Eggless Chocolate Cake

I still remember when we were young and my older sister had baked a cake for the first time and iced it saying ‘Happy Holidays’. My mother would get us to try out new recipes, just so as we would learn, she knows and cooks so much, yet until last year she had never tried to make a cake. Being vegetarian, it is always essential to learn to make things without eggs and if you don’t have the correct cake recipe then it can be too dry and not at all spongy. Like with everything else in life ‘practice makes perfect’ and my younger sister has perfected the art of baking the perfect cake. Everyone who has had this cake will know that it is the BEST eggless chocolate cake ever. My younger sister has surpassed both me and my older sister in making the best cakes. This recipe has been adapted from the Tarla Dalal’s recipe and the slight changes that have been made make all the difference in making a soft and moist sponge. This is the basic recipe that my sister has used to make various cakes for all our birthdays. At a future date we will show you a collection of different ideas on decorating and presenting cakes that we have done. Give this recipe a go and let me know how you like it.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 20 mins                       Cooking time: 20 to 30 minutes                      Serves: 6

8 oz of self raising flour plus extra for dusting

2 tsp heaped baking powder

1 tsp heaped bicarbonate of soda powder

3 1/2 tbsp heaped coco powder

3 1/2 tbsp heaped drinking chocolate powder

1 tin (397g) condensed milk

250 g margarine or butter melted plus extra for greasing

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 can Sprite (normal lemon lime flavour) fizzy soft drink

For the icing

60g approx of dark chocolate ( we used a Lindt bar with 70% coco content)

250 g extra thick fresh cream ( we used channel island cream)

icing sugar for dusting

Method

1) Mix all the dry ingredients in a blender bowl with a spoon, it should all become light brown in colour, and then level it out in the bowl.

2) Pour the condensed milk, melted margarine and vanilla essence into the bowl and start blending at a slow speed. Gradually start pouring in the Sprite and increasing the speed of the blender. Once you have poured 1/4 of a can of sprite, stop the mixture, scrape the sides and check the consistency with a spatula. The mixture has to be smooth, even and loose enough to be poured like thick cream. Pour the remaining 1/4 or as much as is needed. If you are making cupcakes using this recipe then you need to keep the mixture a little thicker, so you will need less sprite.

3) Decide on the shape you want and grease and flour the tin. Pour roughly half the mixture into the tin and bake in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 6 or 200’C) for 10 to 12 mins, then turn the cake and increase the heat to gas 9 or 240’C for a further 10 mins. If you are making cup cakes then pour the remaining mixture into cup cake cases of your choice and bake. If you wish to make a sandwich sponge cake then wait until the first cake is done and then bake the remaining mixture in the same tin, or use two of the same size tins.

4) You will know the cake is ready when you can smell the sweet aroma, and when you take it out of the oven it comes away from the edges of the tin slightly. Check the middle of the cake by piercing a knife into the cake and if it comes out clean your cake is done. If there is a little flour sticking to it then, place it back in the oven for 8 to 10 mins, and then check again.

5) Wet a non fluffy clean cotton tea towel and place on a wire rack. Run a knife gently around the edges of the cake and invert on to the damp tea towel, cover and let it cool ready to be decorated. This will keep the cake moist.

6) For the icing melt the chocolate by placing a bowl over some boiling water and putting the chocolate in the bowl. Once melted and it is smooth and lump free, slowly fold it into the cream. Mix well and then spread on to the cake, roughly smooth out the icing on the cake. Use a sieve and dust some icing sugar on top of the cake, job done, now just enjoy it own its own, with ice cream or some coffee.