Having your cake and eating it too is a concept I peruse in my mind with regularity. This notion can be either great and positive, or dreadful, appalling and steeped with negative energy. Many people figuratively have their cake and eat it too with relationships, which is totally unacceptable. Once I feel someone is having their cake and eating it, too, with me, I say sayonara. That means they’re stomping on you, and you’re totally worth more than that. At least that’s what L’Oreal has been telling us all along. But on the real, we are.

In the most literal sense, having your cake and eating it too is totally awesome and totally possible. In this case, we have a rich chocolate cake free of any animal based product, which makes it just a wee bit healthier on the cuerpo. Which I always like. It’s so moist that it looks like soil after rain, fervent with chocolate flavor. This cake doesn’t even taste like it’s vegan, so I probably wouldn’t even mention it, because people get all freaked out when the word vegan comes out to play.

And with this cake, we seek only to dazzle and not frazzle. So have your cake and eat it too, with life and love, but only if it’s good for you and others. Like this recipe below, both on the taste buds and on the stomach.

Rich vegan chocolate cake

Adapted from Leite’s Culinaria

Notes: for an even healthier-ish cake, substitute whole wheat flour for some or all of the all-purpose without sacrificing flavor. It might taste just a tad bit nutty, which is fine by me.

If you don’t have soy milk, feel free to use almond milk, or even water. If you use water, though, note that your cake might not be the soil moist I described above.

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

A pinch salt

1 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the pan

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (or, in a pinch, maple syrup)

Set your oven at 325 degrees. Oil a 9-inch round cake pan and line it with parchment paper, or be like me and use a 9-inch bundt pan, sprayed with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, dump the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the soy milk, vinegar, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spoon or spatula until well combined.

Spoon or scrape the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 to 55 minutes (mine baked for closer to an hour). It’s done when a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out with almost no crumbs attached and the center of the cake, when pressed, springs back slightly instead of sinks. Bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes if necessary.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Slide a table knife or a paring knife between the cake and the edge of the pan to loosen, then carefully invert the cake onto the wire rack. Invert it again so it’s right-side up and let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.