Easy, No-fail Chocolate Cake

My mother has a story.

"I made a no-fail sponge once," she says. "It did."

I didn't make this recipe up, but it's so simple and easy to make, and so easily vegan. As it's uncomplicated and relies on items generally found in the pantry, it's ideal for unexpected guests. It's not all that healthy, though it also doesn't have a very high fat content. A (male) friend taught me it – I think it was his grandmother's. I have slightly altered it to increase its awesome factor. There's no photo this week, sorry.

Note: If you don't have self-raising flour, use 1 cup plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder added.

Easy Chocolate Cake

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup organic fair-trade cocoa
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste (or essence)
about a cup of oat (or other non-dairy) milk
optional 1/2 tsp coconut oil, melted

Set oven to 180°C.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add coconut oil, if using, and milk slowly, while mixing, until the cake mix is quite sloppy, about the texture of pancake batter.
Pour into a greased loaf tin (I used more coconut oil for this), and bake for about 20–30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Serves six (reasonably generously).


Just to let real life intrude for a moment, I have moved house, and am finally settling down. I'm hoping to actually post more frequently now (as in, more than once a month). I just have to find some of my cooking notebooks as we unpack.