Vegan Gluten-Free Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake

• Vegetarian
• Gluten free

• Canned Goods

  • 1/2 cup Applesauce, unsweetened

• Condiments

  • 5/8 cup Maple syrup filled at the rim, pure

• Baking & Spices

  • 2 1/2 (12 g teaspoons Baking powder
  • 1 Bar dark chocolate
  • 1 cup Chocolate chips, mini semi-sweet dairy-free
  • 1 1/4 cups Oat flour
  • 1/2 Scant tsp Sea salt, fine
  • 1 Pinch Sea salt, fine
  • 1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/8 cup Tapioca starch/flour
  • 1 1/8 tbsp Vanilla

• Dairy

  • 4 tbsp Coconut milk or homemade cashew milk, canned lite

• Liquids

  • 2 tbsp Water

Found on thevegan8.com

Description

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups (160 g) oat flour (use a scale! see NOTE, use certified gluten-free oats if necessary)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (45 g) tapioca starch/flour (this is the ONLY starch that works, do not sub)
• 2 1/2 (12 g) teaspoons baking powder
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup filled at the rim, room temperature (224 g, use a scale!)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature, or slightly warm (125 g)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (10 g)
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (68 g) i]warmed and melted liquid [/i][coconut butter (you can purchase this at Whole Foods, make sure the only ingredient is coconut. My favorite brand is Dastony. OR you can make your own by following these steps )
• 1/2 cup (95 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life brand)
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet dairy-free chocolate chips (180 g)
• 4 tablespoons canned “lite” coconut milk or homemade cashew milk (It will not be nut-free if you use cashew milk. You can use almond milk if you like, but again, will not be nut-free)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch fine sea salt
• 1 bar dark chocolate (I used 70%)
• NOTE: I make my own oat flour by processing quick cooking gluten-free oats in my vitamix or food processor into a fine flour. It is very important it is a fine flour before measuring and then weigh it for accurate results. If your flour is not fine, it will produce a more dense, gritty cake.

Directions

• As I always recommend, use a scale for accurate results. Through all of this testing with Cake In A Crate, one thing that was very clear, that weight measurements yield MUCH more accurate results, especially with gluten-free baking. If you must use cups, make sure to scoop the flour with your cup into your jar or bag, lightly pat down and then level off, so there are no gaps. This will make 1 single 8 inch layer cake or 12 cupcakes. If you want to make cupcakes, then I would suggest making these with my Truffle Frosting or Strawberry Buttercream Frosting instead. Double the recipe for a double layer cake. Youll need an 8 inch round cake pan. A 9 inch will yield too short of a cake, so dont even try it.
• I make my own oat flour by grinding gluten-free quick cooking oats into a flour. If you make your own, make sure it is very finely ground into a flour for accurate smooth cake results, you dont want it too oaty.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8 inch round cake pan with nonstick spray. Place a round piece of parchment paper on the bottom. This is for easy removal later.
• Add the oat flour, tapioca, baking powder and salt to a large bowl and whisk well to make sure everything is well combined.
• It is important to make sure your liquids are not cold, or it will cause the coconut butter to harden into bits and not mix smoothly throughout the batter. Coconut butter hardens immediately when cold hits it. For measuring the coconut butter, you can either measure out the 68 g while its thicke or melt some to a complete liquid first and then measure 68g, but the key here is that it is 68 g because thickened hard coconut butter and melted will be look like two different amounts at 68 g. If your coconut butter is thick or hard, you must gently heat it in the microwave for just a few seconds, stir around, until it is a complete liquid, a total oil consistency, BEFORE measuring. Have it melted before adding the liquids in the next step.
• Make a well at the bottom of the bowl and pour in the syrup, applesauce, vanilla, warm water and lastly, the melted coconut butter. Give the liquids a gentle stir just to ensure the flour gets wet, then immediately whip with an electric whisk or beater, starting very slow and then gradually increasing. You only need to mix it for about 15 seconds, just to ensure it’s a smooth batter and some air has been whipped into it. Do not overbeat the batter. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, just until combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (for cupcakes 15-20 mins until clean toothpick, mine were done at about 17 mins), until it’s a golden color on top and a toothpick comes out clean from the center and no wet batter remains. Let cool in the pan for at least 45 minutes before removing. It will firm up a ton while cooling, so do not be tempted to move it early. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and cool completely before icing, about an hour. If doing cupcakes, cool 30 mins, as they will still finish cooking as they cool.
• Place the cooling rack over a large plate before adding the ganache. This is necessary so that the excess ganache can drip through the cooling rack and keep your cake mess-free.
• For the ganache, add the chocolate chips and milk into a bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir the chocolate around and heat for 15-30 more seconds until it’s almost completely melted, but be careful to not overheat or the chocolate will be ruined. Stir for several seconds until all the chocolate is totally smooth and no more bits remain. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour all the ganache over the cooled cake, directly over the center. Using the back of a spoon, gently spread the chocolate out to the sides evenly, dragging the spoon gently back and forth, while guiding it along to drip down the sides. Rotate the cake to make sure you are guiding the chocolate evenly around to cover the sides. Take a knife and drag along the sides to smooth the edges. Do not stress about it being messy at the bottoms and sides, you will be cutting that off and covering any imperfections with curled chocolate...or fruit or whatever you like!
• Place in the fridge to firm the ganache for about 30 mins to an hour, so its not longer hot and wet and you can add the chocolate curls on top. If you let the ganache get too firm, then the chocolate curls will not adhere as well. Keep in mind this is NOT a frosting, but a very firm ganache, so it will not be wet. Using a metal spatula, carefully glide a thin metal spatula underneath the cake, gently releasing the hardened chocolate drippings from the bottom rack. Dont rush, its a bit tricky but once you slide it around underneath the cake, transfer it to a serving stand or plate. Hide any imperfections with curled chocolate/fruit. Do not add the cake back to the fridge or it will dry out the cake. Keep covered in a cake dome container or loosely secured with foil at room temperature until serving. Keep leftovers stored (at room temp) in an airtight container to keep it moist.
• To make the chocolate curls, simply place a bar of dark chocolate on a plate and place in the microwave for 15-30 seconds, just to soften it enough to make the curls. Overheating it will make the chocolate too soft to peel, let it firm up a bit if that happens. Use a peeler and drag it along the sides of the chocolate, making curls, and dropping them all over the finished (and cooled) ganache topping. If you want to decorate the sides, you can place some curls in your hand and press them up along the sides of the cake. Refer to video for instruction.