From inthekitchenwithkath.com
(Cake adapted from the Cocoa “Crazy” Cake in The New American Diet, by Sonja L Connor, M.S., R.D. and William E. Connor, M.D.
Frosting adapted from Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting recipe on the Hershey’s Cocoa box.)
The cake is vegan. I used butter for the frosting, but you could swap the butter for a vegan butter substitute if you want to make the cake totally vegan. The parchment paper probably isn’t necessary in the pans, but I had some so I used it.
Makes a 6-inch layer cake (or you could make a one layer 9-inch cake or 12 cupcakes)
Coconut oil (or other oil) for greasing the pans
1½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut sugar (or white sugar)
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup cold water
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚.
2. Prepare two 6-inch cake pans. Grease the bottoms and sides with coconut oil. Cut two pieces of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pans. Put the paper in the bottom and then grease the paper.
3. Stir the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
4. If your coconut sugar has a coarse texture, press it through a fine mesh strainer into the bowl to give it a finer texture. Stir it into the other dry ingredients.
5. Pour the liquid ingredients into a bowl and stir well with a fork or whisk until well blended.
6. Pour the cake batter into the two prepared cake pans.
7. Bake the cake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pans on a cake rack for about 10 minutes. Then remove the cakes from the pans and finish cooling on wire racks.
9. When completely cool, frost with Coconut Sweetened Chocolate Frosting.
Coconut Sweetened Chocolate Frosting
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter (or a vegan substitute to make it vegan)
1/3 cup cocoa
1½ cups coconut sugar (or powdered sugar)
2½ tablespoons coconut milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1. Melt the butter in a pan and pour it into a mixing bowl.
2. Sift the cocoa through a strainer into the bowl and mix well with the butter.
3. Blend the coconut sugar in a blender until it is as fine and powdery as you can get it. (Obviously, this step is not necessary if you use powdered sugar.)
4. Alternately add the coconut sugar and the milk to the butter/cocoa mixture, mixing well after each addition. Add a bit more milk if needed. Mix in the vanilla.