Can I just say, Happy Chocolate CAKE Friday!

Seriously, does this not look like the most luscious, moist and perfect chocolate cake ever??? I swear, you’d never even begin to guess it was vegan if I didn’t tell you.

A sneaky, delish, Friday worthy cake. <–FACT.

We have not talked cake in a while. Like way tooooo loooonnggggg. So today it’s CAKE DAY! YESSS – cake, cake, cake, cake, cake day! Today is also my Dad’s birthday, so this one’s for you Dad! Since they are all still in South Korea (where my little brother Red is competing) I’ll have to see how this cake freezes. Actually, my dad’s birthday is already where they are (they are almost a day ahead). My dad will be bummed he missed out on this cake, but my mom… she will be SO jealous! Cake, specifically chocolate cake is her favorite. She is probably sitting somewhere in South Korea eating bowl after bowl of white rice, because my guess is that there is nothing else that she will eat there. She’s a little bit of a bland eater and I can guarantee you, she is not eating the smoked salmon my dad has been getting daily. And as far as desserts go? While, I know they already finished off my chocolate dunked honey nut bars, so my guess… she’s moved on to her hot cocoa (yep, she took her cocoa and cacao powders with her)? Anyway, she’s most definitely not eating chocolate cake.

I can see her now, scrolling through these photos, mouth-watering and thinking, “nooooo, I missed that. I cannot believe I missed that cake”. Sounds so dramatic, but it’s actually true. She text me those exact words when I sent her photos the other day…

SIDE NOTE: if I was in Korea, I would be eating ALL the Korean fried chicken, plus bowl after bowl of bibimbap. And sure, Korean doughnuts would be part of my daily regimen. It would be so good. 🙂

Clearly, I am a little excited about this here vegan chocolate cake. The recipe is adapted from the incredible Gena and her cookbook Food52 Vegan: 60 Vegetable-Driven Recipes for Any Kitchen. If you don’t already own this cookbook, you should probably just go buy it right now. Well, maybe print or save this recipe first… and then go buy it. Even if you’re not vegan, I promise, all the recipes are so good. And us cheese lovers, well we can always just add a little (ok a lot) when needed. Hehe, I love my cheese!

SO. When I got my hands on this cookbook, I was immediately focused on one recipe.

THE CHOCOLATE CAKE. duh.

You guys, words cannot describe how yummy this cake is. It’s layered with a creamy buttercream made up of magical ingredients. Magical I tell you. I adapted the buttercream only slightly to be a bit more almondy because I love that flavor. I also added vanilla because really, when can you ever have too much vanilla, you know?? And if you’re looking for a butter-less, buttercream, this is your recipe… and it’s healthy enough to eat with a spoon…like for breakfast?? With granola?? That would be amazing! I mean, hey, you can have your veggies (pumpkin) and your protein (almond butter). Just add some fruit (bananas??) and breakfast is complete. I’d highly recommend doubling the buttercream just so you can eat half for breakfast.

NO JOKE.

Okay and then the finishing touch is a layer of silky, smooth ganache. Oh my gosh. YESS. Are you guys looking at those swirls??? That is ganache in it’s most perfect looking form.

TO DIE FOR.

Another huge plus to this recipe is that it is SIMPLE! No fancy equipment or ingredients. It’s as easy as any other chocolate cake. You can have it made in under and hour and ready to eat in under two (you have to let the cake chill for a little to let everything stiffen up a bit). Can you say perfection or what?!?

SOOOO. Here’s the plan. Come home from work. Find the bottle of wine, cocktail or maybe even a mocktail, turn on the oven and start baking. Maybe eat some tacos or some pasta while the cake bakes and then….ditch the the booze, pour a giant glass of cold milk and eat all the cake. And I do mean ALL the cake with all the ganache 🙂

Shhhh, I won’t tell if you can’t fully wait for the cake to chill and you end up eating a warm and messy, DELICIOUS chocolate cake. Even better if you ask me.

Chocolate Cake for the win!! Oh, and don’t forget that flaky sea salt on top! Happy weekend! 🙂

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you had a great day!