1. Preheat the oven to 345 degrees F. Grease a 9"- to 10"-inch cake pan.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, xylitol or sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda,and salt; mix thoroughly. Create a well and add all of the wet ingredients (water, vegetable oil, maple syrup, coffee, red wine vinegar, and vanilla extract). Very gently stir until homogeneous-do not over mix. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Allow to cool for at least an hour before running a knife along the sides and turning the cake out onto a plate. The bottom of the cake will look more moist and level than the exposed side, which makes frosting the cake easy.
3. Frosting: In a sauce pan, mix together the xylitol or sugar, cocoa, corn starch, and salt. Turn the heat on and place the dial to medium heat. Immediately add the coffee, vegan butter, and maple syrup, while whisking. Whisk until smooth and closely watch for the mixture to begin to thicken into a frosting. This will happen quickly, so do not walk away. When thick enough to spread, immediately pull the frosting off the heat. Mix in vanilla extract.
4. Allow frosting to cool for a couple of minutes before spreading onto your layer cake.
*Note: This is enough frosting for one layer cake.
Source of recipe: This recipe is from my blog: http://thewitchykitchen.blogspot.com/ [1]