Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free Chocolate Cake

I recently made two cakes to share at a potluck where several folks had allergies or diet restrictions. The first cake was a banana ragi cake (which will be shared in a separate post) and this chocolate cake.

This cake is very versatile and ingredients can be swapped as provided in the ingredients list below to make it free of a specific allergen or all of them.

This cake is vegan, gluten free, nuts free and sugar free. It is delicious. The ragi and buckwheat with chocolate do give the cake a slightly earthy smell, however you can use wholewheat flour for a cake that only smells of chocolate, if you do not need it to be gluten free.

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/2 cup buckwheat flour or nachni satva (ragi malt) or ragi flour (finger millet) or wholewheat flour (if there is no need to be gluten free)
3/4 to 1 cup date paste- adjust based on sweetness of dates. (12 large mejdool dates, cooked with water in the microwave and puréed). If you do not have dates, then you can use 1 cup sugar.
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
1/3 cup olive oil (not extra virgin) or any oil that you use for cooking
1 cup cold water

Icing

1 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate if you want it to be dairy free)

6 tbsp water

Method

Cake

Butter a baking pan (8/9 inch round) and pre heat the oven to 350 F.

Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly. Whisk them or sieve if necessary. The baking soda must be well dispersed through.

Mix wet ingredients together and whisk them together till well mixed.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk together till completely mixed. You will see the baking soda starting to react with the vinegar.

Immediately pour into the baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 min. Use a toothpick or a knife to check if completely cooked. Pierce the cake in the center and if the toothpick/knife comes out clean, the cake is completely baked.

Icing

Mix the chocolate chips and water together and microwave for 30 seconds intervals (about 1-2 mins) till all the chocolate chips melt and then whisk it well till it looks shiny. Then pour it over your cake.

Tips

Work with the batter quickly. The baking soda and vinegar reaction makes the cake spongy. So put it in the over immediately after mixing the wet and dry ingredients. If you want the cake to be sweeter, then drizzle the cake with honey or maple syrup after it has been baked.

Easy Gluten Free, Vegan, Sugar Free Banana Bread

I recently made two cakes to share at a potluck where several folks had allergies or diet restrictions. This cake is vegan, gluten free, nuts free, and sugar free. It is possibly the easiest cake recipe that you have come across. It is delicious however and a great way to get kids to eat finger millet/ragi. You can substitute ragi with buckwheat or whole wheat flour. You can also use the batter to make banana pan cakes.

Ingredients

5 over ripe bananas (the riper the better - the skin should be starting to blacken)

1 banana cut into thin slices for garnishing (optional)
1 1/2 cup ragi flour/buckwheat flour
1/2 cup olive oil (not extra virgin) or use any other oil that you use for cooking
1/2 tsp cardamom powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Method

Butter a baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Put all the ingredients except the baking soda and powder and puree in a blender. 

Then to this puree add the baking powder and soda and pulse a few times till it is mixed well.

Pour this into the prepared pan and bake at 350 for about 50 min. Check with toothpick or knife if completely cooked. Pierce the center of the cake and if it is completely cooked, the toothpick or knife will come out clean.

Tips

The cake is not very sweet and you can add sugar or date puree if you want it sweeter. Taste the batter. Else, drizzle the cake with honey or maple syrup after it has been baked.