VEGAN CHOCOLATE WALNUT CAKE

I made this for my friend’s birthday. This was my first attempt at a vegan cake. I’m not going lie… it was AMAZING. I couldn’t believe how good this cake turned out. It was soft and dense and super chocolaty. My secret ingredient was crushed walnuts which gave the cake a nice crumb.

Then the final touch that makes this cake even more delicious and visually stunning is the apricot chocolate glaze it’s drenched in. You will not have leftovers with this cake.

Vegan Chocolate Walnut Cake

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Course Dessert

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

9" round cake pan

Ingredients

Cake

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking soda
¾ cup ground walnuts
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp instant espresso powder
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups dark brown sugar
1½ cups hot water
6 tbsp vegan butter such as Earth Balance
1½ tsp apple cider vinegar
8 Walnut Halves for garnish
cooking spray for greasing the pan

Chocolate Glaze

¼ cup cold water
5 tbsp apricot jam
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1½ tsp instant espresso powder
1½ tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
6 ounces 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids,½ finely chopped

Instructions

Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line the bottom of your cake pan with parchment paper and spray the sides with cooking spray.
Put the flour, walnuts, baking soda, salt, instant espresso powder, and unsweetened cocoa in a bowl and whish to mix.
In another bowl, mix together the brown sugar, water, vegan butter until the butter has melted.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Whisk in the apple cider vinegar. you will see it react with the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes. At 35 minutes check the cake by poking the centre with a knife. If it comes out clean it's done. If not, continue for the remaining 10 minutes.
When it's ready, the cake will be coming away from the edges of the pan and a cake tester will come out clean, apart from a few crumbs.
Once the cake is done, let it sit in its pan and cool completely.
Once completely cooled, run a knife around the cake and remove from the pan. Place on a plate or wire wrack to glaze.
Pour the glaze onto the centre of the cake and help it cover the cake with a offset spatula, pushing the glaze towards the edges.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the glaze set.
Top with walnut halves.

Chocolate Glaze

Put all of the glaze ingredients except the chopped chocolate into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Whisk to make sure everything’s dissolved.
Turn off the heat and quickly add the finely chopped chocolate and whisk to help the chocolate melt.
Once you have a thick glossy chocolate glaze, set aside to cool.
Before pouring onto the cake, give it a good whisk.