Eggless Chocolate Cake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottoms with a wax paper or parchment cake circle.

In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla, white vinegar, and milk and whisk on low until just combined. Add the hot coffee (or hot water) and whisk until smooth. The batter will be very thin.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before frosting.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium-high speed until creamy and light in color, 4-5 minutes.

Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add half of the powdered sugar and half of the cocoa powder. Cover the mixer with a clean kitchen towel (to prevent ingredients flying out of the bowl), then turn the mixer to low speed and mix until all ingredients start to come together.

Add the remaining powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, vanilla, and salt. Cover the mixer again and mix on low speed until smooth and uniform, about 1 minute, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.

When the eggless chocolate cake layers are completely cool, level them to your desired height before filling and stacking with chocolate buttercream. Crumb coat the cake with chocolate buttercream, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the buttercream set firm.

Frost the cake with a layer of chocolate buttercream and smooth the sides with an icing smoother until level (don't worry about creating an extra smooth finish for this one). Swipe a small icing spatula diagonally though the buttercream as you rotate the cake to create the texture pictured. Press some rainbow sprinkles around the bottom of the cake. Use the remaining chocolate buttercream to pipe swirls on top of the cake with Wilton Tip 1M, then add rainbow sprinkles on top.