Chocolate & Heat Cake

So lets say, in theory, that a few containers of So Delicious Chocolate Coconut Milk fell into your bags at Vida Vegan Con last month and you were craving multiple layers of chocolate goodness? And that said milk made it into your cake?

Chocolate cake that bites you back? Oh yes. Sweet at first, then the fire snakes across your tongue. Maybe not for the unadventurous, but for the rest of us, this vegan-friendly cake will wow them over. Don’t tell them it is vegan, just serve it! Let the cake do the talking for you….that’s right, I am semi-quoting Fran Costigan on that principle!

And yes, go the whole way. Don’t leave the frosting off. The heat of the cake plays off the sweetness of the frosting.

Chocolate & Heat Cake

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• Pinch cayenne pepper (Dash, Smidgen, Pinch Measuring Spoons)
• 1 cup chocolate coconut milk
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°, oil a 9×5″ bread pan.

Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Whisk wet ingredients together, add to dry and whisk until just mixed.

Scrape into prepared pan, bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a butter knife comes out clean.

Let cool on a rack, loosen edges and gently flip out. Let cool fully before frosting.

Chocolate Coconut Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup extra virgin coconut oil (see notes)
• 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch fine sea salt
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 Tbsp chocolate coconut milk
• Dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Beat the coconut oil, sugar, cocoa powder and salt together with a hand mixer on low, add in vanilla extract and coconut milk, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until smooth and spreadable.

Spread on cooled cake as desired. Sprinkle chocolate chips across top of cake. Let frosting set up before cutting, if in a warmer setting, refrigerate cake for frosting to ‘harden’.

Note:

Coconut oil is stable until about 70°, above and it will start to melt and then melts to clear. If you live in a hotter area, refrigerate your coconut oil to keep firm (and opaque . As well, you will need to refrigerate your frosted cake to keep the frosting from melting.

I, however, live in a cooler area most days, so I don’t usually have to worry 😉

~Sarah