Every now and then you come across a brilliant recipe that you just know is going to be with you for a lifetime!  These recipies suit different categories like treats, dinners or soups.  And they just ‘fit’ with you.  The ingredients are ones you like to work with.  And more importantly, ones you always have them in your pantry!  This vegan chocolate cake recipe is one of those “love at first sight” recipes for me!

Whether you’re vegan or not, you’ll love this moist, chocolatey, indulgent cake.

(Oh – and it’s super simple!)

Vegan Chocolate Cake – Tea Party Girl Style

SET UP

As always: PREHEAT THE OVEN!  350 deg F or 175 dec C

Grease 2 x  9” / 23cm round cake tins to have frosting in the middle!

INGREDIENTS

Cake

3 cups almond flour

5 tblsp cacao powder (organic, ideally)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp sea salt

¼ cup coconut oil (again, organic if possible)

1 large, ripe avocado, blended until smooth

2 cups water

2 tblsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tblsp maple syrup

1 cup coconut sugar (or rapadura sugar).  You may like to increase this amount to 1 ½ cups if you like a sweeter cake.  I  like to minimise the use of sugars where possible, even in sweets.

Chocolate Frosting

2 ripe avocados, blended until smooth

1 ½  cups of icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar (you could also use coconut sugar).  Again increase this to 2 cups if you have a real sweet tooth.

6 tblsp cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Decorations

I used sunflower seeds, pepitas, a sprinkle of shredded coconut and chopped, dried apricot.  They added a nice, slightly crunchy texture to complement the smooth, moist mouthful of chocolate. Something bright and sweet (like the apricot) goes well, and I think strawberries would be wonderful!

METHOD

Using a large bowl, mix all of the dry cake ingredients together.

In a different bowl, mix all wet cake ingredients together.  If you have a Thermomix you can do this in that.

Combine the two and mix until the cake batter is lovely and smooth.

Pour the cake batter into the two tins, sharing equally.

Put into the preheated oven and cook for about 30mins.  Check to see if the cakes are nicely cooked through and cook a little longer (say, 5mins at a time) if you find the center still too moist.

Prepare the frosting while the cake is cooking and cooling.

Allow the cake to cool right down before frosting.  It’s quite a soft, crumbly cake, so treat it gently!

 

Why I Love This Cake

Avocados are so good for us.  They have heaps of the nutrients we need and are high in fiber.  These are all things we need in our diets every day.  Furthermore, avocados contain high amounts of the good fats and nutrients our bodies need.  If you are a vegan, or are considering trying more plant-based foods into your kitchen, avocados are a great egg and butter substitute.

In addition, Cacao is good for us.  Isn’t that great news?  Cacao – the base of chocolate is good for us!  Cacao contains things called flavonoids, which act as natural antioxidants and they are the things that protect the body from ageing and disease.

Since I try to live kindly, I love that there are no eggs or dairy in this cake, as well.

Most importantly of all – it’s delicious!  It’s indulgent and not ‘light and fluffy’, but if you’re going to have a treat, let’s have a healthy, nutrition packed treat that tastes amazing, I say!  Eat without guilt and enjoy!

Perfect for a Tea Party

With more and more people being attracted to plant-based and ‘kind’ living, vegan options are essential to have on the menu for any well-planned tea party.  I hope you’ll try this recipe and include it in your recipe book as one of your menu choices.