Vegan Chocolate Cake, Gluten-free as Always

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Yes! I finally found the time to update the blog! Today we’re getting into my vegan chocolate cake recipe, which is a dark chocolate cake with tofu and olive oil. If you’re a soy-free vegan, substitute 2 eggs’ worth of your favorite egg substitute for the tofu. Now before something comes up that requires my attention, let’s dive into this post…

…Wait, one more thing. I have switched to baking by weight with a kitchen scale. The top list of ingredients is by weight, including the wet ingredients (so 4 oz. of oil by weight, not by volume, because oil is less dense than water. A pint is a pound the world around ONLY in water-based liquids like water, vinegar, milk, etc.). Underneath that, though, I do have an approximated volumetric list of ingredients for people who like to make their lives more difficult.

Okay, yes, I’ve always heard that you should bake by weight. However, my trusty measuring cups were comfortable and familiar. I didn’t want to switch. Then one dark and stormy night, I decided to start selling my goods at local markets! *thunder crashes ominously in background* Lo and behold, I hit an immediate snag: goods sold to the public must be sold by weight and properly labeled. I not only had to know the weight of the product, but the weight of each ingredient so I could label them in order. I was terrified to try something new, it was so foreign! But as I added each ingredient to the bowl and zeroed out the scale I realized, “holy crap, this is so much easier! Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

It really is much easier to weigh ingredients than to try to measure them in cups. Have you ever struggled with measuring sifted flour without accidently compacting it? Is it still half a cup of peanut butter if there’s a tablespoon of it glued to the inside of the measuring cup? Does your recipe call for a half cup of steel cut oats, but all you have at home is rolled oats? All these problems are easily solved with a scale.

So now, without further ado, let’s get into the recipe itself.

Ingredients (by weight):

Dry-
6.8 oz. brown sugar
2 oz. white sugar
3 oz. 1-to-1 flour
3 oz. brown rice flour
1 oz. coconut flour
2 oz. dark or dutch process cocoa powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Wet-
4 oz. tofu
4 oz. applesauce
4 oz. olive oil
4 oz. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Measure out dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. Gradually add each ingredient into the bowl set on a zeroed-out scale, then zero out the scale after each addition. Use measuring spoons for ingredients with small quantities that can’t be measured by weight.
In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Spoon tofu and applesauce into the bowl until the scale reads “4 oz.” for each. Measure olive oil by weight, as it is a fat-based liquid, not water-based. Water can be measured by weight, or volume with a liquid measure. Use measuring spoons for small quantities like the vanilla extract.
Whisk together wet ingredients to break up any chunks of tofu. Pour over dry ingredients, then mix at medium-low speed until fully incorporated. Start at a low speed, then boost mixer to prevent dry ingredients from flying out.
Scoop into 8” round pan lined with parchment, smooth top with rubber spatula, and bake approximately 40 minutes at 325°. Cake is done when center no longer wobbles. Some cracks may form in top of cake, which will give cake “rustic” appeal.
Allow cake to cool before serving. Pairs well with fresh berries, whipped coconut cream, a dusting of powdered sugar, or cup of coffee.

So that’s the weight recipe. If you’ve never baked by weight before, definitely check out the video. Below are the ingredients by volume, prepared as always by spooning the ingredients into cups and leveling them off. Some rounding may have been used just to make measuring easier.

Ingredients (by volume):

Dry-
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/3 c. white sugar
½ c. 1-to-1 flour
½ c. + 2 tbsp. brown rice flour
¼ c. coconut flour
¾ c. dark or dutch process cocoa powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Wet-
½ c. tofu
½ c. applesauce
½ c. olive oil
½ c. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Oh, and in the video, I make smaller mini-cakes to demonstrate what I do for the markets where I sell. If you don’t need to make a giant vegan cake, I found my mini-cake paper baking cups at Walmart on the cake aisle in the party section. You can probably also find them online. Make sure to reduce your bake time and start checking around 20 minutes in since smaller cakes have a greater surface area-to-mass ratio than one large cake.

I hope you guys enjoy making these rich vegan chocolate cakes at home! Remember that if you’re a soy-free vegan, just swap the tofu for 2 eggs’ worth of your favorite egg substitute. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.

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Vegan Chocolate Cake, Gluten-free as Always

Jamie

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