Chocolate Cake (vegan!)
We’re all beginning to understand that eating less meat and dairy is good for the environment-but that doesn’t mean we have to give up chocolate cake! Jonathan Berens provides this yummy recipe:
For the cake
• 340g self-raising white flour
• 1 level teaspoon baking powder
• 30g cocoa powder
• 200ml natural syrup of fruit extracts or agave syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 heaped teaspoons natural egg replacer powder (‘No Egg’ from Orgran)
• 200g margarine
For the icing
• 75g cocoa powder
• 75g icing sugar
• 75g margarine
To make the cake
• Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl and mix together.
• In another bowl, mix the natural egg replacer with 8 tablespoons of cold water. Add the syrup, vanilla extract and margarine and whisk.
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the first bowl in stages while stirring using dough hooks. Mix well so the batter just rolls off a spoon; if the batter is still too dry, add soya or rice milk as needed.
• Wipe a cake tin with a film of oil and coat it with flour. Pour the mixture into the tin and cook at 180˚C for 35–40 minutes until a knife through the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool slightly and carefully transfer to a raised wire tray.
To make the icing
• Mix ingredients with 1–2 tablespoons of boiling water.
• After letting the cake cool, coat the top and sides with the icing.