Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

225gplain flour

1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp table salt

1½ tsp instant coffee granules or powder

75g cocoa powder

300g soft dark brown sugar

375ml very hot water

90ml/3fl oz (or

75g solid coconut oil

1½ tsp cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

For the icing

75g vegan block margarine

50g soft dark brown sugar

1½ tbsp cocoa powder

150g  dark vegan chocolate, chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan Grease and line a round 20 inch cake tin. The mix is really quite wet – I recommend using a commercial full cake tin liner to prevent leaks id you are using a springform tin.

Make the icing first!

Put all the icing ingredients except the chopped chocolate into a heavy-based saucepan and add 4 tablespoons cold water. Bring to the boil, and make sure everything’s dissolved.

Turn off the heat. Add the finely chopped chocolate and stir briefly, then whisk until it is glossy. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally.

Now for the cake...

Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, instant coffee and cocoa powder in a large bowl and whisk lightly to mix.

In a small microwave safe bowl, mix together the sugar, water, coconut oil and vinegar. Microwave a few seconds on high until the coconut oil has melted, and stir the mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir until combined.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

Check the cake. It should be coming away from the edges, and just a few crumbs appear on a testing skewer.  Don’t overbake!

Put the cake, still in its tin, onto a wire rack When it’s completely cool, cool remove from the tin

Check the icing is cool enough, and nicely thickened.  Give it a good stir, and pour over the cake, pushing it to the edges with the back of a spoon., and decorate to your own taste!

Leave to stand for 30 minutes for the icing to set before slicing into the cake.