Chocolate Chip Cake With Buttercream Icing (Vegan)

• For the Cake
• 2 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1/2 cup Butter Substitute (I prefer Earth Balance)
• 1/2 cup Almond Milk (I prefer sweetened, vanilla flavor)
• 1/8 teaspoon yellow food dye
• 1/2 bag Vegan Chocolate Chips
• For the Buttercream Icing
• 3 cups Butter Substitute (I prefer Earth Balance)
• 1 8 oz box Powdered Sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Combine sugar, vanilla extract, applesauce, butter substitute, almond milk, and yellow food dye into a separate large bowl, cream until smooth.
2. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl, mixing with egg beaters until smooth. Once the ingredients are combined, fold in 1/2 bag of vegan chocolate chips by hand.
3. Grease and flour 2 8" round cake tins (I use Earth Balance butter), pour in batter. The batter should only take up about 1/3 of each tin. Bake the cakes for 30 minutes, test with a toothpick. Bake cakes until the toothpicks come out clean.
4. Let the cakes cool on a cooling rack COMPLETELY before you ice!! Otherwise you end up with melty icing, and it's just the worst.
5. While the cakes cool, combine the icing ingredients into a large bowl, and cream until smooth. Let it sit in the fridge for about an hour while the cakes cool off. When the cakes are ready to be assembled, take the icing out of the fridge. You may have to give the icing a stir, as sometimes the "butter" firms back up.
6. Place one cake on the cake platter, cover top with icing, then put the other cake on top. Coat entire outside with the faux buttercream icing. Put cake in the fridge! The icing won't keep out on the counter.
7. Enjoy! The best part is when you don't tell people it's vegan, and they love it anyways. That's what I always do with my husband, poor thing.

flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, vanilla, unsweetened applesauce, butter, almond milk, yellow food, chocolate chips, butter, sugar, cocoa, vanilla

Taken from food52.com/recipes/14633-chocolate-chip-cake-with-buttercream-icing-vegan (may not work)