A big sweet kiss of blissful chocolate cake – Vegan style

Makes an 8-inch square tin for slicing or a single 9-inch round cake for gluttonizing.

Ingredients for the Cake
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1/2 cup cacao or 1/3 cup drinking chocolate/ cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup grated or broken chocolate
• 1 cup brewed coffee or chicory substitute
• 3/4 cup almond butter or 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large cooked beetroot (definitely not pickled variety)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons of stevia or brown sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Ingredients for the ganache topping:
• 300g good quality chocolate
• 300 ml double cream

Method cake:

• Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F / Gas Mark 5
• Make a cup of coffee/chicory
• Puree the cooked beetroot – use a little coffee to get a start
• Sift all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl
• Add coffee and other wet ingredients (butter/oil, honey and puree etc) except for vinegar
• Mix all to a smooth-ish batter – the grated/chipped chocolate will be lumpy for now
• Next add the vinegar and provide a quick thorough stir. Expect pale swirls where the vinegar reacts with the baking soda in the mix – this is the body/rise to your cake – all good
• Lastly pour the batter into baking tin and bake for 25 minutes
• Once cooked through, you can set aside to cool and then glaze with ganache or You can serve warm with ganache as sauce.

Method ganache:

• Preheat a pot of water – to a boil – for bain-marie
• Break up chocolate
• To a bain-marie/ bowl add the chocolate fragments to melt over hot water
• Once melted – fold in the cream.
• Stir until smooth off the heat.
• Once smooth and cooling – pipe or spoon the ganache over your cake.

‘Gan’ in Irish means without and this panache topped ganache topped cake may just leave one without ache. so for the bruised, the genuinely sore, the sick and the heartbroken – enjoy!

Life is not life without the total emotional spectrum of life. It’s all wonderful.

.. and celebration or commiseration is neither without Cake. X