VEGAN DECADENT CHOCOLATE CAKE

I'm sharing the recipe for the most delicious, decadent, chocolatey, gooey, fudgey, chocolate cake and its vegan, so egg and dairy free! 
We had this cake, along with countless other delicious sweet treats at the Vegan Retreat and I will get around to sharing more of the recipes, as I try them out!

I can't pretend its healthy but hey we all need a treat every now and then and this cake fits the bill brilliantly and it is a celebration cake after all!

A perfect way to impress your family and friends with a fabulous home made cake, which I'm sure if you try it, will become your go to recipe for a celebration cake!


This recipe makes a large cake and it's very rich, and will keep for around 5 days in a covered tin, though I seriously doubt anyone would have the willpower to resist a second slice of this so be warned, it's seriously moreish!!


Ingredients 
1 large cake (10 to 12 slices)

225g white flour
2 tablespoons chickpea flour (gram flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
80g cocoa powder
300g dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
375ml hot water
75g non dairy spread or coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

Chocolate Icing
150g dark chocolate
75g coconut oil
50g light brown sugar
60 ml cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Line the bottom of a 20cm round springform loose bottomed cake tin with greaseproof paper. This is very important since the mix is quite wet, you don't want it to leak!
3. Sift the plain flour, bicarb of soda, salt, instant coffee and cocoa into a large bowl and mix together.
4. In a separate glass bowl, add the sugar, chickpea flour, hot water, non dairy spread, coconut oil and vinegar. My water wasn't quite hot enough to melt the spread so I just put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stirred until it melted.
5. Gradually stir the melted mixture into the dry ingredients, adding a little at a time, then pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. It's really important not to open the oven before the 45 minutes is up or your cake may sink!
6. While the cake is baking you can get on with the icing. 
7. Put all of the ingredients, except the chocolate into a glass bowl, over a pan of simmering water, stirring until it has all dissolved. Then turn off the heat, add the chocolate and stir until melted and the icing is nice and glossy.
8. Check your cake after 45 minutes by inserting a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean and the cake is coming away from the edges of the tin, then your cake is ready. This is a fudgey cake and you don't want to over bake it.
9. Transfer the tin to a wire rack and let it cool in the tin.
10. Give your icing a good stir and check its nice and thick but not clumpy. Pour it over the cooled cake and use a spatula to ease it over the edges.
11. Decorate with chopped nuts, orange zest, edible flowers or chocolate curls.
12. I used mini eggs since it's Easter. I am however aware that these are not vegan but the cake is, so choose your decorations accordingly!