The origin story of “vegan” chocolate cake

Flashback to the middle of 2003.

I loooove chocolate cake! I turn vegan, it’s the first baking recipe I explore. I’ve made non-vegan cakes before, but a vegan one turns out to be quite the learning experience…about preconceived notions. It’s ridiculously easy! Whisking, beating, folding…none of that stuff’s needed.

The recipe I stumble onto is called Super Moist Chocolate Cake. It goes “sieve the dry ingredients together, make a well in the center, pour in all the wet ingredients, mix quickly, pour into cake pan, and bake.”

Whut?! 🤨 Could it really be that simple?

I’m skeptical at first, but the batter comes together in less time than the oven takes to get preheated! And how beautifully it rises. Yum!

Oh and no fancy ingredients required. Everything that goes into vegan cake is probably already in your pantry.

Chocolate cake on a plate with a slice  cut and slightly moved away from the main cake. Set on a slatted wooded table with napkins, forks and herbs strewn on it. Text: The first "Vegan" Cake wasn't intentionally vegan

I could give complete credit to the vegan movement for this witchcraft (and you’d be none the wiser), but…

The original “vegan” cake recipe was concocted during The Great Depression!

In an era when butter, milk, and eggs are rare luxuries, someone craves cake. So they figure out a way to put super cheap, easily accessible ingredients together and create one. Genius!

Of course you can always opt for organic ingredients, add nuts, use exquisite quality cocoa…there are many more creative ways to make your cake as gourmet and high end as your heart desires. But the point is, even if you choose to keep the costs super cheap, it tastes bloody delicious!

So the next time someone whines, “but vegan food is so expensive”, without doing their research, you can respond…

“During one of the the worst economic crises in the past century, poor people invented vegan cake. So shut up already!” 😜

Related note:

If you’d like to try your hand at making this easy vegan chocolate cake, you can find out how to do it here. There are a few more great recipes on that post.

Reading that old post on my recipe blog from 2013 brings back so many memories! It was my first baking demo at Carrots (way before I was running it). Little did I know the rich adventures and hard lessons that awaited me at that place in the years to follow. Haha It’s funny to watch the naive, innocent Susmitha in those videos.


Susmitha Veganosaurus

Shorth haired Indian lady, beaming a wide smile. Flowers in the background. Vegan business coach and chef Susmitha Veganosaurus

“I’m a Spiritual Vegan Multi-Passionate Entrepreneur. I read voraciously, find humour in most things, and believe kindness and authenticity can make this world a happier, loving place.

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