Lockdown Baking : Super-Easy Vegan chocolate cake

Lots of you have been getting in touch to ask for cakes that don't require eggs as they are so hard to find in the shops at the moment. This cake is a firm favourite with us, even when eggs are plentiful, as it is such a moist and rich cake. It has a very special place in my heart as this is the cake sponge which we gave to Fortnum and Mason when we were asked to submit samples to them, and they loved it!

Yash requests this cake for his birthday every year and it is a great recipe to have in your repertoire. It is stronger and more robust than this previous chocolate cake recipe which makes it a better choice for a cake which you plan to decorate with sugarpaste or to stack as part of a tiered cake.

Ingredients (makes 2 x 6 inch diameter cake sponges)

270g plain flour

115g cocoa powder

3/4 tsp salt

1tsp bicarbonate

360g sugar

300ml hot water

130ml of sunflower oil

1.5 tsp of vinegar

1.5 tsp of vanilla extract

Method:

Start by preheating your oven to 175 degrees c (165 fan) and grease 2 round cake tins with butter or oil spray.

Place the flour, Cocoa, Bicarb, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix together.

Add the water slowly

Then add the oil, vinegar and vanilla.

Place your batter in the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

And you're done. I told you it was an easy cake to make!

Allow to cool completely. Sprinkle with icing sugar or decorate with the (non-vegan) chocolate buttercream recipe you can see on this blog here.

Enjoy! x