World Chocolate Day 7th July – World Chocolate Day is nothing short of a special tribute to mankind’s greatest culinary invention.
Chocolate can enhance and help to create the most luxurious desserts and can even be enjoyed and indulged on its own.
The history of chocolate goes back around 2,500 years. The Aztecs loved their newly discovered liquid chocolate to the extent that they believed the god of wisdom, Quetzalcoatl, literally bestowed it upon them. Cocoa seeds even acted as a form of currency.
To get you in the chocolate day spirit we are sharing this very special vegan chocolate cake recipe from British Pastry Chef Ravneet Gill for you and the family to enjoy.
Ravneet Gill’s Lazy Person’s Chocolate Cake Vegan Edition
Ingredients
Wet mix:
175ml oil
175g plant-based yoghurt/coconut yoghurt
170ml water
100ml Plenish Oat Milk
1 medium avocado/ 100g avocado
5g instant coffee
Pinch of salt
Dry mix:
125g caster sugar
125g light brown sugar
80g cocoa powder
230g plain flour
10g bicarbonate of soda
5g baking powder
Ganache:
300ml Plenish Oat Milk
80g malt extract
300g dark chocolate, Ravneet has used 72% original beans cru Virunga
250g plant-based ‘butter’, I used stork
Cake Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan/180 degrees oven
Grease 2 x 8-inch cake tins and line with parchment paper on the bottom, cut 2 extra circles of parchment paper and leave these aside.
Put all the wet ingredients into a blender and blitz well.
Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk to combine.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
Divide the mixture between the 2 lined cake tins and put a circle of parchment paper on top of each cake mix.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until when a skewer is inserted it comes out clean.
Leave to rest for 20 minutes before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Ganache & Finishing Method:
Warm the oat milk and malt extract together in a pan until steaming
Add the chocolate in and mix well.
Blend with the plant-based ‘butter’ and leave to sit for 1 hour.
Take one of the cakes and put it on a plate with a large lip, spoon some ganache on one side and put the other cake on top.
Pour ganache all over the top of the cake and put it in the fridge for 2 hours.
Use a small step palette knife to shape the ganache up the sides of the cake.
Put it on a clean plate and back in the fridge for another hour.
Poppy Watt