Moist, Yummy Chocolate Cake

For a yummy dairy free, gluten free, egg free, vegan chocolate cake…look no further!

Earlier in the year we celebrated our son’s birthday.  This year’s birthday cake request was “a chocolate cake with hundreds and thousands sprinkles with berries please Mum“. PHEW! Simple!

Owing to a few food allergies amongst the children I created this chocolate cake, modifying a recipe from Vegan Baking magazine which has been a wonderful source of dairy and egg free inspiration.

Now I didn’t manage to get a photo of the kids smearing it all over their happy faces as they gobbled it down but I can say, thanks to the kids and parents demolishing it, the cake disappeared quickly! It was a hit!

“Oh MY GOD. This is delicious.”

“Oh wow!”

“Oh can I please have the recipe, that is amazing!”

Now, don’t get me wrong, food allergies and sensitivities can be a bit of a birthday party nightmare however over the past few years I have had the chance to try out a host of new recipes and have thoroughly loved learning is how to create delicious food without gluten, dairy, eggs and more without losing any flavour. In fact I find they are often lighter and more enjoyable.

So, please enjoy this recipe, share widely and let me know how you go making it!

 

 

 

THE CAKE

Prep and Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes plus cooling time

Chilling: None

Difficulty: Easy

Cannot be frozen

Contains nuts (can be ommited if nut free is needed, giving a slightly different texture)

 

Ingredients

300g GF Plain Flour (I like Orgran’s Gluten Free Plain Flour and Whitewings Gluten Free Plain Flours)

5 tbspn organic cacao

generous pinch ground cinammon

1 tspn baking powder

1 tspn bicarbonate powder

150g golden castor sugar

50g ground almonds

125ml sunflower oil

350ml water*

1 tspn vanilla essence

2 Tbspn white wine vinegar

fresh berrries, optional

Variations

*The coffee is optional – but it can enhance the chocolate flavours with a hint of mocha. Substitute 50ml espresso or decaf espresso coffee and reduce water by 50ml. Make sure you use a good quality bean. YUM!

 

Method

1. Preheat the over to 180°C (160°C fan)/Gas 4. Oil and line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

2. Sift the flour, cacao, ground cinammon, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in the sugar* and ground almonds.

3. In a separate bowl mix the water, decaf or espresso coffee if using it, oil and vinegar. Gradually stir into the cacao mix. Beat well for a couple of minutes with a wooden spoon or hand whisk. Take care not to overbeat as the mixture will lose height when cooking. When mixed the cakee mixture is like a sticky thick but slowly runny batter.

4. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until well risen, firm to the touch and cooked through.  To test, pierce the middle of the cake with a metal skewer. If it comes out clean the cake is cooked and ready to remove from the oven.

5. When cooked through, remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely before turning out onto a wire rack.

 

*TIPS: If you prefer to use coconut sugar either dissolve in the hot espresso coffee before adding to the water or heat a small portion of water and dissolve the sugar in prior to adding to the mixture.  Note that using coconut sugar can make the cake mixture slighlty heavier like a mud cake, Also, have a play around with how much sugar you like. I found the original recipe far too sweet so cut back on the sugar substantially.

 

THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE – Dairy Free or Vegan

This ganache is easy, rich but still light, lovely and delicious!

INGREDIENTS

250g Dairy Free/Vegan Chocolate (I use Lindt 70% Cooking Chocolate for a dairy free option)

Coconut Cream

Pinch of Salt

 

METHOD

1. Chop your chocolate finely,  shave it with a large knife or blend to a powder in a poweful blender.

2. Pour the coconut cream in a pot over medium heat and allow to just simmer briefly, taking care not to allow the cream to boil.

3. Remove the pot from the heat.

4. Add the chocolate to the cream with a pinch of salt.

5. Allow to stand for 3 minutes without stirring.

6. Stir gently until smooth. This usually takes a couple of minutes. Don’t overwork the ganache – the mix should look glassy.

7. Pour or gently spoon over your cake to coat if covering the whole cake and you want a glassy finish.

8. If you want a non glassy finish, cool your ganache at room temperature then spread over the cake.

9. Have fun and decorate as you wish! I cooled the ganache just long enough that it was still sticky to hold onto the hundreds and thousands.

(c) Nurtured Mumma 2017

 

 

 

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