This recipe was shared with us by our fabulous volunteer Jasmine. Growing up in Tanzania and with a solar-powered cooker, cakes were not always the easiest things to come up with. This recipe was her mum’s go to cake recipe and we thought we would have a go at making it at home. Harry and I were a bit unsure how the cake would rise without eggs or self-raising flour but we were amazed when we took it out of the oven to find a well-risen, light and fluffy chocolate cake!
We wanted to share it with you during January because not only is it delicious and very simple, it is also vegan, so perfect for anyone taking part in Veganuary!
Ingredients:
3 cups Plain Flour
1 3/4 cups Fairtrade Caster Sugar
2 teaspoons Bicabonate of Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
5 tablespoons Fairtrade Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup Sunflower/vegetable oil
2 cups Water
2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence
2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
You will also need an ungreased 9″ by 13″ baking pan.
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Measure out and mix all the dry ingredients together, we used a mixing bowl for this or you can do it straight in the un-greased baking tin. (If you do measure into a bowl make sure you pour all the dry ingredients into the tin before you add any liquid.)
Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking tin with the dry ingredients and mix with a fork. You will see little bubbles appearing which shows the chemical reaction between the bicarb and vinegar meaning the cake can rise with no egg! Once it is fully combined bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
We enjoyed the cake warm with a scoop of (vegan if you like) ice-cream, or you could add icing or just eat it as it is! The cake is not too rich which makes it perfect for adding sweet decorations.