With six grandkids with dairy allergies I'm always looking for cake n muffin recipes.
Recipe by Nora Cook

I'm not saying it's a healthy choice, it's cake ,probably better than normal cake.

But we deserve to be spoilt sometimes and everything is good in moderation.

Chocolate Cake​

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, oatmilk, or rice milk
• 1 tablespoon  apple Cider vinegar
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 3/4 cups  white Sugar
• 3/4 cupcocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda/ Bi carb
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil OR melted coconut oil
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract/ essence
• 1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting​

• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegan butter, softened
• 4-5 cups icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, rice milk or oat milk

Instructions​

For the Chocolate Cake​

• Preheat oven to 175 C degrees 155 C fan-forced and grease two 9-inch cake pans. I also line them with baking paper ( cut rounds measuring bottom of pan) and lightly flour for easy removal of the cakes later.
• Measure 1 cup vegan milk and add the tablespoon of vinegar to it. Stir slightly and set aside to curdle.
• In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to combine.
• Now add the oil, applesauce, vanilla and milk/vinegar mixture. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer until well combined.
• Lower the speed and carefully pour in the boiling water, continuing to mix into the cake batter until combined. The batter will seem very runny at this point; that is how it should be, trust me!
• Divide the batter evenly between your cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. After 10 minutes of cooling in the pan, carefully remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely before frosting.

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting​

• Add the cocoa powder to a large bowl . Whisk well to remove any clumps.
• Add the softened vegan butter and mix with a hand mixer until creamed and well combined.
• Add half of the icing sugar and half of the vegan milk, and mix until combined. Add the rest of the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Mix starting on low, and turn to high. Mix until fluffy and combined.
• If the frosting seems too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon or two at a time. If the frosting seems too wet and doesn't hold it's shape, add more icing sugar until it thickens up.
• Frost the cake using an  spatula or just a butter knife. I use the flat icing utensil

Notes​

1. For cupcakes, fill patty cases half full and bake for 20-25 minutes. The whole recipe will yield approximately 24 cupcakes.
2. Double the recipe to make a 4 layer cake, or cut in half to make a 1 layer round cake.
3. Don't like a lot of frosting? Cut the frosting ingredients in half. The recipe as written makes enough for thick layers of frosting.
4. Nut allergy? You just substitute soy milk, rice milk or oat milk for the almond milk, any non-dairy milk will work here.
5. Applesauce can be purchased in all supermarkets, there are a number of brands . You can also substitute with mashed banana