Chocolate Coffee Cake (dairy free)

Chocolate cake for me is a staple in every birthday and... on any other day actually.
This cake is light, easy to make and super tasty.

I made it dairy free since I prefer to avoid dairy and also my sweetheart suddenly found out he can not have dairy! So all my recipes from now on will be dairy free. Of course you can replace the ingredients and put butter and milk. It will be just as delish. You might have noticed that my recipes are relatively low on fat and sugar. I just think all the excess fat and sugar in commercial goods are totally unnecessary. My baked good are delicious and satisfying without being too fatty, heavy and sugary. Try it and see. By the way, if in some weird scenario you are "stuck" with left overs keep the cake in the fridge. To enjoy it, put in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, that will remelt the chocolate in the cake and give it back its moistness. YUM!


Wet:

100g bitter sweet chocolate, chopped. I used Enjoy Life mini chips

1/3 cup oil or 1 stick of butter

½ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup hot water mixed with 1 tbsp instant coffee (allow to cool)

Dry:

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ cup almond flour

½ cup cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

- Preheat oven to 350F. Oil and line a 9” round cake pan.

- Mix the hot water with the coffee and set aside to cool.

- Melt chocolate and oil/ butter in microwave or in double boiler. 

- Whip  eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add chocolate mixture.

- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture alternating with the coffee.

-  Pour into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. If testing with a toothpick there should be moist crumbs on it.

I came up with this glaze recipe so I can have a quick and easy to remember multi-purpose chocolate sauce. You can put it on cakes, ice cream, or even use it as fondu... as if I need to tell you what to do with chocolate sauce!

2,3,4,5 Chocolate Glaze:

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp cocoa powder 

4 tbsp water

5 tbsp Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients excepts for chocolate chips in a small pot and whisk until combined. Put on medium heat until it boils gently. Remove from heat and add the chips. Whisk until smooth. If there are chunks left put it back on low heat and constantly whisk until they melt. 

I have used this recipe to make cupcakes, mini cookie monster cupcakes and a "Like" cake. If you make them into cupcakes or mini cupcakes make sure to adjust the baking time. About 15-20 minutes for cupcakes and 12-15 for mini.

I used DAIRY cream cheese frosting (1 stick butter, 1 8oz package cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar), sugar store bought eyes and for the mouth I used GF "Oreos" or a piece of chocolate pellet I broke in half. To create the hair like texture I just used a butter knife.

"Like" cake with the M&M's coating.