Recipe: Gooey Chocolate Cake

If you haven’t read my last post then you won’t know that I went dairy-free for a week (for health reasons). So, when it came to eating or making anything sweet I was stuck for choice.

Then my mum came home with a reduced chocolate trifle from Tesco and all I could do was stare at it longingly. I knew then that the time had come for me to break out the baking tools and make myself my own sweet treat. Plus, the cake is vegan and can be changed to Gluten Free very easily.

Conversely to the photo above this was originally supposed to be a round cake so if you’d prefer that just change the choice of tin – be warned that the mixture is very runny so you need a springform or solid tin.

This recipe was based off of Nigella Lawson’s ‘Dark and Sumptuous Chocolate Cake’ available here.

Ingredients

Cake

225g of Plain Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of Bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (Original recipe suggests fine sea salt)
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Ground Coffee (Nigella suggests Espresso Powder)
75g Cocoa Powder
300g Dark Brown sugar
375ml of Hot water (kettle)
75g of coconut oil (90ml soft)
1/2 teaspoons of Cider Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
Bunch of Raspberries to decorate

Icing

226g of Dark Chocolate (around 70%)
Coconut Cream (1 box)
2 cups of Icing Sugar (alter this on how thick you want the icing)
2 teaspoons of Oat milk (or any other milk)

Method

1.Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180°C

2. Add all the dry ingredients besides the sugar into a bowl; Plain flour, Bicarbonate of Soda, Sea Salt, Coffee powder and Cocoa Powder.

3. Use a fork to mix the ingredients so they become fine, like below.

4. In another bowl you need to mix all the wet ingredients with the sugar; Dark Brown sugar, water, coconut oil and vinegar. Don’t stir until the coconut oil has melted.

5. Next stir this into the dry ingredients., it should look like below.

Tip: The mixture won’t be smooth but make sure you give it a good mix because a lot of the dry ingredients will stick to the bottom of the bowl.

6. Line your tray, a 20cm/8inch either springform tin or a solid tin, with baking paper. The mixture is quite runny so if it is not in the correct tin it may leak.

7. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 30-35 mins. Nigella advises checking at 30mins incase.

Tip: It is supposed to be a gooey cake so the stick should come out relatively clear but don’t worry if there are a few crumbs on it. Make sure to check right in the centre.

8. Once cooked leave it to cool for at least 30 mins. The cake will need to be properly rested before taking it out of the tin as it won’t be stable enough.

9. Now make the icing. Pour the coconut milk into a pan and heat up.

10. While it is heating up place your chocolate (roughly chopped up if yours is a bar) into a bowl. When the milk starts bubbling pour the milk over the chocolate.

11. Don’t stir the mixture, instead leave it for 5 minutes and then whisk it into a thick consistency.

Tip: If you prefer this you can leave the icing sugar out. However I added the icing sugar so the mix wouldn’t be so rich.

12. If, like me, you want to add icing sugar then this is the time to do it. I added roughly 2 cups but the best way to do it is until you get the required consistency. Add the oat milk (or normal milk if you don’t mind dairy) to loosen the mix up.

13. Cover the cake with icing using a palette knife if you have one, a piping bag, a spatula or even a knife dipped in hot water.

14. If you have done a square cake you can cut it into little mini cakes and top them with some raspberries.

Alternative toppings can also include white chocolate (if you wanted to add dairy), pistachios or any additional topping which might cut through the rich sponge.

This cake is honestly one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve had and can be perfect for a celebration or just a treat. Plus for any family member who struggles to find puddings without dairy or are vegan this is perfect; it is tasty no matter your requirements.

On a side-note don’t be put off by the coffee or coconut, you don’t taste them at all once its finished. They purely just add to the consistency and richness of the cake/icing.

I hope you enjoy it and make sure to tag me/send any photos if you decide to make it!

Much love,

Sophie x

Follow my blog with Bloglovin