Whenever I make chocolate cake, it’s most likely some version of this tried and true vegan chocolate cake recipe I’ve been using for years and years. I always cut the sugar and double the cocoa powder, but today I also subbed the water with soymilk. Not the best, not the worst – very on brand.

I N G R E D I E N T S

Chocolate cake

• 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of distilled vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened soymilk

Matcha soak

• 1/3 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of matcha powder
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

Matcha whipped cream cheese frosting

• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 5 teaspoons of matcha powder

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D I R E C T I O N S

1. Lightly grease 5 6-inch cake pans, or line with parchment. This recipe will also work for 2 8-inch rounds. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Sift all of the dry cake ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide and spread evenly into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 15 minutes for the 6-inch pans. For bigger pans, bake just until a toothpick test comes out clean. Once cool enough to handle, remove cake layers and cool completely on a rack.
4. Combine the matcha soak ingredients in a small saucepan and heat on the stove until the sugar dissolves.
5. Brush the soak mixture onto each cake layer and let it absorb. Usually the bottom of the cakes are much more porous than the tops.
6. Make the frosting in a stand or handheld mixer by whipping together cold cream cheese with the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth (no chunks!). Slowly drizzle in the cold whipping cream and continue whipping until medium peaks form. Reserve about 1 cup of frosting to decorate the top of the cake. Sift the matcha powder into the rest of the frosting and mix just until combined. Do not overmix or the frosting will be come stiff and clumpy.
7. Stack, frost, stack, frost, stack, frost, stack, frost, stack, frost.
8. Pipe the remaining white frosting using a round or star piping tip around the perimeter of the top of the cake.