Super Simple Vegan Chocolate Cake

With Easy Chocolate Buttercream

This is a handy recipe to have up your sleeve (stupid place to store recipes, if you ask me) because you can knock up a chocolate cake in about an hour, with ingredients you’ve probably already got in the kitchen. Even if you’ve run out of eggs!

Makes two 7 inch / 18cm cakes

INGREDIENTS.

Dry:

320g plain flour

130g soft dark brown

130g granulated  sugar

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

Wet:

60g cocoa

270g boiling water

140g mild olive or sunflower oil or whatever flavourless oil you prefer.

1tbsp  white wine / cider vinegar vinegar

1tbsp  vanilla

HOW TO:

• Weigh the cocoa into a large jug or medium bowl and weigh the boiling water over it. Whisk until there aren’t any lumps of cocoa then set aside.

• Add all the dry ingredients to another large mixing bowl and dry whisk them to evenly combine.

• Go back to the cocoa / water and add the oil, vinegar and vanilla and whisk briefly together.

• Pour the wet onto the dry and mix to a smooth batter with a balloon whisk. Stop as soon as all the dry has been incorporated.

• Divide the batter between 2 lined 7 inch / 18cm tins and bake in the middle of the oven at 165ºc for 25 to 26 minutes. A skewer will come out clean when the cakes are ready.

• Leave them in their tins for 5 to 10 minutes before turning them out to cool completely on a rack. I find it best to sit them on their flat bottom to avoid any potential cracking.

• Cover and fill with whatever you like, I recommend whippable vegan cream, cherry jam and my easy chocolate buttercream (recipe below).

Easy Chocolate Buttercream

INGREDIENTS:

200g salted butter - vegan or dairy or baking spread which is usually vegan

200g icing sugar

100g 70% dark chocolate

HOW TO:

• Melt the chocolate and set aside.

• Weigh the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add your butter of choice, make sure it’s soft enough that you can roughly mix it into the sugar by hand.

• When the the two are mixed enough so that electric beaters won’t throw the sugar into the air like a dust storm, beat for a minute until the icing is pale.

• The chocolate should be under 30ºc when you add it to the icing, if it’s hotter it risks melting the butter too much and turning it runny.

• Add the melted chocolate to the icing and beat it in, stopping as soon as it’s evenly combined.

• This amount will fill and cover a 2 layer 7 inch / 18cm cake. (With enough left over for spatula licking.)

Tat x