Having Your (Vegan) Cake and Eating it too + Chocolate Cake Recipe

Moving towards a plant based diet has been a yearned for but steadily slow process over the years for me. While cooking meals both as a chef and at home have most often centered around vegetables, apart from a few years of being a relatively un-healthy vegetarian in my late teens and early twenties  (more on that later), I had adopted more of a 'flexitarian' model of eating in the past. While I ate animal products here and there I have always been deeply in love with plants and always looked to plant based families with quiet envy. 

When I met my partner  I delighted in incorporating as many vegetables as possible into feasts and taking the focus away from the meat when we cooked together - it felt like a dream . Despite being a devoted animal lover he had been advised by his doctor to avoid eating too many vegetables and instead eat bland, low fibre, high animal protein foods (again, more on that later!). This was a whole new world for him and we loved it! So much so that we decided to challenge ourselves to 12 months of vegetarianism.  What stared as a temporary challenge, very quickly we both knew within our selves that this was becoming more and more a part of the way we wanted to live. It was a forever thing. We did not watch the traumatising Netflix documentaries, we did not get into heated discussions with our friends and family who mourned our dietary loss.We mourned it too. We just wanted to be kind. Kind to animals, kind to the environment and kind to ourselves.  

As most new vegetarians know cutting out meat meant we needed to replace it with something. More often than not, for us it was DESSERTS! When going to a restaurant in New Zealand vegetarian options mostly consist of option A: Fries and option B: Dessert and there are only so many fries one person can eat. Oh the cakes. Oh the ice cream. Oh the creme brûlées and cheese platters. It was like my birthday every day.  

This too did not take very long to change. 

The more we thought about it and the further along we got in our plant-based journey the more it felt right to choose to cross all animal products off our shopping list. 

This was hard both physically and emotionally and I found it especially difficult. I felt that cheese and cream and butter was almost part of my personality, they had held so much value in my life.
Dairy represented much more than just the act of consuming it. It wasn't necessarily the taste but the situations and occasions it was consumed in. Cream was so significant in my family that people were shocked if we did not turn up to a gathering with a big platter of cream puffs or had any less than 500ml of cream in the fridge at any given time. A glass of wine and plate of cheese at 5pm on Fridays has been an institution in my family for years - a way for the aunties and uncles, cousins and grandmas workmates and friends to come together, re-connect and all take stock of our busy weeks. Whether we are physically together or not we can count on the rest of our crew being somewhere, doing the same thing and thinking of each other.  Cheese is a big part this. It really did feel like I was turning my back on family traditions , values and the family culture we have created. I love my family and I love our customs so was not a step I took without intense thought.

So dessert, baking and sweets in their traditional form were out! Not a bad thing but when you have little people in your house it can be quite a challenge to  keep your home within your values whilst acknowledging you do not want anyone missing out on things that are a 'essential' part of childhood. 

But this is the fun part! The opportunity for creativity and innovation that comes with plant-based cooking can be very exciting and its one of my favourite parts of my work. There are disasters..many disasters and as a self confessed 'bit of this, bit of that' experimental chef it takes more tries to get something right than it used to. I've always thought it complete BS that baking is a science and you need to be precise and meticulous but with plant based baking it certainly helps to write measurements down if you want to replicate it the next time.

So here is my quick and extremely easy no-fail (yet!), no refined sugar, no strange ingredient, vegan school lunch box cake that keeps on the bench from Monday till Friday without drying out AND means no missing out for the little people. 

Enjoy 

P x
​

Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
​
(dairy free, egg free, refined sugar free, no hydrogenated fats, vegan + delicious) 

This cake is great for when you have forgotten you need one as it comes together in 10 minutes, cooks in 45 and can be served hot as a dessert or cooled and iced as a cake. It holds up well to decorations and layering so is perfect for birthday or celebration cakes and keeps for several days at room temperature while still staying moist. 

Ingredients

1+1/2 C white flour(or spelt)
1+1/3 C coconut sugar
1/2C cocoa 
1+1/4 tsp Baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 C melted coconut oil
1+1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1+1/2 C brewed coffee (or warm water) 

Method

Preheat oven to 180c and line the tin of your choice with a little coconut oil and baking paper(works well in a loaf tin as well as round).

In one bowl add flour, coconut sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt and whisk lightly just to break down any lumps (sift if you really want to)

in another bowl add coconut oil, cider vinegar and coffee (or water) and mix till well combined. 

Make a well in centre of dry ingredients and add liquid, stirring till just combined. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for 45-50 minutes testing at 45 to see if toothpick comes out clean. 

You can purposely under bake this cake for a more liquid centre and serve straight away with dairy-free cream or whipped coconut cream and berries.

OR

Chocolate icing v/1

Ice simply with 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil, 1 cup of icing sugar, 3 Tbsp cocoa and just enough water for icing consistency. 
Add sprinkles.

Chocolate icing v/2

For a refined sugar free version try this

1/2 C dark cocoa
1/2 cup room temperature coconut oil (or vegan butter)
1/2 C maple syrup
pinch salt

Place coconut oil or vegan butter in a bowl and beat with electric mixture for several minutes to get as much air into it as possible. When fluffy add cocoa, salt and syrup and beat again till reaches the desired consistency. This will be much softer than traditional icing but will be velvety and delicious.

Chocolate icing v/3

Like vegan ganache. OMG. 

200g dairy-free dark chocolate 
150ml full-fat coconut cream
2 tbsp golden syrup 
pinch sea salt

In a double boiler place chocolate chopped into small pieces and let melt slowly.

In another bowl place coconut cream and syrup and heat gently til syrup melted (do not boil).

Once chocolate is melted and coconut cream is warmed through add together and sit till glossy and combined. If it splits slightly put back on double boiler till it comes together. 

Refrigerate til cooled and slightly hardened and ice cake. Can be whipped with electric beaters at this stage if you like it fluffy. 

YUM!!!

P x