~ Level: hard ~ Time: 1-1.5 hours ~ Budget: medium to high.
I made this cake for the first time for one of my best friend's birthday. She couldn't have milk-products at the time, but she's a huge chocolate lover. So it was quite the challenge to find something as gooey and fudgy as a chocolate mud cake. I found a vegan recipe, modified it using whatever ingredients I had at home and it turned into this ultimate dream of a cake. Delicious AND beautiful.
Luxurious Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
For the frosting:
2 cans of coconut milk
500g dark chocolate, minimum 70%
60g coconut oil
240g icing sugar
For the cake:
400g whole wheat flour
180g cocoa powder
200g white sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1½ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
700 ml oat milk
240g coconut oil
380g apple sauce
350 ml maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Berries for topping
Method
Pour the coconut milk in a big bowl and heat up for 2 minutes in the microwave. Add the chocolate to the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until completely melted and combined. Then add the coconut oil and the icing sugar. Refrigerate OVERNIGHT !!!
The next day, start by preheating the oven to 180°C, and buttering three round cake pans of 20 cm / 8 inch diameter.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients; the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In an even larger bowl, combine all the wet ingredients; the oat milk, coconut oil, apple sauce, maple syrup, vinegar and vanilla extract. Then slowly add the dry ingredient mixture and fold them in with a spatula or whisk.
Divide the batter between the three cake pans and bake for 40 mins. A bit shorter or longer is possible, depending on your oven. A toothpick needs to come out almost clean, a little bit wet is OK. If you have a small oven or not enough racks you can put each cake pan in separately, just know that it will cost you more time.
After the three cakes have cooled down, you can start layering. Take out the frosting from the fridge and mix it up well. Place the first cake layer on the bottom, then spread a thick layer of frosting on top. This can be done with a piping bag and/or an icing spatula. Place the next cake layer on top, and spread out another layer of frosting. Do the same for the last layer, and also cover the sides with frosting.
Garnish the top of the cake with mixed berries.
Wine pairing
An amazing match for this cake is Brachetto d'Aqui. It's a semi-sparkling (frizzante) sweet red wine from Italy, with a light body and a floral character with notes of candied red fruits. It will be a great fit in sweetness, and the tiny bubbles will lift up the heavy cream of the cake. In this way, the wine will not overpower this delicious, luxurious chocolate cake.
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