Vegan Chocolate Cake

This is one of the most amazing chocolate cakes I’ve ever eaten! First tried when my friend Rose made it for my birthday last year and last eaten for hers the following month, I decided that it was finally time to make it myself. I’ve also been asked to make a chocolate cake for someone in a week’s time so thought it would be a good idea to have a practise and it’s pretty lucky I did! I’m not sure of the origins of this recipe I just took it from Rose but I do know it was originally in cup measurements which is why all the quantities appear slightly odd.

For making the mixture this recipe is ridiculously simple. Whack it all in a big bowl and beat with an electric handmixer until smooth, job done. You then transfer it to the tins you wish to bake it in. I used two 9inch cake tins but I know Rose has used a square one before and that as worked fine also! Now. Here comes the part where I tried to follow the recipe but just couldn’t bring myself to do it!

The recipe says leave in the oven for 20minutes without opening it at all and then the cake is done. Rose did say to me it would still be moist so I was prepared for that however all but the edges of my cake were still liquid and I just couldn’t take it out like that! So I cooked it for 10 more minutes and then took it out but I must admit, it was still totally soft in the middle. Way beyond anyone’s definition of the word ‘moist’. I then left it to cool of about 10mins before I tried to take it out. ERROR! I basically put my hand through the cake and the liquid inside went everywhere.

After consulting with Rose, it transpired that you’re supposed to leave it in the tin to cool completely before removing the cake which I never ever do and she always always does! I left the other layer in the tin to cool and while it sunk slightly (again, apparently normal!) it did come out without creating a giant hole in the middle. To try and create something yummy out of my mistake I sandwiched the two cakes together with vegan buttercream and filled the hole on top with strawberries. It tastes delicious so while this time was far from perfect, I at least know where I went wrong!

Here is the recipe:

186g butter

450ml soya milk

3 tbsp golden syrup

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

374g self raising flour

74g cocoa powder

374g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and baseline your tins of choice

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until you have a smooth batter. Put the mixture in your tins and shake

Lick Your Spoon!

Bake in the oven for at least 20minutes, bake longer at your own discretion! But do not open the door during these first 20 minutes

LEAVE TO COOL IN TIN - very important!

Then ice and decorate how you want!

Strawberry Cupcakes

It’s been a little longer from my last post than usual as I was on holiday enjoying sunny Madrid with my brother but I’m back! And full of recipe inspiration so I have lots of exciting (I think) recipes to try out! My mum found this one for me in a magazine but it’s actually from Marian Keyes new book Saved by Cake. As it’s chocolate-free it’s perfect for my lent blog posts and full of yummy strawberries!

It’s an unusual recipe in the fact that it uses plain flour and bicarbonate of soda rather than the typical self raising flour for cake making so I made sure to beat the wet ingredients for a long time as I thought it would help get some air in it. It’s a very straightforward recipe and I have to say the hardest part was mashing the strawberries! I’m sure none of you would be silly enough to try and mash something in a round bottomed bowl, but don’t do it, it doesn’t work. I eventually switched to doing in a pasta dish and that was much more successful!

Don’t be put off by the fact that by the time you’ve mixed in the strawberries and the flour the mixture looks a little grey, and that when they come out of the oven they still look a little unusual. Marian Keyes tells you to decorate them pinkly so by the time you’ve finished you, and your friends and family, will be unable to resist and they do genuinely taste delicious.

I just used basic glacé icing following the instructions on the back of the box as I don’t have any piping equipment currently (another shock I know) and I don’t feel buttercream icing applied with the back of a spoon is a very good look. I used some left over strawberry to decorate but obviously there are hundreds and thousands (see what I did there) ways to decorate your finished cakes.

Here is Marian Keyes’ recipe:

200g strawberries, hulled and mashed

100g sunflower oil (I used vegetable oil)

90g caster sugar

2 eggs

180g plain flour

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Beat the oil, sugar and eggs together for a few minutes until the mix looks caramelly.

Add the strawberries, sieve in the flour and bicarbonate of soda into the wet mixture and fold.

Pour the batter into the cases and bake for about 20minutes.

Then Lick Your Spoon! (and decorate your cakes pinkly!)