• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Rhian's Recipes

  • About
    • Contact
    • Work With Me
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
  • Meal Plan
  • Cookbook
  • Blogging Tips
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
  • Healthy Meal Plan
  • Cookbook
  • Blogging Tips
    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Recipes » Recipes

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    Last updated - July 15, 2021; Published - June 29, 2017 By Rhian Williams 14 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake is filled with the most indulgent peanut buttercream, and drenched in a silky chocolate sauce.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    I used my favourite vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free chocolate sponge recipe for this cake. I love its taste and texture, and what’s more, it requires just one bowl and uses easily accessible ingredients. The coconut oil gives the sponge a rich, buttery flavour whilst ground almonds add a nutty sweetness and fluffiness.

    The recipe is also easily customisable, as you can use any liquid sweetener you like, and substitute the coconut oil with olive or vegetable oil if you wish.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    Peanut butter is one of my favourite things ever, and you can't go wrong with a peanut butter and chocolate combo, right? So, I decided that I really needed to make a peanut butter and chocolate cake for the blog.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    And I knew this would require a peanut butter buttercream frosting. A lot of vegan buttercream recipes use ingredients like cashews, coconut whipped cream or avocado, but I wasn’t particularly keen on any of these.

    Cashew nuts are delicious, but pretty expensive. Coconut whipped cream is delicious too, but I feel like it's too light to pass as a buttercream substitute. And I've never really been a fan of using avocado in desserts.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    So I turned to this chocolate buttercream, which uses sweet potatoes. I use sweet potatoes to make things like this ice cream, milkshake and mochi), so why not buttercream?

    Unlike avocados, their indistinctive taste means they’re great to use as a basis for different flavours. Unlike nuts, they’re wallet-friendly, and the texture ends up a lot thicker than coconut whipped cream.

    And so all I did was swap the cocoa powder with peanut butter, and the most delicious peanut butter buttercream was born!

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    All you need to do to make this simple 4-ingredient buttercream is cook the sweet potato, add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla, then just blend until completely smooth. It's luxuriously smooth, super rich and peanut buttery, and the perfect consistency for frosting the sponge cake.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    I then topped off this Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake with some chocolate sauce, which is completely optional, but oh-so-delicious. You can use melted dark chocolate, but if you’d prefer it to be refined sugar free, you can also melt some coconut oil and mix with cocoa powder and maple syrup (or any other sweetener).

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    Really hope you'll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake as much as I do! Want more cakes? Then you might like my:

    • Red Velvet Cake
    • Chocolate Truffle Cake
    • Tropical Carrot Cake
    • Lemon Blueberry Cake
    • Chocolate Sponge Layer Cake
    • Black Forest Cake

    If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d love to hear how you get on! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! I’d really love to hear any feedback – thank you!

    Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake:

    For the cake:

    glass mixing bowl

    measuring jug

    18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tin

    baking paper

    cooling rack

    For the frosting:

    food processor

    blender

    hand-held stick blender

    palette knife for frosting

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

    This Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake is filled with the most indulgent peanut buttercream, and drenched in a silky chocolate sauce. 
    3.56 from 9 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: gluten-free chocolate peanut butter cake, vegan chocolate peanut butter cake, vegan peanut butter frosting
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 416kcal
    Author: Rhian Williams

    Ingredients

    For the cake:

    • 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
    • 250 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
    • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
    • 12 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Pinch salt
    • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
    • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
    • 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
    • ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
    • 50 g (½ cup) cocoa powder

    For the frosting:

    • 400 g (14 oz) sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes)
    • 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
    • 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or any other sweetener), to taste
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    For the chocolate sauce* (optional):

    • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
    • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

    Instructions

    For the cake:

    • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
    • Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
    • Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds
    • Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder
    • Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
    • Divide mixture between two greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm baking tins)
    • Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen slightly and an inserted skewer comes out clean
    • Once out the oven, transfer cakes from baking tins onto a wired rack to leave them to cool completely before applying the frosting

    For the frosting:

    • Cook sweet potatoes by boiling, steaming or roasting them until very soft and tender
    • Discard any skins, and add to a food processor or blender (or hand-held blender) along with all other ingredients
    • Whizz until completely smooth
    • Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary – add more maple syrup for sweetness, more peanut butter etc
    • Leave to cool before using to frost the cake

    To frost and decorate the cake:

    • Place one half of the cake onto a plate and spread just less than half of the buttercream onto it
    • Place the other half of the cake on top of that and use rest of the buttercream to spread on top and around sides of cake
    • Decorate with chopped roasted peanuts, or whatever else you fancy!

    For the chocolate sauce:

    • Place all ingredients in a bowl and melt either over a bain-marie or in the microwave, until mixed together well
    • Pour over the cake
    • Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

    Notes

    *You can alternatively use almond flour
    **You can alternatively use melted dark chocolate (ensure vegan if necessary)
    Nutrition Facts
    Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 416 Calories from Fat 180
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 20g31%
    Saturated Fat 8g40%
    Sodium 132mg6%
    Potassium 403mg12%
    Carbohydrates 57g19%
    Fiber 8g32%
    Sugar 26g29%
    Protein 9g18%
    Vitamin A 7094IU142%
    Vitamin C 1mg1%
    Calcium 164mg16%
    Iron 3mg17%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

    Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

    More Recipes

    • A collage of four vegan Easter recipes photos
      60 Vegan Easter Recipes (Gluten-Free)
    • A collage of four gluten-free vegan pancake recipes photos
      15 Gluten-Free Vegan Pancake Recipes
    • A collage of four Vegan Valentine's Day Recipes photos
      17 Vegan Valentine's Day Recipes (Gluten-Free)
    • Three vegan blueberry muffins with a bite taken out of one with a bowl of fresh blueberries in the background
      Vegan Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Claudine

      January 09, 2020 at 11:52 am

      Hi there! I have not made any of your recipes yet, but just wanted to say to you - as an aspiring vegan chef and baker myself, I am very impressed at what you are doing here! Your website has made me so happy, and it is a joy to look at and read your recipes which are clearly well thought out, well developed and most importantly loved. Well done you. Thank you for everything you do - inspirational xxx

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        January 09, 2020 at 1:30 pm

        Hi! Thank you so much for your kind comment. I'm so happy to hear that made my day!! xxx

    2. Karen

      October 20, 2022 at 3:23 pm

      4 stars
      I accidentally bought a different kind of sweet potato with white flesh that was very starchy. It took an hour of mashing and adding milk a little at a time to make it workable and smooth enough. I wouldn't be surprised if I added 1/3 to 1/2 a cup total! I also doubled the PB and added another TBSP maple syrup. In the end it worked out and was very good. It was more like a stiff frosting than buttercream, and that's okay!

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        December 01, 2022 at 3:06 pm

        Thank you so much for sharing!

    « Older Comments

    Primary Sidebar

    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Photo of Rhian Williams from Rhian's Recipes

    Hi, I'm Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

    Learn more.

    Popular Recipes

    Three vegan blueberry muffins with a bite taken out of one with a bowl of fresh blueberries in the background

    Vegan Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)

    A stack of oat flour pancakes topped with desiccated coconut and syrup on a blue plate

    Oat Flour Pancakes (Vegan + GF)

    A loaf of coconut flour bread topped with sunflower seeds and poppy seeds with two slices next to it

    Coconut Flour Bread (Vegan + Gluten-Free)

    A loaf of gluten-free rice bread topped with mixed seeds with two slices next to it against a sheet of brown baking paper

    Gluten-Free Rice Bread (Vegan)

    A loaf of gluten-free vegan oat bread topped with oats with two slices on the side

    Gluten-Free Vegan Oat Bread

    Five vegan coconut flour pancakes stacked in a pile decorated with fresh raspberries and coconut flakes on a green plate against a grey background

    Vegan Coconut Flour Pancakes (Gluten-Free)

    A loaf of oat flour bread with two slices

    Oat Flour Bread (Vegan + Gluten-Free)

    A sliced vegan baked cheesecake topped with wild strawberries and strawberry flowers

    Vegan Baked Cheesecake (Gluten-Free)

    Footer

    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Privacy Policy & Disclosure
    • Copyright Notice

    Newsletter

    • Subscribe for free updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work With Me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework ·