Chocolate Cake (and its vegan, honest!)

I've been baking again!


This has to be one of my great discoveries when making egg free and dairy free cakes for my youngest daughter.  This is so amazing I can't believe it!  I have made literally hundreds of chocolate cakes, and I could not get it right.  This is the one, definitely, and its based on the recipe by aliciak at instructables.

The cake is gooey and light and slightly like a brownie, with a truly amazing glaze which is shiny and sweet and moreish.  You have to lick the spoon from scraping the pan.  Yum!

The other great thing is you can throw it together in a matter of minutes.  I made this one tonight as I heated the beans and made toast for the kids for tea!

Can you see where my priorities lie? 

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp vegan margarine
2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract

sprinkles to decorate

Note: if you don't care to make it vegan, or don't have soy milk or margarine, you can use butter in place of the margarine, and whatever milk you prefer in place of the soy.

Preheat the oven to 180°C .

1. In a classic batter bowl, put the flour, sugar, and cocoa, measured out with an easy read measuring cup.

2. Add the bicarbonate of soda, and salt using an adjustable measuring spoon and mix together with a stainless whisk, making sure it is really blended together. 

3. Add the water, vanilla, oil, and vinegar, and again, mix well with the whisk so that it's really blended together. At this point it looks really watery - its okay because its supposed to!

4. Pour into a square baker, and scrape it all out with a mix n scraper, place in the oven and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Leave it in the baker to cool.

 

5. For the glaze, in a small non-stick saucepan, bring sugar, margarine, milk, and cocoa to a boil. Stir frequently so it doesn't burn, then reduce heat to a simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir for another 5 minutes. I use my silicone coated whisk to stir this.

6. Add vanilla, stir, and immediately pour onto cake. The glaze dries really quickly, so spread it immediately and add any sprinkles now. Let this cool for about half an hour, if you can wait that long!

I have to admit I eat it warm and gooey and generally it sticks to the baker, but comes out nicely with the mini serving spatula!  You could use baking parchment but that rather negates the loveliness of the baker!

Wondering what the vinegar is about?  It's for the chemical reaction which takes place between it and the bicarbonate of soda.  This makes the bubbles that make the cake rise. Science and baking in one.