Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake

 

Back after a hiatus! A lot has changed, but now I'm set in my vegan ways, I've finally started to love baking again :) 

This is the cake I made for my 30th birthday, the cake turned out really moist and the buttercream was to die for. I used Flora vegan butter, but any stick butter should work well.

Completely vegan, so dairy and egg-free. Also nut and soy-free for other allergy sufferers :) 

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 250ml oat milk
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 250g plain flour
• 350g caster sugar
• 65g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 110g vegetable oil
• 165g apple sauce
• 235g boiling water

For the buttercream:

• 50g cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 300g icing sugar
• 150g vegan butter, softened
• 3-4 tbsp oat milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4/350F. Grease and dust the base of two 20cm round cake tins with oil and flour. (Alternatively, grease the base and line with baking parchment).

2. Pour the oat milk into a bowl of a stand mixer (with the balloon whisk attachment). Add the vinegar. Stir and wait for 5 minutes.

3. Sift into the bowl the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Pour over the remaining cake ingredients and whisk until well combined (until you see no more flour/cocoa speckles).

4. Pour into the prepared cake tins and bake for around 40 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

5. Meanwhile, make the butter cream. Cut the butter into small chunks and place it in the bowl of a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment. Add the cinnamon, ginger, cocoa powder and half of the icing sugar. Pour over the milk and vanilla, and begin whisking. Once the icing sugar has been absorbed (it will be very loose at this stage), add the other half of the icing sugar and whisk for 5 minutes. If the buttercream is very stiff, add some more milk, if too loose, add a little more icing sugar. It will become very fluffy. Cover until ready to use.

6. Once the cake is fully cool, place one of the cakes onto your serving dish. If domed significantly, level the top of the cake. Cover with around a third of your buttercream. Top with the other cake layer.

7. Lightly spread a thin layer of buttercream around the top and sides of your cake using a palette knife if possible (if not, a butter knife will work, it will just be a bit messier). Once all of the cake has been lightly covered, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes to set slightly. This helps trap in the cake crumbs to give a cleaner result.

8. Spread another layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Leave 4-5 tablespoons of mixture to pipe on the top of the cake.

9. Fit a piping bag with the 1B flower tip (or the open star tip, anything that makes pretty spirals!). Pipe rosettes over the top of the cake as desired.

10. Enjoy!

This cake will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Vegan Peanut Caramel Chocolate Mousse Tart

This recipe really got a thumbs up this weekend - sweet oaty coconut biscuit base, topped with a thin layer of peanut butter caramel and finished with a thick layer of dairy-free chocolate mousse. All vegan, all delicious!

Makes 1 20cm tart

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 60g ground almonds
• 20g plain flour
• 30g desiccated coconut
• 40g oats
• 45g soft light brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 70g coconut oil
• 1/2 tbsp golden syrup

For the peanut butter caramel:

• 140g crunchy peanut butter (like Meridian)
• 95g golden syrup
• pinch of salt

For the chocolate mousse:

• 250ml coconut cream, fridge cold
• 20g cocoa powder
• 30ml maple syrup (or golden syrup)

Method:

1. Make the base. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4. Grease the base of a 20cm fluted cake tin (loose-bottomed ideally!), and dust lightly with flour.

2. Mix together the ground almonds, flour, coconut, oats, brown sugar, salt and baking powder.

3. Melt the coconut oil, then mix in the golden syrup. Pour over the dry ingredients and bring the mixture together until it starts to clump together. 

4. Pour into the prepared cake tin and gently press into the corners of the tin, trying to get the biscuit as smooth as possible. Using the back of a spoon to press on the biscuit helps to get a smooth base.

5. Bake for around 10 minutes, or until starting to golden. Leave to cool completely.

6. For the peanut butter caramel, simply beat together the peanut butter, golden syrup and salt. 

7. For the chocolate mousse, pour the coconut cream, cocoa and maple/golden syrup into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed for a few minutes until it has thickened and become fluffy.

8. Assemble the tart by spreading the peanut butter caramel onto the base of the tart. Cover with the mousse.

9. Place in the fridge for 3-4 hours, or until set.

10. Enjoy!

Vegan Salted Chocolate Caramel Nutty Tart

I attempted this tart out last week, whilst recovering from the flu, and my partner ate half of the tart in a day - I took this as a good sign and have since made the tart again for my office :) Again, it was a big hit, so here's the recipe.
The first time I baked the tart I used a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, the second a 23cm square cake tin - both worked equally well (but the square tart was easier to slice for work!)

Makes one 23cm tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 250g plain flour
• 110g icing sugar
• 110g soy margarine
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 160g coconut cream
• 200g light soft brown sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 200g hazelnuts
• 100g pecans
• 100g vegan dark chocolate (Asda dark chocolate chips work very well)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. To make the pastry, sift together the plain flour and icing sugar and add a pinch of salt. Rub the margarine into the flour/sugar until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

2. One tablespoon at a time, add cold water until the dough comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Grease a 23cm loose-bottomed tart or cake tin and line with baking parchment. Place a sheet of cling film on your surface, roughly 30cm long. Dust with a little flour, and then tip your dough onto the floured clingfilm.

4. If using a circular tin, roll the dough out until it is a rough 28cm circle. If using a square tin, roll the dough until it is a 28cm square. It should be 2-3cm thick.

5. Carefully transfer the pastry to the tin - this is easiest to do by picking up the clingfilm that is underneath the pastry, flipping this into the tin, and then removing the cling film. Patch up any holes with spare pastry and trim so that the sides are 1cm high.

6. Chill the pastry for 20 minutes.

7. Preheat your oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork, and then bake for 15 minutes or until the base has turned a light golden.

8. Whilst the pastry is baking, make the filling. Pour the coconut cream and brown sugar into a pan and place on a low heat. Bring to the boil and heat for around 5 minutes, or until the caramel has reduced and turned a deep brown.

9. Carefully pour in the salt, hazelnuts, pecans and dark chocolate, and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and all of the nuts are coated in the caramel. Add the vanilla and stir in.

10. Once the pastry is out of the oven, pour in the nutty caramel and bake for another 3 minutes. Leave to cool to room temperature, and then chill for an hour before slicing.

11. Enjoy!!