• Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8*8 inch square pan with parchment paper or grease the pan lightly. Set aside for later.

Make the chocolate espresso cake batter:

• Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a small mixing bowl and sift together to remove any large clumps of cocoa powder. Set aside for later.
• Next, add the oat milk, cane sugar, unsweetened applesauce, olive oil, dark brown sugar, espresso, and vanilla bean paste to a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
• Add the dry ingredients to the large mixing bowl of wet ingredients and mix into a thick batter. I recommend starting with a whisk and then switching to a spatula so the batter does not get over-mixed.

Bake the cake:

• Pour the batter into the pan and add it to the oven. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until cooked through.
• Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then carefully move to a wire rack to finish cooling completely while you make the brown sugar frosting.

Make the brown sugar frosting:

• Add the vegan butter and dark brown sugar to a small saucepan and mix together until melted.
• Bring the brown sugar and butter mixture to a low boil, reduce the heat, and slowly pour in the oat milk. Then, bring the heat back to a rolling boil and continue cooking for about 1 minute.
• Remove the saucepan from the burner and stir in the vaniall bean paste and salt. Pour the brown sugar mixture into a seperate bowl to continue cooling.
• Once the mixture has cooled completely, add in in the powdered sugar and use an electric mixer to whip into a thick and glossy frosting.

Frost the cake:

• Once the frosting is ready and the cake has cooled, add the frosting to the cake and gently spread it out with a cake spatula.
• Top with shaved chocolate if desired and enjoy!