Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe
Vegan and Gluten Free
If you like forest fruits and chocolate, then you’ll love this vegan forest fruit chocolate cake recipe. Combining these two great ingredients is something I’ve wanted to try for a while. There’s something very dark and earthy about it; a slight bitterness to the fruit that is deeply pleasant in combination with its indulgent chocolate surroundings. Harmonious, yet contrasting enough to arouse the pallet’s interest. This is a cake for the cooler seasons; something to cosy up to as the nights draw in and the air outside becomes crisp and damp.
What is it like?
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This vegan forest fruit chocolate cake is an indulgent dessert. Moist, rich and strongly reminiscent of the old favourite black forest gateau. Of the many chocolate recipes on this blog, this has to be one of the most indulgent, and also the most satisfying to make when you get it right.
Is it gluten free?
I have chosen to use buckwheat flour in this chocolate cake recipe to keep it gluten free. However, not everyone can tolerate buckwheat, so please feel free to use your favourite gluten-free flour. Doves Farm has a good self-raising one. The chia seeds and the baking powder will give you the rise you are looking for, just remember to soak the chia seeds for 10 minutes first.
The berry compote filling is similar to the one in my Summer Berry Compote, and also my poached pears with blueberry compote. These are good items to make extra of and keep in your fridge to use in vegan yoghurt.
This cake needs to be cooked a little longer than some others, due to its wet fruit content, and it is best to cover it so that the top doesn’t burn and dry out. For that I have used greaseproof paper and tin foil to act as a lid. This is done for the first hour, before removing for the last 15 or 20 minutes of cooking.
This recipe also appears in my cookbook Going Vegan.
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Vegan and Gluten-Free Forest Fruit Chocolate Cake Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes. Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling time.
Makes 1 cake
Ingredients:
For the cake mix:
1 tbsp chia seeds
4 tbsp cold water
400g vegan margarine, softened
400g unrefined caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
400g buckwheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
50g cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate, melted
250g frozen forest fruits, thawed and drained with as much moisture squeezed out as possible (reserve the liquid for the filling)
50ml almond milk
For the compote filling:
250g frozen forest fruits, thawed. Liquid reserved.
150g sugar
For the cake topping:
200g dark chocolate, melted
50g vegan margarine
150ml vegan cream
50g grated dark chocolate
1 tbsp icing sugar.
Method:
Preheat the oven the gas 4/180C/350F and grease two 9 inch, loose-bottomed cake tins. Line the bottom of the tins with greaseproof paper. Make a second circle of greaseproof paper for the top of each tin and do the same with tin foil. You should have 6 rounds in total, 4 greaseproof and 2 tin foil.
First make the cake mix. Put the chia seeds and the cold water together in a small bowl and leave for 10 minutes until it becomes a thick and gloopy mixture. Put the margarine and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and cream with an electric whisk until you have a light, fluffy mixture. Once this is done mix in the chia seeds and the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder together and then add to the wet cake mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Make sure your melted chocolate has cooled and then add it to the cake mixture along with the thawed fruit and almond milk. Mix thoroughly.
Divide the mixture between the two cake tins, then put the greaseproof paper lids onto each, followed by the tin foil lids. Cook in the bottom of the oven for 1 hour, then remove the lids and cook for another 15 minutes or so, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
While the cakes are cooking make your compote. Put the 250g of forest fruit, plus any draining liquid you have left over from thawing. Add the sugar and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes until it has a thick, jam-like consistency. Set aside to cool.
Once your cakes are cooked take them out of the oven and leave them in their tins for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool for about an hour.
When you are ready to assemble the cake make the topping. Remember that it will set quickly so only make it when you are ready to put it on the cake. In a bowl, mix the melted chocolate with the vegan margarine and leave to cool for a few minutes. Once it is cool to the touch, whisk in your cream. It will start to thicken immediately.
To assemble the cake, spread your compote onto the top of one cake and then place the other cake on top of that. Spoon the chocolate topping on top of the assembled cake and use a pallet knife to spread it over the top and sides. Unless you’re a dab hand this will be tricky, but try to get it as even as you can. Leave to set for 10 minutes and then sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top. Dust with icing sugar when you are ready to serve. You can add some frozen fruit for decoration here if you like as well.
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