"The BEST chocolate cake ever…that happens to be VEGAN. I kid you not!" is the title under which I found what has morphed into my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I found it here on instructables.com. It's great the way it is if you can have regular flour, but because we avoid gluten and soy I've worked it into something we think is a real treat.
You'll notice that this cake has no milk. It has no eggs. The title of the recipe even touts it as being vegan- which it is, IF you remember to use raw sugar.
This is the original ingredient list as it was posted:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1 cup warm water
1tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
Included in the post, the author has wonderful 5-step instructions and another recipe for a glaze that goes on top of the cake, but I've never made this. I like doing my own Iced Cake Vodka buttercream frosting (see below for recipe).
I have taken liberties with "The BEST chocolate cake ever…", so what I do is as follows. I have tried to write this in a way that is accessible to folks who may not be used to baking for people with dietary restrictions. If that's you, please don't miss some extra tips right here!
Liberty Chocolate Cake
Dry:
1 1/4 cups of King Arthur's All-Purpose gluten free flour mix
or other gluten free mix- whatever is the favorite at the time. If you're making your own mix for this, white or brown rice flour is great as a base, SMALL amount of tapioca flour (about 1/4 cup) included is also nice- gives it a springy texture, nutty flours like almond or cashew meal are good for texture and flavor as well.
scant 1/2 tsp xanthan gum- if you don't have this, it won't be the end of the world. It's just a binder that will hold everything together a bit better. For cupcakes especially, this is no big deal to leave out. You may even prefer to.
1 cup of sugar- make sure it's organic sugar if you're cooking for a strict vegan.
1/3 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder- my favorite is Hershey's Special Dark
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Wet:
1 cup So Delicious chocolate coconut milk warmed (stove or microwave is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup of olive oil or canola oil
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar OR hard cider work best if you have one or the other on hand, but white vinegar, apple juice, fermented apple juice, and club soda are also things I've used.
I keep it super simple. This is what I do for cupcakes, but if round layers or square pans are the order of the day, grease the pans with olive oil (or butter if you're not going dairy free) and it's just the same.
Prepare a muffin tin with muffin cups. Set aside.
Whisk the dry stuff together in a big bowl.
In a measuring cup, heat the coconut milk in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Put the olive/canola oil into the measuring cup also (this will bring you to the 1 1/3 line on the measuring cup).
Then top the wet mixture off with the vanilla and vinegar teaspoons.
Stir the wet into the dry- step lively here because xanthan gum can thicken a mixture pretty quickly.
When everything is incorporated and uniform, spoon it into the muffin cups. I like big cupcakes so I fill my cups a little more than 2/3.
Put into the oven set at 350 degrees. I don't usually pre-heat my oven because it saves energy not to. Plus, this cake doesn't have to be cooked all the way through for food safety or for deliciousness. (In fact, a little underdone might be the way to go if you like fudgy cake.)
Check them at about 10 minutes. They're ready when you say they are, but they're fully cooked when the tops spring back from a light touch of your index finger.
A note for them that needs it:
If you are nervous about reaching into the oven with your bare hand (and you should be, a little bit), you won't burn yourself if you just give the cake a gingerly little tap. Don't touch the pan, inside of the oven, or oven racks without oven mitts though.
Iced Cake Vodka Frosting
1 stick of butter
4 cups powdered sugar (sifting optional- the sugar might be lumpy if you don't but the high speed on a mixer will usually take care of the clumps so don't sweat it if you don't have time or a sifter)
1/3 cup of Smirnoff's Iced Cake Vodka
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream that butter. Sift and dump the sugar. Mix til combined. Put in the vodka and vanilla. Mix again until uniform. Lick beaters- DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.
Put on fruit, cake, or the end of your clean finger.
Variations of this include:
*using 1/2 cup palm shortening and 1/2 cup coconut cream in place of the butter if you want to go dairy free- when I do this I also add cocoa powder because without the fat from the butter to balance out the sweetness, you lose a little flavor. The chocolate taste is generally a crowd pleaser and no one will be the wiser that your dessert has no dairy!
*putting cocoa powder in for chocolate icing (also adding melted Enjoy Life chocolate chips would be great!)
*other flavored liquors in place of the vodka
*food coloring for theme parties just add a drop or two at a time until it's the right color- keeping in mind that for very vibrant colors, you might begin to taste the coloring. Ew.
*for G-rated kid gatherings, you can replace the vodka with milk or coconut milk
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