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Chocolate Cake Layers
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease three six inch or two eight or nine inch cake pans and cover the base with a circle of parchment paper.
Make vegan buttermilk in a medium bowl by stirring together non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for five minutes.
In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer) sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk until combined.
In the vegan buttermilk mixture add sugar, oil and vanilla, whisking to combine.
If blooming your cocoa powder combine it with one cup of hot coffee and let rest for 2 minutes before adding to remaining wet ingredients.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients beating with a hand mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment until smooth.
Divide cake batter evenly to the prepared cake pans, smoothing out the tops and bake for 30-45 mins. Time will vary depending on your oven and what size of pans you choose to use. I always like rotate the pans at around the 25 minute mark. I will use a toothpick to check the cakes doneness – minimal crumbs stick to a toothpick after you insert it into the centre of the cake.
Place pans on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before decorating.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Combine the aquafaba and white sugar in a sauce pot and bring to a full boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes allowing the sugar to completely dissolve, remove from heat and cool completely.
Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment add the cooled aquafaba and sugar mixture whip on high speed until it is thick and glossy and has firm peaks, about 5 minutes.
Combine cream of tartar with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and add one teaspoon of this mixture at a time to the whipped aquafaba meringue. Once added add remaining cup of powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time.
Add vegan butter and vegetable shortening bit by bit while continuing to whip.
Add the vanilla followed by the melted chocolate and cocoa powder.
Assembly
In the center of the cake board, place the first cake layer top side up.
Spread buttercream over the cake layer.
Place cake layer, top side down and cover cake in buttercream.
Perform a ‘crumb coat’ if you choose by applying a thin layer of buttercream around the cake and place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
Once the crumb coat is set, frost the cake with remaining buttercream and decorate to your liking.
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