Roquette Science: Vegan Sunshine Chocolate Cake

About 6 months ago, Steve and I decided that we would take the plunge and go completely vegan. I have been vegetarian for 12 years and Steve 6, so it seemed like the natural thing to do. I did a lot of research, read a lot of recipes and found out what we would need to stock our pantry with and we just stopped eating eggs and dairy. 

I love baking and I have always thought vegan baking was pretty cool so that's one of the things that excited me about going vegan. I have decided to sporadically put some vegan recipes up on the blog whenever I get the time to photograph them and when it is an especially interesting version of something. I have also decided to call this section of my blog 'Roquette Science'. Keep an eye out for a new button on the sidebar sometime this week.

Vegan Sunshine Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup soy milk

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup flour

3/4 cup of dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarb powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 heaped tablespoons of raw cacao

a dash of salt

1 cup of nut meal (any kind should be fine, I used hazlenut)

a dash of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1/4 cup of coconut oil

100 grams of good quality dark chocolate

grated zest of a large orange 

1 1/2 cups of water

1 cup of caster sugar

I orange, sliced thinly into rounds

1 tablespoon each of raw cacao and coconut oil

You will need a 9" cake tin

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius, grease and line cake tin and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk and the vinegar. Set aside for ten minutes. 

In a larger bowl, sift together the flour, bicarb and baking powder, cacao, salt, cinnamon and then add the nut meal and combine. 

Melt the oil and chocolate together and whisk quickly into the bowl with the milk and vinegar. Then add vanilla essence and orange zest. 

Combine wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Pour the cake batter into the tin and chuck in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted comes out mostly clean (it's okay to leave it a bit fudgy in the middle).

While the cake bakes, bring the water and sugar mixture to a boil in a large pot. Place the orange slices in so they are evenly covered and simmer on a medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the rinds are translucent, turn them every 10 minutes or so. Cover the pot and let simmer on low for 15 - 20 minutes and then remove the slices and place them on some baking paper. Pour the remaining syrup into a bowl and set aside. 

When the syrup has cooled a little, stir in a tablespoon each of oil and cacao and let it cool further.

After the cake has cooled and been taken out of the tin, place it on a plate and pour the syrup over it. Then arrange the candied orange slices on top and Voila! You have a beautiful cruelty free cake that looks impressive too!