday morning freakouts? Except this week I had them on Sunday and Monday on account of the holiday.
Oh lord! I made guacamole, and a salad and smushed it up with some gorditas. Nowhere near as satisfying as the sweet act of baking.
I really need a bundt pan, but in its absence, bourbon in the shower. Amazing. I wonder how this puppy would turn out gluten free, by which I mean what concoction of flours I’d throw into this bad boy cake.
Hi T – Did you ever try a gluten-free version? I am new to gluten free baking, so my default when in doubt (ie, not a specific gluten-free recipe) is to just use the Bob’s all-purpose gluten free mix, but there are times when I don’t really love the actual flavor it imparts (not sure which particular flour in the mix is the culprit). Would be curious if anyone did a gluten-free version successfully?? Thanks!
Hi! I just wanted to mention that often chickpea flower is the culprit in gluten-free flour mixes…it’s obvious why! I have been having very good luck cooking gluten free with a mixture of buckwheat and sorghum flours. Tapioca flour is a nice one to throw into the mix as well. I try to avoid using very much rice flour, since that seems to make baked goods kind of grainy, and they get sticky after they sit for a day or so.
Sunday panics — You gave it a name! All 2011 was about avoiding the Sunday Panics!
This cake looks deeeelicious. I need a bundt pan. Seriously. For monkey bread. For this cake.
Jen Collins — It may have a different flavor, but perhaps – a straight almond milk (w/o sugar). Grind up some almonds in a cup of water in your blender. (or cashew cream) can’t hurt to try. It can’t be bad, only different.
Picked up the recipe at 4 am. Had everything in the house. Baked it at 5 am (took about 7 minutes to throw together. Delicious! This is a keeper. I don’t know if I overbaked it, but it was sort of crisp on the outside — tasted delicious to me.
Hi Joy!
This post is so perfect and timely, as I was just looking for something to take to a party for a vegan new mamma. Can I make this in a regular cake pan and do you have any suggestions for icing? Thanks again for this wonderful recipe! It looks like something all will enjoy, especially the sleep-deprived and hopefully less-panicked mother of a newborn.
Love this! I’ve always made it an called it “wacky cake” or “crazy cake” :)
I need a bundt cake tin. I was going to give up cake for lent.. I might rethink that after reading this delicious recipe.
I’m not vegan and the name of the recipe made me cringe. BUT, I knew I could trust Joy (don’t know why…just a feeling) and the cake is super delicious and super easy. Made mine into cupcakes cause I don’t have a bundt pan. Thanks, JOY!
Joy, this is a great cake… but I must admit I know I will enjoy it all the more when your cookbook is in my hands, along with a cup of coffee as my way of avoiding the Sunday Panics. One more week!
I hate the Sunday panic. I don’t get it as often now as I did when I was in school and trying to avoid homework. I love the Moosewood Cookbook vegan chocolate cake and yours looks just as tasty. Prettier, too, thanks to that Bundt pan!
I am completely and utterly with you on the Sunday Panics, thank you for your advice.
Downton Abbey works a treat.
This cake looks glorious, thank you for that too.
X
I had utterly no idea making a vegan chocolate cake was so simple. Thanks, Joy! And love your words of wisdom on the Sunday panics. I always find that if I’m productive on Sunday, I end up feeling so much better!
Hey Joy! How’s it goin? (I’m pretending we’re friends)
What can I use instead of coffee? Milk, water..? Oooh, can I use tea? I just thought of that as I was typing & now I’m all excited. Earl Grey chocolate cake sounds delicious.
Water is okay, orange juice is better.
That sounds really good too! I love chocolate & orange together. My fav actually.
i have this sunday panic of yours almost every day.. maybe not on saturdays, though.. anyways, i already did some baking today, made amazing profiteroles, and a spinach pie.. even have two pretzel dogs left from yesterday.. no need to bake anything else, right.. well, no.. i never ever had a vegan cake, and i’m such sucker for anything chocolate, and it’s so damn easy peasy recipe that i need to give it a try
my man’s birthday is coming and i think i have a cake for him! thanks for the recipe :)
Love LOVE this post.
Sunday Panics. Great to finally have a name for it. Awesome. =)
It’s always a treat to find a vegan recipe – being allergic to dairy AND eggs – without something weird like avocado in it. Definitely making this on the weekend!
omg this is super helpful. why? because i have tons of those ingredients just lingering around in the pantry. chocolate ftw.
bourbon in the shower? for reals. have you been spying on me? once again, I love your writing so much. so real. so fun.
I have a chocolate cake recipe very close to that one and I love it. It is literally a one dish item. Easy and delcious….no big deal!
omg i thought i was alone!! i get the sunday panics every sunday!! my sundays usually start okay and end with a sugar binge lol
another reason why you’re my fav!
I love the colors in these photos, Joy! Did you get a new camera/lens, or was this the effect of Photoshop filters?? The scene looks positively dreamy. And you can’t go wrong with a simple chocolate cake. xo
i love love love easy cakes like this! it is just beautiful. and the sunday panics? love it!
I ABSOLUTELY get the Sunday panics!! What a relief that I am not the only one and there is a totally an official term for them now. Thank you for the term and thank you for the cake :)
Oh I know all about the Sunday panics, and this seems like the perfect cure!
Yum! Sounds delish! I may have to try to make this gluten free. I bet it would be yummy with almond flour.
I am a total list maker. And a chocolate cake eater.
OMG-brilliant….everything in the pantry is my fav part…I bought everything yesterday to make your carrot-cherry cookies so this chocolate cake is coming up next! My Joy! What would I do without your inspiration? The Sunday panics – heh heh – used to think that ended when school ended but they got worse as I got older ;o ) TGFC (thank goodness for chocolate)!
I have a long week ahead of me.
So I’m definitely going to make this cake instead of doing any work.
Sunday coffee jitters are a thing of beauty. So is vegan chocolate cake says I who typically snubs her nose at vegan baking (axe butter, eggs and sugar??). I have an identical recipe. I can make it 8 minutes in the pan. I’ve been timed. Yes, I am bragging.
Oh my! You would post the most delicious, easy cake ever the day I start my diet. Maybe as a reward in a month or so…
SUNDAY PANIC!! You can’t access the internet, text your maj, write an email or edit photos. All in the name of podcasting!
I have major sunday panics and call them my sunday night anxieties. Happens every week without fail except when I am on holiday. This cake looks great! I love vegan cakes as I know more and more people who are vegan so its nice to bake something that everyone can enjoy :)
Hi Joy! I usually suffer of Disgust for Monday rather than Sunday panic. Anyway a cake like this will help either way!! Fantastic!! Bravissima! Ciao from Francesca, Bologna-Italy
Ah, the Sunday Panics! I know them well. And you, you angel, have provided me with a cure, finally! Thank you, thnak you, can’t wait to try this.
Sunday panics are THE worst. definitely know how you feel
i have started using sugar instead of flour to prepare my pan, esp my fancy bundt pan. it comes out great AND i get a crispy sugar topping on my cake. will have to try it with this recipe.
oh! i like that idea!
I do the same thing, Dominique, and everyone loves it like that! :)
I totally get the Sunday panics. I love your comment about being over-caffeinated. I think that happens for me on Sundays, especially since my church switched to only using local, organic, fresh roasted and ground coffee on Sunday mornings. They use Seattle Coffee Works, do you remember them when you were here in Seattle?
I totally get the Sunday panics. So much to be done during the week! The cake sounds great. I’m wondering if I could use water instead of the coffee? Or would that be dumb?
Your chocolate lingers?! Mine escapes in under 24 hours!
Happy bundt-ing xx
OMG, I totally get Sunday panics!! It feel guilty for having fun, knowing that I have to get up and go to work the next day. And I feel the urge to work, even there isn’t anything to do. Making cake, especially an easy chocolate one, totally solves everything. Thank-you!
I am vegan, and I love chocolate & bundt cakes. It feels like this cake was made for me. I can’t wait to try it soon.
This is really lovely. Wondeful flavor. Is it your own recipe, Joy?
I have a recipe quite similar to that except with vinegar instead of coffee–it’s called “wacky cake” or “Depression cake.” I’ve served it for my daughter’s last two birthday parties–it’s a HUGE hit, so easy (I like to bask in the glow of the totally unwarranted baking accolades), and nice to be able to accommodate food allergies. I feel a bit guilty serving a Depression-era recipe at my kid’s birthday party but this will give her fodder for future therapy so I feel I have done my duty as a mother.
I totally, totally get the Sunday panics. Making the to-do list and then putting it aside is SUCH good advice.
That’s such a great recipe! I’ll try it as soon as possible! :)
xx, Susann
Ha! The several hour Downton Abbey marathon was TOTALLY me yesterday!
I get the Sunday panics because it means that the following day is (dun dun DUUUUN!) Monday. Blech.
In her book Kitchen, Nigella calls Sunday panics ‘Sunday-night-itis’. I get it more often than I’d like to admit to :)
“An everyday chocolate cake”…now that’s something I can really get behind, Sunday panic or not ;)
Years ago, I started doing Wine Sundays to combat the Sunday Panics. We make a nice dinner and open a bottle of wine. There’s usually some Desparate Housewives involved too. My motto is “If there’s work on Monday, there’s wine on Sunday.”
I think we don’t have dutch processed cocoa powder here in Guatemala, do you know if regular cocoa powder would work for this recipe?
I want to try it sooooo bad!!
Thank you!
I’ve heard that dutch process cocoa is often called for because it has a very chocolately-chocolate taste. If you add things that amp up chocolate flavors, i bet you’d be golden. Coffee, for example, is supposed to make things taste more chocolatey. Or, dark chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, etc.
Thank you nancy!! :)
Totally get what you’re talking about. It was especially bad when I knew that at the end of Sunday, I’d have to get up very early and go to a job I hated on Monday morning. Cake would totally be a happy thing to come home to at least.
Hello, my dear Joy.
Question: why do you prepare the pan with shortening instead of butter? Is this something I should be doing for all my cakes? Do tell!
xo Katherine
i used shortening to grease the pan in this recipe to keep the whole cake vegan. i usually use butter. no biggie!
Any cake that pairs well with a Downton Abbey marathon is my kind of cake!
over-caffeination is a constant element of my sunday panics. but downton abbey and chocolate cake cure everything!
Hi Joy,
I had a quick question about this cake for you:
How fully does the batter fill your 9″ pan? I have some mini bundt pans that I’d like to use, but I don’t want to accidentally overfill them and end up with a huge mess!
Thanks!
Sarah
this batter fills the bundt pan less than half way up.. but it’s a good riser. i would say full your mini bundts about two thirds full.
I think it has been established, that the Sunday Panics is a completely normal and universal thing – and i have always been a firm believer to not only have a weekend cake but also one for the week. This one looks just perfect to get yourself over daunting to-do lists, the prospect of Monday, and pretty much anything else (what could go wrong during the upcoming week, when you always have a piece of moist chocolaty cake on hand?!)
Thanks so much for the recipe :)
Oh I’ve been looking for a good chocolate bundt cake recipe for forever! Yummm. I wonder if this would be good with fresh/frozen (but not dried) cherries, or if that would mess with the batter?
I get the Sunday panics every day! And they usually involve dishes that seem so incredibly daunting- but are done within minutes and I’m left wondering why that seems so difficult. Every.Single.Time.
Everyday chocolate cake. Oh, how I would love to have chocolate cake everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! :)
“Accidental grumpies” just might be my new favorite phrase.
I TOTALLY get the Sunday Panics! And then I proceed to the kitchen, just like you do :) Nothing like it! I didn’t go vegan yesterday though—I went big and made my first King Cake. And it was most definitely a cure for my Sunday Panics. The rest of the day was smooooth sailing.
Your vegan chocolate chocolate chip cookies are a staple in our home. Can’t wait to try this latest vegan chocolate creation of yours.
Apparently it’s your mission to save my life! I’ve been eating vegan for the month of February and it has started to seriously wear on me. But your crunchy kale & coconut bowl saved my weekend, and this cake is going to make my week!!!! Thanks for helping me make it to Feb 29!
I definitely had some sunday panics yesterday. I solved them with cupcakes. Baking seems to be the cure in all situations! This cake is beautiful – as are the pictures!
I call it Sunday Depression but Sunday Panics sounds much nicer! This cake would for sure help with that…
The Sunday Panics are the most dangerous things happening on Sundays. They can totally ruin Sundays. Except if you have a wise boyfriend, or a chocolate cake. Thanks, Joy :-)
Were you at my house yesterday? You have a secret camera don’t you? Because that was what I did yesterday…and chinese take-out is completely acceptable if your sink is full of dishes ;) You can’t cook a proper meal with dirty dishes.
This recipe is perfect timing!! No eggs in the house and no desire to go to the store! But I do want to surprise my husband with a chocolate cake! woot!!
This looks delicious! I always get the Sunday panic, then it turns into the Monday panic after I didn’t do anything on Sunday and wake up to a dirty house and a million things to do :)
“Flouring” the pan with cocoa powder… brilliant!
So that’s what those funny Sunday Feelings are called.
Delighted to see vegan chocolate cake on here! Looks delicious!
wow, finally an easy vegan chocolate cake recipe that doesn’t involve vinegar! I love wacky cake, but my husband thinks it’s weird that there’s vinegar in it and he’s too suspicious to eat it. He does, on the other hand, love coffee… hooray! Now if I hadn’t eaten nearly a whole pan of brownies myself last week, I would cash in on the Monday Panic… but… next week. :) Thanks, Joy.
You are not alone Joy! I get the Sunday Blues. Especially when I did not cross off a lot on my weekend to-do list and the dishes are piled high and work is looming. Eeek! I am bookmarking this cake as a Sunday Blues remedy! I also find that 30 Rock and a glass of wine can work wonders. Add one chocolate cake and I think we have a solution! xo
If I didn’t just use up all my flour on cranberry muffins, I would totally be making this cake right now!
These pictures are so sweet. The Sunday panics? Maybe not panic for me, but a little stress since I’ve got a couple assignments to finish in the next couple days before flying out to Austin. Thanks for the chocolate cake recipe. I’ll have to pin it for later. There’s leftover chocolate cake in my fridge from this weekend!
Hope you’re feeling better today, Monday!
Why oh why did I not check your site yesterday? I DID have a several-hour Downton Abbey marathon (thanks to my little darlings taking a very long nap in the afternoon!) during which I could have totally been eating this cake instead of ironing. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to make it today! ‘Cause Mondays are hard.
p.s. speaking of Downton Abbey, my mother-in-law thinks you look like Cora.
I get those exact panics – fuelled by Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest procrastination and too much caffeine. Chocolate cake is the best cure I’ve heard of yet!
Chocolate never lingers at my house. Never. This cake looks great!
I don’t have the sunday panics but I think I need this cake anyways… PS. love your tablecloth(?)
is the 9″ a regular size pan or the small one?
Hey! We’re on the same wavelength – I’m posting my chocolate espresso cake today, and I baked it in a bundt ban, too. And topped it with powdered sugar. Funny when that happens.
Anyway, I love the little tip on dusting the pan with cocoa powder instead of flour – genius!
Bourbon in the shower? lol.. I mean, hey whatever works for you! I love bourbon too and that could be a nice addition to this cake recipe. Definitely making this tonight to send my boyfriend off to an art conference! Merci!
I like the way you think, Joy the baker! I hope to make it to Brooklyn for your book signing!
Oh yes, the Sunday panics. I used to call them the Sunday blues. I characterized mine by going to the movies and then crying afterwards when I remembered that the next day was Monday.
Joy have you ever made mayonnaise cake?! Same idea with things you have in hand (wouldn’t be vegan) but the mayo is a shortcut for the oil and eggs! It is so moist :)
Sunday blues begone! There’s absolutely nothing that makes me happier than getting in the kitchen on a Sunday, and this kind of cake looks the perfect comforting thing to bake. Gorgeous.
This —-> “When all else fails… try bourbon in the shower and an early bedtime” made me nearly snort coffee through my nose. Seriously though, how perfect is this cake? It’s almost instant!
All of my favorite chocolate cakes have been vegan, this one looks like it will join the crowd!
That is the one thing I do not like about baking: letting things come to room temp. But I love how simple this recipe is :) Thank you, and yes, I sometimes get the Sunday Panics/Gitters and all tat (not)fun stuff. Especially when the kitchen is a mess, that I can’t stand. I hope you have a wonderful, panic-free week :)
TOTALLY understand the sunday panics…and i think chocolate cake is totally the answer. obvs :)
Simple, sweet, rich and moist. All are soothing words to a sugar-deprived Sunday panic player.
Oh my gosh! I’m so excited to give this cake a try! I love simple recipes that you can make with stuff that’s already around. Perfect. Thanks!
I definitely get the Sunday panics… in every sort of the way! Would love a slice of this every Sunday to make me feel better:-)
This recipe sounds interesting. Never thought of using coffee as a replacement for eggs – usually use tofu or applesauce. It’s 5am and I’m seriously contemplating on making this cake!
I have been searching for this recipe – all my life….It is amazing how you can be having a perfectly good weekend, then Sunday afternoon roll around and you look at the sink…and the pile of work on your desk…and a sort of depression creeps up on you, like fog…
I am going to do this with Buckwheat flour to make it gluten free and light and airy.
Happy Monday Joy!
Since when are panics only on Sunday afternoons? You should be here some Wednesday mornings. :)
This cake sounds so good. Perfect for those occasional Wednesday mornings.
Sunday Panics – ABSOLUTELY! Nigella Lawson calls it “Sunday nigh-itis”
I can totally relate to the Sunday panics – although, yesterday I ran the Austin Marathon. Instead of the Sunday panics, I had Sunday exhaustion. I feel asleep on the couch at 7:30 and went to bed by 8. Great to wake up to a chocolate cake. Love it!
Did you survive your Sunday unplugged? Your strategies for enjoying the end of the weekend sound great. I’ve found I’m much less stressed when I try and stay gracious and serene in each moment rather than fretting the present away worrying about the future.
i’ll tell you all about Sunday unplugged on the next podcast! dude….. awful.
Ruh-roh. Looking forward to the podcast though!
Oh how well I can relate to the sunday panics as you call them, I wake up all excited only to realize by the end of the day that I’ve done a whole lot of everything except what I need to do!
This cake looks heavenly, the vegan-aspect is simply a bonus. Most definitely making when I’ve been reunited with my bundt pan (oh the joys of living away from home…)
Oh man, if only I had read this earlier!! It was definitely that kind of day. As much as I love compulsive oreo eating, this cake looks to DIE for… and it’s vegan! Thank you Joy!!
Sunday panic sounds familiar…
I think this might be the first vegan cake recipe I’ll try because it sure does look good!
YES! I have stopped reading your posts as my wee baby is dairy intolerant and thus I can eat nothing you are making and it was making me cry [seriously], but now, NOW!I can! Am off to shops to buy cocoa, I may even skip there. Thanks!
I still look at all of Joy’s recipes even though I am gluten-free and dairy-free. I’m still inspired by her writing, photos, and recipes – there are plenty of ways to substitute for dairy. And I also make her vegan soups on a monthly basis.
Here is a super informative post from Real Sustenance about the ins and outs of allergy-replacement baking, including dairy!
https://realsustenance.com/101-in-baking-understanding-sugar-butter-fats-eggs-baking-soda-their-allergy-free-replacements-in-baking/
The Sunday Panics a.k.a. Gloomy Sunday or – as I named it in German – ‘das Sonntagsloch’ (which I imagine as a vast black hole, sucking my energy and optimism), are very familiar symptoms to me. Thanks for sharing, it’s consolating not to be alone in it. The cake looks exactly like cake on sunday should look.
This looks delicious! I never understand how vegan cakes stay together, but if you say it’s good then I trust it!
Your sunny post is the cure to a stressful start of the week. Thank you, thank you!
Totally love this post Joy! Chocolate cake… always works.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It looks absolutely wonderful; can’t wait to give it a try tomorrow night!
YUM!!
Do you think this has to have vegetable oil in it? Could I use coconut oil instead? Would that make it a weird texture?
This looks so awesome and I love how you called it “simple”…Bundt cakes, vegan baking, and cakes from scratch don’t necessarily always tend to be so simple, but yours looks amazing and moist and rich and wonderful.
And yes, I get the Sunday Panics, too!
Yum! I might just make this tomorrow!
Amanda
Omg. Vegan. Chocolate. Cake. YUM :) Thanks for sharing!
The Sunday Panics sound familiar – pretty much every week. It’s a good thing this post wasn’t up earlier today or I would have been absolutely forced to make this amazing-looking cake when I should have been productive!
The chocolate cake looks amazing. Cake is always the best cure for the Sunday panics. Great tip about the cocoa in the pan too. Thanks x
Ooh, yum! My sister has been vegan since New Year’s and is going ’til June, so this sounds like the perfect thing to drop off at her house over finals week! Thanks muchly!
I totally get the Sunday Panics, but I’ve always known them as the Sunday Night Blues. By either name, this cake looks like the perfect cure!
Too funny, that’s exactly what my mom always called them, so that’s what I call them now as well: The Sunday Night Blues!
You are definitely not a strangebird, Joy. Those Sunday Panic symptoms sound vaguely familiar…
AHHHHHHHH. Vegan chocolate cake. Exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks!