As promised earlier, here is a chocolate cake! This is a recipe that I finally have arrived at after innumerable failed attempts at baking an eggless chocolate cake. And by good, I don’t mean just “good”. I mean “you-cannot-tell-there-are-no-eggs” good!
I always imagine an eggless cake requires a ton of frosting to mask the dryness. Okay, I know there a plenty of eggless bakers who do an amazing job, but I am not one of them.
To be totally honest I hate baking without eggs. Eggs do such a wonderful job in baked goods, and no substitute can match up. Most of my attempts produced dry, dense, tasteless and horrifying results. It scared the hell out of me. Which is why I kept on trying adjusting, measuring and hoping that I can finally make one which is worth it. This one is worth it – and it is so ridiculously easy!
A few weeks back, I received a message from a very pretty young girl begging for me to take orders professionally for desserts. And when I replied, the recipe is there, you don’t have to pay me for something you already have the recipe for! She replied sombrely, she didn’t even know how to make lemonade, let alone bake a cake! Now, let me clarify, she just looks like a girl, she is in fact an awesome mother of a 3 year old, and is always impeccably dressed in the best outfits, beautiful smile with a picture perfect smile.
I do realise cooking and baking is very intimidating. However, I urge you all to give cooking a shot. Being in the kitchen is not very daunting, you just need a little bit of practice. Put on some music, call a friend over and make it fun. And I recommend starting with this simple, but sinful chocolate cake.
This cake requires dumping dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls, and then combining with simply a whisk! Pour into a tin, and bake.
As this was a birthday cake, I frosted with some strawberry cream frosting and gold pearls. But this cake is just as good with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Also shared is a vegan espresso glaze option!
Enjoy
Adapted from: Food52 // Margaret Fox
The Recipe
Serves Serves: 8 | Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 25 mins
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ cup coffee (cold)
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- Frosting: (NOT VEGAN)
- ½ cup soft butter
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp cream
- Vanilla pod
- 3-4 berries, mashed
- Gold pearl sprinkles
- Vegan espresso frosting option:
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 - 2 tbsp espresso
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 9” by 9” cake tin.
- Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk the oil, water, coffee, vanilla and vinegar together.
- Then add the dry ingredients and whisk to remove any lumps.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan. Gently tap the tin down on a hard surface to remove any air bubbles
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180°C.
- The top of the cake must spring back if gently pressed.
- Let cool completely on a rack before dusting icing sugar or frosting.
- Frosting:
- Whisk the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla, cream and the mashed up berries with it’s juices.
- Pour this frosting on top of the cake and let it set for half an hour before serving
- Vegan Frosting:
- Whisk all together until desired consistency
- Pour over the cake and let rest for 30 minutes before serving
