Recipe!
This is a little involved, since it’s scratch baking, but you don’t need to cream shortening, sift flour, beat eggs, or remember to take the butter out of the refrigerator hours before you want to bake, and it’s fairly flexible. It makes a rather dense, brownielike cake, not a light fluffy one, and it isn't too sweet.
Ingredients:
2/3 Cup wheat flour (white, whole wheat, or a mix), 1/3 Cup oat flour, barley flour, or almond meal. (You can use 1 Cup wheat flour if that’s all you have, although a mix gives a better texture.)
1/3 Cup cocoa powder (the regular kind, not Dutch Processed)
1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda.
1/2 cup sugar (can be brown, white, or a mixture. I’ve also make this with half sugar/half splenda.)
1/2 -2/3 cup liquid of your choice (Ideally, something with a fairly mild taste that is a bit thicker than milk. Applesauce, buttermilk, thin yogurt, canned lowfat coconut milk, nondairy milk substitutes, etc. I’ve had good results with half unsweetened applesauce and half soymilk.)
Vanilla extract (quantity is not critical - I just use two capfulls.)
1 egg, or vegan equivalent. (I normally use flaxseed and water goop. In a pinch you can use a blob of applesauce or a little more of the liquid of your choice.)
Optional: chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
Procedure:
* Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Grease and flour a one-layer cake pan.
* In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, the cocoa powder, the baking powder and soda, and the sugar. Stir well, and smoosh out any major lumps.
* Add the liquid, the vanilla, and the egg, and stir it all up until everything is well-combined into a very soft dough or very thick batter. It will be thicker than most standard recipe cake batters.
* At this point, you can stir in some chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you like.
* Put the mixture into the cake pan, and bake at 325 F for approximately 20 minutes, or until done.
This is good plain or with squirt whipped cream. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also make a chocolate topping by sprinkling a few chocolate chips on top of the cake when it’s fresh out of the oven, then putting it back in the oven (after you’ve turned it off) for a few seconds to melt the chips, then spreading the melted chocolate over the top of the cake with a spatula.
Ingredients:
2/3 Cup wheat flour (white, whole wheat, or a mix), 1/3 Cup oat flour, barley flour, or almond meal. (You can use 1 Cup wheat flour if that’s all you have, although a mix gives a better texture.)
1/3 Cup cocoa powder (the regular kind, not Dutch Processed)
1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda.
1/2 cup sugar (can be brown, white, or a mixture. I’ve also make this with half sugar/half splenda.)
1/2 -2/3 cup liquid of your choice (Ideally, something with a fairly mild taste that is a bit thicker than milk. Applesauce, buttermilk, thin yogurt, canned lowfat coconut milk, nondairy milk substitutes, etc. I’ve had good results with half unsweetened applesauce and half soymilk.)
Vanilla extract (quantity is not critical - I just use two capfulls.)
1 egg, or vegan equivalent. (I normally use flaxseed and water goop. In a pinch you can use a blob of applesauce or a little more of the liquid of your choice.)
Optional: chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
Procedure:
* Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Grease and flour a one-layer cake pan.
* In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, the cocoa powder, the baking powder and soda, and the sugar. Stir well, and smoosh out any major lumps.
* Add the liquid, the vanilla, and the egg, and stir it all up until everything is well-combined into a very soft dough or very thick batter. It will be thicker than most standard recipe cake batters.
* At this point, you can stir in some chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you like.
* Put the mixture into the cake pan, and bake at 325 F for approximately 20 minutes, or until done.
This is good plain or with squirt whipped cream. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also make a chocolate topping by sprinkling a few chocolate chips on top of the cake when it’s fresh out of the oven, then putting it back in the oven (after you’ve turned it off) for a few seconds to melt the chips, then spreading the melted chocolate over the top of the cake with a spatula.