A simple, vegan chocolate cake with cashew frosting and berries. Such chocolately-goodness courtesy of FoodByMaria.

Ingredients

For the cake:

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 

1 1/4 cups almond milk, any vegan milk will work

2 cups brown sugar*

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 + 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2  tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

large pinch of salt

1/2 cup melted coconut oil**

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 cup boiling water

For the chocolate frosting

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in cold water for a least 1 hour then strain and rinse

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. if needed almond milk

1 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

Method

Lightly grease a 9-inch baking tin with vegan or non-vegan butter and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

In a small bowl, add apple cider vinegar and milk.  Stir to combine and set aside.  Do not worry about the curdling, this is meant to happen. 

In a large bowl, add brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk until well combined and there are no lumps. Add the coconut oil, vanilla and milk mixture. Using a hand mixer or whisk, begin whisking for around 1-2 minutes or until combined.  The mixture should be lumpy. Gently add in the boiling water and whisk for another 30 seconds.

Transfer mixture to the baking tin and bake for 32-35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let the cake cool completely in the baking tin.

For the frosting, simply add all your ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Place the frosting in the fridge for 10 minutes before frosting the cake.

Enjoy with fresh berries or some vanilla ice cream or both.