No Way That's A Vegan Chocolate Cake

I never met a chocolate cake I didn't like. But alas, once I became vegan for health reasons, cakes and  cookies and muffins became naught but memories of my past life. Truth be told, I found some cake recipes in vegan cookbooks and gave them a try, but none were worth making twice, let alone blogging about.

And then a magazine arrived in my mailbox with a vegan chocolate cake recipe hidden in its pages. The photo seemed too good to be true. The cake was high, with a great crumb, and the fudgy frosting called to me from its pages. I set the magazine aside and ignored it for a week. But then curiosity got the best of me. I had to give the recipe a try. Boy, was I surprised.

To me, this is the winner of any vegan chocolate cake out there. In fact, it looks and tastes so much like a butter-laden, egg-heavy, cream-infused cake that it would fool anyone. It is moist and claims a delicate structure and fine crumb that makes every bite melt in the mouth good. I served large pieces with scoops of tofu ice cream and licked my bowl clean. So did my guests. I hope you'll give this recipe a try. I bet you'll like it.

WACKY CHOCOLATE CAKE

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 9x13 cake pan

Put all the dry ingredients into one bowl; the wet ingredients into another bowl

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

6 Tbs. cocoa powder

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups water

Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix well. Pour into the greased pan and bake until the cake is firm in the center, about 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool.

The frosting is as easy as the cake.

Use a double boiler or a pan set atop boiling water.

4 Tbs. oil

4 Tbs. water

6 Tbs. cocoa powder

2 cups powdered sugar

Place the oil and water into the top of the double boiler or bowl and heat to boiling. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar. Remove from the heat and using a whisk, beat the frosting until it is smooth. Poor over the cake and let it set.

Because this cake has no dairy, it will not keep as long as a standard cake, but I doubt you'll have to worry about it. My guess is it will be all gone by the first day.

This has long been my motto.