Chocolate Cake with Soy Whipped Cream and Sliced Strawberries
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
6 tablespoons water
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce (I like to mince my own apples. I use Honeycrisp - about 1 1/2 apples.)
¾ cup soy or almond milk
¼ cup organic canola or grapeseed oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vegan butter and 1 tablespoon flour to coat baking pan. This is just for making a cake. An alternative that I like to make are mini-cupcakes. When using the mini-liners there is no need for lining the papers with butter.
Garnish:
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 can soy whipped cream
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9-inch cake pan by buttering lightly and adding a light dusting of flour. (Or alternatively you can make 2 dozen mini-cupcakes.)
2. In a small bowl add the flax seed to 6 tablespoons water and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
3. In a medium sized bowl add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
4. In a large bowl add milk, oil, apple sauce, and vanilla. Mix well. Then add the flax seed mixture. Mix well.
5. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well with a low-speed mixer. Add the boiling water slowly, mixing as you go.
6. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan.
7. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick or fork inserted in the middle comes out clean. (If making mini-cupcakes, then bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick or fork can be inserted and come out clean.)
8. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 40 minutes, or set aside until cake is room temperature. For cupcakes you can let home cool for about 20 minutes.
9. Frost and then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
10. Slice when ready to eat.
11. Garnish with fresh cut strawberries, and soy whipped cream.
Frosting:
8 tablespoons vegan butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Pinch of salt