I’ve been craving for chocolate cake, and I wanted to make one that wouldn’t make me feel as guilty as my normal recipe but still taste as great. My chocolate bundt cake recipe is soft and fluffy, with intense chocolate flavor, can be made in one bowl and to top it all off it’s low fat and vegan! Definitely best in class ????

If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, feel free to use large eggs and buttermilk and omit the vinegar. I used chickpea flour instead of eggs and oat milk instead of buttermilk. If you don’t have a bundt pan, you can bake this pan in a 23x33cm brownie pan too, just need to reduce baking time to 35 minutes! Is there anything not to love yet?!?!

The recipe below has notes and written as detailed as possible to help you get the best result. As usual, bundt cake baking best practices are recommended to prevent getting your cake stuck in the pan. Grease your pan well and dust with flour, or in this case cocoa powder because flour leaves white spots on the cake. If you’re not fussed about the white spots, please feel free to use flour as normal. Finally, use a plate to cover the pan for 10 minutes after removing it from the oven. Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely before starting the glaze. The glaze was made from Valrhona Amatika, which is a vegan chocolate. The glaze is the same glaze I used for my sachertorte recipe. I made a sugar syrup then poured that into the chocolate. I then mixed it until it cools and thickens slightly then drizzle on top of cake. Let it set slightly before finishing with the chocolate shavings. Then you’re ready to serve.

If you make this recipe, tag me using @mrs.fancypants.recipes on social media or use #mrsfancypantsrecipes or #mrsfancypantsbakes so I can see them! If you have other questions or comments, please feel free to use the comments section below. Now time to get your whisk out and give this recipe a try! I promise you won’t regret it. Happy baking!!!

 
Difficulty: Medium

Best Chocolate Cake

Makes 1 x 10-cup bundt

or

1 x 33x23cm brownie pan

Ingredients

    For the cake:
  • For the glaze and decoration

Instructions

0/8 Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 170C. Mix the milk with vinegar and let stand for 15 minutes. Grease bundt pan with oil and dust with cocoa powder. If not using a bundt, see notes.
  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bi-carb soda. Mix in salt and sugar. Make a well in the center.
  • Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and mix until smooth. Whisk in the boiling coffee. The batter will be runny, so don't worry.
  • Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 65 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cover with a plate. Leave for 10 minutes.
  • Remove plate and gently pull the sides of the cake away from the pan. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and it should slide out easily. Cool completely.
  • Make the glaze only when your cake has cooled. In a small sauce pan, mix together water and sugar. Bring to the boil, and keep boiling for 3 minutes. Take off from heat and let cool until the bubbling subsides.
  • Slowly pour the sugar syrup on the chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until glossy. Keep stirring until the mix thickens and cools slightly. If it becomes too thick add 1 teaspoon of hot water at a time until your desired consistency.
  • Drizzle the glaze on top of the cake and leave until the glaze stops dripping. Sprinkle with shaved chocolate and serve.

Notes

  1. If you have no dietary restrictions, you can use buttermilk and omit the vinegar.
  2. Any vinegar will do.
  3. 2 chickpea eggs is 2 tbsp chickpea flour mixed with 2 tbsp water. If you're not after a vegan recipe, you can use 2 large eggs instead.
  4. Any oil will do, just keep in mind that strong flavored oils will lend a hint of its flavor to the cake.
  5. If you're using a rectangular pan, simply grease the pan and line with baking paper. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Who doesn’t love a good chocolate cake? But I understand that sometimes, dietary restrictions prevent us from enjoying the well-loved classic chocolate sponge cake with chocolate filling, so here is a gluten-free & lactose-free option! My dairy-free, flourless chocolate cake is made from Valrhona Guanaja 70% but you can use any good quality baking chocolate like Callebaut 811 which is also lactose-free. Most baking dark chocolates are dairy-free, but if in doubt, just check the label. A good thing to note when checking ingredients, is that cocoa butter is a lactose-free product.

Another dairy-free ingredient is Nuttelex buttery, which I used in place of butter. Nuttelex is a vegan, lactose-free butter alternative here in Australia, but if you don’t have Nuttelex in your local store, you can use any dairy-free margarine or coconut oil. I prefer using coconut oil because it tastes great, but of course your cake will have a hint of coconut. So for this recipe, I decided to use Nuttelex buttery.

Image courtesy of Nuttelex.com. Click photo for more information.

I love this chocolate cake because it’s easy to whip up and to decorate. It’s great to take to pot lucks and also a nice grown-up birthday cake. I love serving this with raspberry or coconut sorbet, and when I have time, I make my own using Gelato Messina’s recipe, which I will share here when I find extra time. It’s a great recipe and works so well! If you can have dairy, feel free to pair this with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and it’s absolutely delicious too. There’s only one thing you could do to mess up this super easy cake, and that is too leave it in the oven for too long. The last thing you want is to dry this out, so make sure you set a timer and check on the cake 10 minutes before it’s meant to be done, especially if you’re oven runs hot. Cool down on the kitchen bench for 15 minutes then transfer to the fridge to set completely for at least an hour.

If you try this recipe, let me know how you went by leaving a comment below or tagging me on social media. I’m always excited to see your work and always keen to answer any questions.

Happy new year everyone and thank you for all your support last year, cheers to the future of Mrs.Fancypants!

 
Difficulty: Easy

Dairy-free Flourless Chocolate Cake

Makes 1 x 20cm cake

Ingredients

  • Toppings:

Instructions

0/5 Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  • Melt the chocolate and butter together and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool down. Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer or with a hand mixer, whip egg whites and sugar together until stiff peaks.
  • When the chocolate is cooled down to room temperature, add the egg yolks one by one, incorporating well before each addition. Sift the cocoa powder and mix until smooth.
  • Carefully fold in the meringue in 3 additions into the cake batter. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes. The cake should feel set but still soft in the centre. When you shake it, it should jiggle a little in the centre. Do not over bake or the cake will dry out.
  • Cool down on a rack for 15 minutes then move to the fridge for 1 hour to completely set. To serve, take out of the cake pan and peel off the baking paper. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top and decorate with berries and edible flowers, if using. Serve with a scoop of coconut or raspberry sorbet.

Notes

  • Nuttelex Buttery is actually margarine but I use this brand because the taste is not like other margarines. You can also opt for coconut oil and other dairy-free butter substitutes.
  • Pure cocoa powder (dutch processed or not) should be gluten-free
  • Make sure the 70% chocolate is dairy-free, I used Valrhona Guanaja 70% but there are plenty of good quality baking chocolate that are dairy-free too, like Ghirardelli & Callebaut.

I never really tried making my recipes gluten-free and dairy-free, but for some reason I woke up today and thought I should try making my brownie gluten-free & dairy-free. What I didn’t expect was it to be a straight substitution. I wanted to use almond meal & gluten-free flour but thought almond meal may be hard to find in some countries, plus it’s pretty expensive and brownies are not cheap to make as it is. Have you seen how much butter and chocolate is needed? So I stuck with GF flour. Then I used coconut oil, and it was the bomb, so so good! But then again, I wanted it to taste like my usual brownies, so I then tried Nuttelex Buttery which is a butter substitute, and it worked!!!

By this stage, I was over the moon, because I don’t know about you, but when I test recipes, they’re not usually a raging success on the first go, moreso two gos in a row! You can imagine my excitement, right? Probably not, but I’m telling you, it might have been the sugar rush from all the brownie testing, but I was extremely delighted.

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So, yes, if you love coconut, by all means, use coconut oil. A good thing to note, most good quality dark baking chocolate is dairy-free. Also, cocoa butter is a non-dairy product, as much as a lot of people mistake it to be so. I of course use my favorite Valrhona Guanaja 70% because the bitterness balances the sweetness of the batter. You can use any chocolate brand that you want, just check that it’s dairy-free. If you want it to be extra and don’t mind cost, use half almond meal and half GF flour. I have to mention that the GF version takes longer to bake, though. So start checking around 28 minutes instead of 25.

I then carried out my blind taste-test, and not one of my audience thought they were eating a GF/DF version of a brownie! Success!!! Please try this recipe and my gooey brownies let me know if you agree with me or not. I am positive this tastes like a regular brownie, and it’s backed by my own study. LOL. Have fun baking! Don’t forget to comment below and tag me on your baking photos!

 
Yields: 1 Serving Difficulty: Easy

Dairy-free & Gluten-free Brownies

Makes 18 slices

Ingredients

0/9 Ingredients

Instructions

0/5 Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 180C no fan or 160C with fan. Grease & line a 33 x 23 x 5 cm (9 x 13 x 2 in) with baking paper.
  • In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa and salt together. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk together sugars, nuttelex and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each time.
  • Fold in flour mixture until you only see a few flour streaks. Fold in 2/3 of the chocolate and half the nuts until everything is just combined. Do not overmix.
  • Pour into prepared pan. Tap on the bench once to spread the batter. Sprinkle the rest of chocolate and nuts on top. Bake on the middle shelf for 30 minutes for super gooey brownies. Check around 28 minutes just in case your oven is too hot and the brownies are done. The brownie should form a shiny crust on top and still feels soft in the centre.
  • If you like your brownies firmer and more set, add 5 minute increments until set. Remember the brownies will get firmer as they cool down. Cool down completely then cut with a hot, sharp knife into 18 squares. Wipe the knife clean after each stroke for sharp edges.

Notes

  • Nuttelex Buttery is actually margarine but I use this brand because the taste is not like other margarines. You can also opt for coconut oil and other butter substitutes.
  • Pure cocoa powder (dutch processed or not) should be gluten-free
  • Make sure the 70% chocolate is dairy-free, I used Valrhona Guanaja 70% but there are plenty of good quality baking chocolate that are dairy-free too, like Ghirardelli & Callebaut.