Classic Chocolate Cake, it also a classic vegan cake. Lots of vegan cakes use non dairy yoghurt instead of eggs or and apple puree, which I do in this. I have discovered the ingredients are somewhat flexible. If you find you have no yogurt you can use banana. Not enough apple puree, add more yoghurt and banana! The gluten free flour is easy to change about, though I recommend not going over a third of a cup of buckwheat as it can become sour.

I have been making various versions with various flavours for a while. The element which helped this chocolate cake to another level of yummy was the discovery of a method on theppk.com for Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf . In the past I would to add hot water at the end, not the middle. It also inspired me to add some cinnamon! 🙂

Classic Chocolate Cake- gluten free and gooey

• A quarter cup of soya yoghurt ( I used cherry flavour)
• A quarter cup of cold pressed light sunflower oil
• A third of a cup of cocoa
• A big dessertspoon cacao powder
• A cup of apple puree (unsweetened)
• A scant two thirds of a cup of rapadura / sucucant / coconut sugar*
• * and take out 3 dessertspoons as it will be a tad to sweet otherwise!
• A third of a cup of boiling water plus a a dessertspoon.
• One cup gluten free flour. I used the brand “Doves” (which is a blend tapioca,rice,maize & buckwheat)
• Half a cup of ground almonds
• One teaspoon of vanilla powder/ two pods/ a dessertspoon of extract
• A third of a teaspoon of cinnamon (you barely notice it so you can add more!)
• A quarter teaspoon of himalayan pink salt/ sea salt
• One teaspoon of g/f aluminium free baking powder
• Half a teaspoon of g/f aluminium free bread soda/ baking soda
• One teaspoon of cornstarch
• Half a cup/ 50g of chopped 72% vegan chocolate- I used one sweetened with xylitol
• Seven crumbled/ chopped walnuts or a few spoons of chopped cashews

Chocolate Icing/ Frosting

• Two dessertspoons of organic raw coconut oil
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder/ extract/ one pod
• Half a cup of vegan icing sugar
• One big or two scant dessertspoons cocoa powder
• A dessertspoon and a half of warm water

The Cake Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/ 355F. Grease a 20cm/ 7.5inch cake tin.

You will need two bowls. In the first bowl put in your apple puree, yoghurt, oil and sieve in the cocoa and cacao powders. Give a good stir. If you are using vanilla extract not powder add it to the wet not the dry.

In your second bowl add the flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder,soda, cornflour and salt.

Now the clever bit. Add your third of a cup of hot water to your apple-y cocoa bowl. Stir it through. Add in your sugar and mix it again, making sure there are no lumpy bits.

Gently fold in half your dry ingredients. Add a dessertspoon of hot water and carefully give a stir. Add the rest of your dry stuff. Really be nice folding it in, fold in your chopped chocolate and walnuts. Do not over mix. You do not want to knock the air out.

Pour into your prepared cake tin. Put it in the middle of your oven. I put mine slightly to the right as the left is a bit hotter!

It usually takes 25mins. I peeped a couple of times and it took 30mins this time. It should be coming away from the sides of the pan, a little domed and cracking a bit. If you poke it with a skewer it should come out clean.

Leave it to cool for ten minutes before turning it out to cool on a rack. I left mine to cool on the windowsill – one of the first signs of winter!

When completely cooled you can ice it.

The Icing Method

Mash your coconut oil to soften. Sieve your icing sugar and cocoa in add your vanilla. Mash and press the mixture until a crumbly texture. Add one spoon of warm water first and mix again. Use warm water as cold water would make the coconut oil go solid again. You may or may not need the other half spoon of water. You want it to be soft and spreadable but not runny.

I plop all mine in the middle of the cake and sweep it to the edges with the back of a spoon or knife. This is enough icing for me, as you can see by the picture it is not smothered in it. You can always increase it by a third if you want a thicker layer.

Hope you try it out.

Xs Aissa