← Nouns Cooking · Bakery

Ingredients

• 300 ml oat milk (or other plant milk)
• 1 tbsp Cider vinegar
• 280 g plain flour
• 250 g caster sugar
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp Salt
• 100 ml sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 120 ml hot water or hot coffee
• 150 g dairy-free dark chocolate, chopped
• 120 ml full-fat coconut milk

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F). Oil a 23 cm round springform tin (or a 20 cm square tin) and line the base with baking paper.
2. Stir the vinegar into the oat milk and leave for 5 min; it will thicken slightly, like buttermilk.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the oat milk mixture, oil and vanilla and whisk until smooth, then whisk in the hot water. The batter will be thin.
4. Pour into the tin straight away and bake for 30–35 min, until the top springs back and a skewer in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 min, then turn out onto a rack and leave until completely cold.
6. For the ganache, heat the coconut milk until steaming, pour it over the chocolate, leave for 2 min and stir until glossy. Cool for about 20 min until spreadable, then swirl over the top of the cake.

Tips

• Check the chocolate label: many dark chocolates contain milk fat.
• Get it into the oven quickly once the wet and dry are mixed; the vinegar and soda start working straight away.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food King Arthur Baking Wikibooks Cookbook