Vegan Chocolate Bundt Cake with Salted Peanut Butter Glaze

An intensely chocolate cake with a tender, moist crumb is lazily topped with a silky smooth peanut butter glaze and highlighted with bits of sea salt. Never-mind that there’s *zero* compromise on flavor, texture or indulgence for this vegan dessert, it’s sure to make your chocolate and peanut butter dreams come true.

This is my go to chocolate cake recipe which I’ve made countless times from my wedding to my children’s birthdays to slinging decorated cakes as a local market. It’s clearly my favorite and I hope you love it, too!

Tips for a Perfect Chocolate Cake and Peanut Butter Glaze:

• Double check the size of your pan – this recipe makes a 6-cup bundt cake. You can double-check the capacity of your bundt pan by measuring the volume of water it holds. For a larger bundt pan (commonly a 12-cup or 10″ pan), you’ll need to double this recipe and bake for 55-65 minutes.
• Sift! Sifting is a must to avoid bitter lumps of cocoa powder and other dry ingredients in your cake. You might be surprised at how much doesn’t get through the sifter and could have ended up in your cake! Use the back of a spoon to break up the lumps so they sift through.
• Don’t reduce the amount of sugar or the oil – these are both very important for the structure and texture of the cake. Reducing them or substituting with other ingredients will effect the quality and moist character of the cake.
• Add the hot water or coffee at the end. I really love how coffee enhances the chocolate flavor but if you prefer not to use caffeinated liquid, you can use hot decaf or even hot water. The hot liquid is added at the end which gets the chocolate to bloom and the intensity of the chocolate flavor and a bit of fudginess happens!
• Prepare your pan really well to avoid a disappointing situation where the cake sticks to the pan or even tears. For chocolate cake, I spray a vegetable or canola oil all over the inside of the bundt pan, and then dust it with cocoa powder. If you don’t have vegetable oil spray, you can grease the pan with shortening, being sure to get into all of the nooks and crannies. Don’t use margarine/vegan butter, it can sometimes cause more sticking! Once that’s done, turn the pan over, dumping out any excess. The cocoa powder won’t be noticeable once the cake is baked. I also do this just before I add the batter unlike with most other cake recipes where I prepare the pans when I preheat the oven. In the time you mix the batter, the oil can slide down the sides of the deep pan.
• Once the cake is baked, gently slide a thin spatula along the sides of the cake and around the tube to loosen the cake. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Place a cooling rack over the cake and in one gently motion, turn the cake over so it’s resting on the cooling rack. If the cake doesn’t fall down on it’s own right away, just give it a few minutes. If after 5 minutes, it’s still not down, gently lift the cake pan up a bit and give it a gentle wiggle, side to side and it should come out perfectly.
• Let the cake cool completely to room temperature before adding the glaze, or your glaze may melt and not set up on the cake properly. For a quick-setting glaze, chill your cake first and then add the glaze.
• Make sure your peanut butter is room temperature. If the peanut butter is cold (if you keep it in the fridge like I do), it will be firmer and you may add too much non-dairy milk – once the glaze comes to room temperature, it will become thinner. Starting with room temperature peanut butter makes things easier to whisk and gives you an accurate idea of glaze consistency while you’re making it.
• This is a dessert so I wasn’t terribly concerned about the quality of peanut butter I was using. That said, a super smooth peanut butter which has the oil really well homogenized is likely going to be a junky kind – you know, the added-oils-and-some-sugar kind. I haven’t tested this recipe with natural peanut butter, but I suspect the results will taste really good but the texture may not be  as smooth, it may not be as glossy or hold together as well.
• Add some salt – sprinkling some coarse or flaked sea salt over the top of the glaze really brings out both the peanut and chocolate flavors. Plus it looks pretty!

If you make this Chocolate Bundt Cake with Salted Peanut Butter Glaze, please let me know in the comments below, and feel free to give it a rating! Also, I love connecting on Instagram where you can tag me in your creations using my recipes. I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!

Vegan Chocolate Bundt Cake with Salted Peanut Butter Glaze

An intensely chocolate cake with a tender, moist crumb is lazily topped with a silky smooth peanut butter glaze and highlighted with bits of sea salt. Nevermind that there's zero compromise on flavor, texture or indulgence for this vegan dessert, it's sure to make your chocolate and peanut butter dreams come true.

4.79 from 32 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cooling the Cake: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 1 (6-cup) bundt cake

Author: Bronwyn

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus extra for dusting pan
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¾ cup non-dairy milk
• ½ cup neutral oil (eg avocado, canola etc)
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• ½ tbsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup fresh hot coffee or hot water

Peanut Butter Glaze

• ½ cup smooth peanut butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-4 tbsp non-dairy milk
• coarse salt for garnish
• chocolate shavings for garnish optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the non-dairy milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract.
• Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and pour in the hot coffee or water. Whisk together just until combined.
  
• Spray the inside of the bundt pan with oil and then lightly dust with cocoa powder, knocking the excess out. Add the batter to the baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few cooked crumbs.
• Let the cake cool completely.
• For the glaze:
• In a medium sized bowl, gradually whisk the confectioner's sugar into the peanut butter. Add the vanilla extract. Add the non-dairy milk until you have the desired consistency (not too thin or it won't coat the cake.)
• Pour the glaze over the cooled cake, sprinkle with coarse salt, and chocolate shavings.

Notes:

This recipe is for a small 6-cup bundt cake pan. For a large bundt (commonly 12-cup, or 10"), you'll need to double the recipe and adjust the baking time to 55-65 minutes.

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