#chocolatepeppermintcake

}}VEGAN CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT FUDGE CAKE{{

No, vegans don’t only eat lettuce, and here’s proof!

My family and friends always question me why I’m vegan, and always wonder how I do it. Almost everyone of them if not all of them think I’m depriving myself, so i showed some of them as a vegan you don’t have to.

They all loved it!

Anyhow, I suppose you came here to see how to make it.

First things first, combine the almond milk with the vinegar and vanilla, and let this rest for approximately 5-10 minutes (or longer, just minimum)

When mixing your dry ingredients, make sure you sift the flour! Mine was a slight bit lumpy:/

Add in all the dry ingredients, including the sugar. 

You may want to sift your cocoa powder if it’s super lumpy like mine:

Add the coffee and melted vegan margarine to the almond milk mixture (If you don’t like coffee, don’t worry you won’t be able to taste it, although you can probably sub for more almond milk)

Pour the wet into the dry and make it all swirly wirly 

+ add the applesauce 

Looks gross, but it tastes delicious. 

Yes you can eat the batter, it’s vegan!

Cake pans are necessary, although I suppose you can just use a loaf pan, or a brownie pan, but it will be square or rectangular oppose to circular. 

Level them out until they’re relatively even.

Now these babies are ready to go into the oven!

*This is totally optional, but I strongly recommend this! Add in some vegan chocolate chips, yes VEGAN chocolate chips do exist, to your cake once its been cooking for about 5-10 minutes. this way they won’t sink to the bottom nor float on top.

YUMMMM! 

These smelt fabulous! 

You have no idea how tempted I was to steal one all for myself 

ICING:

This recipe is super simple and super delicious!

With 6 ingredients

Cocoa

Icing sugar

Vegan margarine

Almond milk

melted vegan chocolate

Peppermint extract

Mix it together just until it looks like a melted Nanaimo bar! 

Now it’s done!

Just kidding, continue mixing it with an ‘egg’ beater until it’s smooth, creamy and to your liking!

YUMMM...

Yes my cake may have cracked while I was picking it up, but shhh I covered it with icing and toppings and not one person noticed!

When you’re covering it, make sure you cover the entire thing, especially along the sides. 

Also cover the top really thick with icing, because this will eventually become the center layer of your cake

As carefully as you can place or slide the other half of the cake on top of the iced one and try as hard as you can to align them without breaking one.

I ended up having just the right amount of icing for this, although you may not, if this is the case make an extra quarter-half recipe of the icing 

spread the rest of the icing along the top of the cake using a little rubber spatula, until evenly spread around the cake.

For the chocolate sauce to pour on top, I combined maple syrup with cocoa powder and drizzled it along the top. \

Then I loaded it with chocolate chips! (more after the photo)

Okay, unless you can think of a better way to do this, hammering candy canes in a plastic bag that’s CLOSED is the prime way to crush them! Just don’t hammer them to hard, or you’ll break the bag, just as I possibly may have done.. 

Just sprinkle them on top of the cake and you are done your masterpiece! 

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups Almond Milk

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup strong coffee (or sub more almond milk)

2/3 cup melted coconut oil or vegan margarine 

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups + 2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar or sugar of choice

1 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Dash salt

chocolate chips (optional)

For the Frosting:

1 cup (16 Tbsp) vegan margarine

3 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup dairy-free chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/4 cup Almond Milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly spray 2 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray. Dust with cocoa powder, shake out the excess and set aside.

Mix the almond milk and vinegar in a LARGE mixing bowl, and let set 5-10 minutes to activate. Add the margarine, coffee, vanilla extract, and applesauce and mix until well combined.

Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a sifter and slowly sift over the wet ingredients while mixing with a hand-held mixer. If you don’t have a sifter, simply mix dry ingredients in another bowl and add to the wet mixture. Beat or just whisk it until it`s basically lump less. It should be creamy and pour able. Taste and adjust the sweetness to your liking, adding more sugar if you so desire.

Divide batter evenly between your 2 cake pans.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool down before jazzing it up with icing and toppings.

While cooling, make the icing by beating together all ingredients until light, creamy and delicious! add the powdered sugar in small amounts until you reach your desired consistency and sweetness. If it becomes too thick, add extra almond milk. If it's too thin, add more cocoa powder or more powdered sugar.

Once the cake is cooled, frost the cake with your freshly made peppermint icing! add a thick layer between the top and bottom layers (if doing a 2-layer cake). 

Serve and enjoy! (serves approx 12-14) 

Notes:

If serving the next night, add the topping and the chocolate sauce before serving. I learned yet another lesson.

If it`s not candy cane season, you can use vanilla, almond, orange or any flavour of extract for the icing. Also instead of candy canes you ca use glazed cherries, coconut, candied orange peel or basically anything you like!

Equipment used:

2 LARGE bowls, an ‘egg’ beater, 2 round cake pans, measuring cups/spoons, a fancy cake plate, mixing spoons, spatula, cutting board, hammer. 

Nutritional information:

Calories 365 Total Fat 19.5g 30% Saturated Fat 9.0g 45% Trans Fat 0.0g Cholesterol 0mg 0% Sodium 327mg 14% Potassium 420mg 12% Total Carbohydrates 49.4g 16% Dietary Fiber 4.5g 18% Sugars 28.7g Protein 4.5g Vitamin A   10% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 4% • Iron 17%