French Chocolate Cake
2 cups flour (unsifted all purpose works fine)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup nondairy milk (I use soy)
2/3 cup canola oil (1/2 cup for a lighter version)
2 teaspoons vanilla or 1 teaspoon orange or raspberry extract
1 cup orange juice (the fresher and pulpier, the better)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease, and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in milk, oil, and flavoring. Add orange juice and blend well.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto cake stand.
Do not serve for at least 3 hours or the next day! It is not nearly as good fresh from the oven. This cake is rich but not heavy and does not have that sugary ‘vegan baked good’ aftertaste. I call it French chocolate cake because it tastes very similar to a buche de Noel I made many years back with 6 eggs and 2 sticks of butter.
It needs no frosting, but you can melt a few chocolate chips with a little oil and pour it over the top, dust it with confectioners sugar, or melt a little raspberry jam on the top.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
A friend of mine and I made this cake for my boyfriend's 20th birthday, and OH MAN it was good. :D We topped the cake with melted raspberry perserves and powdered sugar. My boyfriend and I both agree it's the best cake we have ever had. It's not super rich and sugary like most vegan baked goods are, it's just perfect. I'd like to try it in one of those perty rose bundt pans next time.
This is a good recipe. I served it at a cast party this weekend and it went over ok with the meat eaters. Everyone agreed the texture was fabulous. Super moist and fluffy, but still substantial. This was the first vegan cake that I've made that actually came out of my silcone baking pan in-tact!
Some of the comments got were that it was a little floury, could use more sugar and more cocoa powder. I have to say that I basically agree with these comments especially about adding more cocoa. The orange overwhelemed the chocolatiness of the cake.
I made a few alterations to the recipe:
-no salt
-bottled OJ, no pulp
-Triple Sec, instead of Orange extract.
I actually just forgot to add the salt, but I don't think that hurt it any. Also I only gave it about 20 minutes of rest time out of the pan before i placed it in my cake saver for transport. Then it sat warm in the cake saver for about 3 1/2 hours until we cut it. So it practically steamed it self for 3 hours and I believe that contributed to it's super-moist quality.
I'll be making this again and posting pics and a my new results! 8)
This was my first attempt at vegan baking and I'm hooked. This cake is incredible. It really does taste better than any other chocolate cake I've had before. I took it to work and it was gone in a day.
I added raspberry flavoring to it but could not really taste it in the end. I can't taste any orange falvor either, and do agree it tastes better the next day. I still reccomend it though!!!
Thanks for the tip...I'll give it a try.
You know, I've never treid it without the OJ. I would try faux vegan 'buttermilk,' add about a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of soymilk. That way it's thick, slightly acidic and has more body than just plain soymilk.
My daughter is allergic to oranges. Any suggestions on a suitable sub for the o.j.? Thanks! :)
Oh, I can't take any credit for the rose cake- it's a pan:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/prod/sku4529236.jsp
Mine was cheaper than that, but I don't remember where I bought it- Macy's or Dillard's or some department store. I love it. It makes a fancy cake right when you pop it out of the pan, and you don't even need to frost it. If you make a lot of cakes, a shaped bundt pan is worth it, I think.
Don't be intimidated, it's a very easy cake. :)
hey stars! these cakes are absolutely gorgeous! i'm sure they taste great too, which is all the more intimidating :-\
so mother's day is coming up and i would like to make something special for mums. i was wondering if you could clue me in on your technique with the rosette cake? did you bake that in a sheet pan and roll it like a buch de noel or is that just some fancy handiwork on the top? if you baked it flat, what size pan did you use and did you adjust the cooking time?
Looks beautiful to me. Very gourmet! I thought it was professionally done when I first looked at it. 8)
Here's a half recipe, frosted with leftover cream cheese frosting from the Incredible Carrot Cake recipe with 2 tablespoons chocolate chips melted and mixed in. As you can see, not all the chips melted too well... :)
Pages