Egg Free Chocolate Cake

While chatting with one of our Saturday swimming buddies the other day, she mentioned that her daughter, who was going home to do some baking, was allergic to eggs. This just happened to coincide with one of my students giving me a recipe for Vegan Chocolate Cake. I tried the recipe out on the lovely ladies of my Faculty. Without any milk, the cake lacked a little flavour compared with a conventional cake; undeterred, I tried it out again today - different colleagues this time - using milk instead of water. Still egg free, but no longer vegan, the flavour was better.

This is quite a heavy textured cake, best served with cream or yoghurt. I was running short of time prior to our meeting, so I just through the icing on the still warm cake.
If you are catering for vegans, just use water instead of milk and serve with a fruit puree: raspberry would be ideal. With so few ingredients, this cake is super quick to mix.

Egg Free Chocolate Cake

3 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 cups milk
1 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 180deg. C. Line a 20 x 30cm cake time with baking paper.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.









Mix the oil, vanilla and vinegar together.













Pour the oil mixture and milk into the dry ingredients and gently blend using a whisk to slowly incorporate the dry ingredients.

Place in the lined baking tin.













Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before turning out to finish cooling.








Once cold ice with chocolate icing.

I mixed 1 1/2 cup icing sugar with 1/2 cup cocoa, the juice of a lemon and about two tablespoons of water. 

No time to put it on a proper plate.
I whipped off to my meeting, cake and knife in one hand, icing in the other.

With the cake still warm the icing melted a bit. Oh well, never mind!

My afternoon Year 10 class enjoyed the leftovers. Another busy day done.