I love cake. I LOVE cake. And by love, I mean that I can not be trusted alone with a cake. I once ate an entire chocolate cake in two days, and my sweet husband just raised his eyebrows in surprise at the empty box. Don’t get me wrong, I eat a very healthy diet on most occasions, I just can’t seem to control myself when cake is involved. So if you’re like me and love to have your cake and eat it too, then this recipe is for you. Just in time for Valentine’s day, this recipe serves up two miniature chocolate cakes that are perfect to fulfill your cake fix but don’t leave enough left over for you to binge. One cake will feed two, leaving one to pop in the freezer for later indulging. I cooked mine in deep souffle ramekins, but they’d be super cute in a shaped mold.
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup dairy-free cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease two small souffle ramekins (or your choice of mini cake ware. It should be able to hold about 1 cup of batter, plus room for rising).
Sift all of the dry ingredients into a bowl, and mix with a fork. Add the wet ingredients, and mix with fork until well incorporated.Pour the mixture into your ramekins, dividing in half and filling about half way. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until tester comes out center clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for ten minutes, then gently flip upside down and remove (you can also leave it in the ramekin if you’d like). Let cool completely before frosting. I used the following recipe for dairy free chocolate ganache:
3/4 cup dairy free semisweet chocolate chips
about 1/4 – 1/2 cup coconut milk
Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler with about half of the coconut milk. Slowly add coconut milk to the mixture once it starts to get close to the consistency that you want it. Be careful not to let it get too thin. Remove from heat, and let the mixture cool for a few minutes before you start frosting your cake.
I poked a few holes with a toothpick into the top of my cakes before I frosted it to let some of the ganache drip into the cake. YUM!!!
