Happy Birthday to my beautiful angel, Arjuna! He turned 3 a couple of days ago and all he asked for was a pony ride and ...a chocolate cake !
So I really wanted to make a vegan (cause most of our family is vegan), gluten free chocolate cake and I needed to make it right ! I could not waste ingredients and/or time so I put a lot of energy into this recipe and, gladly, everyone loved it.
The actual birth-day was great. We woke up and opened his presents wrapped in some old newspapers by my husband -which I was really proud of because I am a big fan of recycling paper around the house). Arjuna received a new silver blue bike with pedals, play dough from his Italian nonno and nonna and a puzzle from his grandma.
After opening presents and eating a big breakfast, we all went to a local ranch nearby where Arjuna rode a friendly pony. I couldn't believe my eyes! He was riding this pony like he has been doing it for ages and it was his very first time.
" Oh Arjuna,
my little warrior
who wants to ride a horse with a sword and a shield
to save a princess in the castle
trapped my a dragon.
I love you and your adventurous personality!"
Anyway...I am not going to describe you the entire day because I want to get to the point of this blog post and share this delicious recipe with you. Are you ready?
INGREDIENTS
For the Chocolate Cake
1 and 1/2 cups (204gr) Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend
1 cup (200gr) Coconut Sugar
1/2 cup (42g) Cocoa Powder
1 and 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup (240ml) Cashew Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 tsp (10ml) Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup (120ml) Coconut oil (or sunflower oil)
Tbsp (15ml) Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Flax Egg (1tbsp of flax meal with 3 tbsp of hot water)
For the frosting
1 cup of vegan butter (earth balance butter)
3 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 180°C).
Grease round cake tins with coconut oil or non-stick spray.
Sift the gluten free flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.
Add the sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
Prepare the flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp ground flax seed meal with 3 Tbsp Hot Water and allowing to sit for a minute.
Pour in the cashew milk (or other non-dairy milk), vanilla extract, coconut oil(or sunflower oil), white vinegar and mix. Add the flax egg and mix in.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and place it into the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes check if they are ready by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean it’s ready. If not, put it back in for another 5 minutes and then check again.Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Prepare the chocolate frosting by adding the 3 ingredients into a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk.
Frost onto the cooled cake.If the frosting got too soft, place the cake in the fridge 20 min before serving. This cake will keep properly covered in a cake dish for a few days, but of course it’s best when fresh.