reading time: 3 min
Remember that gorgeous vegan upside down orange cake I made last year? This is her fabulous sister! I'm not to say who's more beautiful, but this one comes with her lover: chocolate!
Like strawberry and rhubarb, or papaya and passion fruit (or warm apple crisp and vanilla ice cream!), orange and chocolate make an absolute dream team. It's one of my favourite flavour combinations, and in cake form it's just the best.
This cake is so luscious and delicious, and it's also a nice hospitality gift for Christmas, don't you think? It got a lot of praise from my boyfriend's (non-vegan) family and was gone within half an hour! Now it's your turn to try it and let me know what you think :)
If you are still hesitating to make this yourself (which I doubt!), here are some reasons why this cake is amazing:
It's egg-free
dairy-free
wheat-free
moist
rich
fresh
fruity
zesty
chocolate-y
& very easy to make!
Oh and by the way, orange season is starting to begin where I live, so you could use local and seasonal oranges which are usually cheaper and more flavourful.
VEGAN ORANGE & CHOCOLATE CAKE
Preparation time: 1 h 15 min
Main ingredients: spelt flour, chocolate, sugar, non-dairy-milk, orange
difficulty level: easy
makes: 1 loaf cake
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, wheat-free, soy-free
Ingredients
orange cake:
300 g spelt flour (type 1050) *
120 g light sugar
1 packet (15 g) baking powder
pinch of salt
125 ml non-dairy milk
50 g unsweetened soy yogurt (you can use your own homemade soy yogurt)
125 g vegan margarine or neutral vegetable oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 organic medium-sized orange, zest and juice
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp soy flour + 2 tbsp water
70 g vegan semi-sweet or dark chocolate, finely chopped (I use a mix of 70 % and 85 % chocolate)
chocolate glaze:
130 g vegan semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I use 70 % chocolate with orange zest)
1 tbsp coconut oil or vegan margarine
optional garnish:
1 organic orange, cut in slices
almond flakes
* If you are confused about that flour type, check out this website which explains the difference between German flour types and US-American flour types.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C.
For the cake:
Lightly grease and flour a loaf cake pan. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk.
Next add the wet ingredients: non-dairy milk, soy yogurt, margarine or oil, lemon juice, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla essence. Using an electric whisk or a regular whisk, mix everything until a smooth batter forms.
In a small bowl, stir together water and soy flour to form a paste. Add to the cake batter. Mix once more until nicely combined.
Pour batter into the greased loaf tin. Place in the preheated oven at 180 °C / 350 °F on a lower rack and bake for about 45 minutes.
Do a toothpick test after 35 minutes – once it comes out clean, it's ready. If it's not, leave in for a few more minutes. Turn heat down to 170 °C, or cover with a piece of aluminium foil if the top of the cake starts to get too dark. The cake needs to be cooked through, but not dry.
Remove the cake pan from the oven and allow to cool.
For the glaze:
In a heatproof bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt the roughly chopped chocolate over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once most of the chocolate has melted, add the coconut oil or margarine, and stir. It should be a glossy and smooth mixture.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and allow the mixture to cool down for just a few minutes before pouring it over the cake. If you like, you can add some thin slices of organic orange and a sprinkle of almond flakes on top.
Allow the chocolate glaze to cool down completely and firm up before cutting the cake into slices, and serving it to your loved ones. Enjoy!
This cake is best eaten within 1 to 3 days.
Other easy-to-make cakes you might enjoy:
reading time: 4 min
“Once upon a time there was a quiet village in the countryside …”
Earlier this year I (re-)watched the movie Chocolat from 2000, which I had watched about 15 years ago or so as a child or young teen and didn't remember much about other than that it was about chocolate (yum!) and that Johnny Depp was in it, haha!
Upon watching it again, I fell in love with the warm, delightful, touching, sweet (literally), and emotionally deep movie, which really isn't a romantic comedy at its heart, in my opinion. Instead, the heart of the movie is the women in the village.
I love the complex characters, the emphasis on female friendships and empowerment, and the fact that the main character Vianne is a "strong" feminine character without sacrificing her femininity. And of course, the mouthwatering and decadent looking chocolate!
("strong" in quotation marks not because I think that Vianne isn't strong – she is –, but because I don't like the phrase "strong female characters" which usually refers to female characters that are athletic, fierce, ruthless, fearless, hard-boiled heroines etc., and lean very heavily on the masculine side of the spectrum with little to no femininity in sight, which in turn suggests that femininity isn't strong, which is of course bullsh*t – all of these traits I just listed make a female character "athletic, fierce, ruthless" etc. but not "strong"; isn't a very feminine woman going through pregnancy and leading with love instead of fear also "strong" without being emotionally inaccessible and kick-boxing her enemies? – anyway, I'm getting a little sidetracked here ...)
What I love most about the chocolate aspect of the film is that it introduces hot chocolate, or rather cacao, as an ancient Maya recipe, a brew that "held the power to unlock hidden yearnings and reveal destinies" (although the portrayal of Vianne's parents' love story is fairly problematic, as is the portrayal of Christianity / Catholics!).
Vianne essentially transforms the entire (steadfastly traditional) French village for the better with the "magic" of her chocolate, or rather cacao.
One of her first customers in her chocolaterie is her landlady Armande Voizin whom she offers a hot chocolate with chili pepper in it.
Armande: Chili pepper in hot chocolate?
Vianne: Mm-hm. It will give you a lift.
Armande: [takes a sip] It tastes like ... I don't know. [giggles]
Armande Voizin enjoying her cup of *spicy* hot chocolate. (source)
In this instance the hot chocolate is meant as a cure for the old landlady Armande who is "tired of life and of playing games".
This is very similar to drinking healing hot ceremonial cacao in a cacao ceremony which was used by the Aztec and Mayan as a sacred drink. It allows for energetic heart expansion, reconnection, and letting go of emotional blockages. And the chili pepper (that Vianne adds to her hot chocolate) is supposed to work as a spiritual accelerator in cacao ceremonies that activates the cacao and helps the body assimilate it faster.
That's why this recipe uses ceremonial cacao along with regular dark chocolate, and of course – chili pepper!
The flavour is very rich and aromatic, dark, but sweet.
VIANNE'S VEGAN CHILI HOT CHOCOLATE
Preparation time: 10 mins
Main ingredients: cacao, chocolate, non-dairy milk, chili
difficulty level: easy
makes: 1 large mug or 2 smaller cups
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free,
gluten-free, soy-free, yeast-free
Ingredients:
300 ml plant-based milk (such as barista oat milk or almond milk)
1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of ground chili or cayenne pepper, or as hot as you like it
a pinch of sea salt
25 g organic raw ceremonial grade cacao * (I use Forastero cacao from Bali)
40 g organic vegan dark chocolate (I use 70 %)
1-2 tsp natural sweetener, i.e. coconut blossom sugar, raw cane sugar, agave syrup or raw honey
(optional) vegan whipped cream
* This is not the same as regular cacao or even cocoa! Make sure it says
100% ceremonial grade cacao on the packaging. Ceremonial cacao can come
as a paste, powder or discs.
Instructions:
To a small saucepan, add the plant-based milk. Add cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon, as well as chili/cayenne, and sea salt. Heat up the spiced milk to just before a boil, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime chop the cacao and the dark chocolate into small chunks.
Once the milk is just too hot to the touch, but not boiling, remove from heat. Discard the cinnamon stick, if using.
Slowly stir the cacao and chocolate chunks into the warm milk, until fully melted. Add sweetening to taste.
If you like to have a more creamy hot chocolate, transfer to a heat-safe blender, or use an immersion blender to buzz until super-creamy and frothy.
Serve warm, and top off with a dollop of vegan whipped cream if you like. (Highly recommended! Even better when sprinkled with more chili flakes, cacao nibs, and some more sugar and cacao powder.)
Enjoy by yourself or in good company ♡
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