Lamingtons

Here is a traditional Aussie treat taken from the Animals Australia website (a great website go and check it out!)

* Please note all measurements are the Australian measurements unlike most of the recipes I post here. This means for example that a tablespoon is 4 teaspoons (instead of 3 tsps for the American system) and there are slight differences between up sizes but I usually don't worry too much about that.

I froze my cake for only about 3 hours and it was good to go.

YOU WILL NEED:

Cake

• 2 cups soy milk
• 2 tsp cider vinegar
• 3 cups plain flour
• 50g cornflour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 tsp vanilla essence

Icing

• 1 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 6 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Nuttelex (or other dairy-free margarine)
• 1 1/2 tablespoon soy milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• hot water

DIRECTIONS:

• Measure the soy milk into a bowl and whisk in the cider vinegar gently with a balloon whisk or a fork. Then set to one side to curdle.
• Sieve the flour, cornflour, baking powder and bicarb soda into a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix.
• Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the thickened soya milk and whisk to combine.
• Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and stir gently with a wooden spoon until no lumps remain.
• Lightly grease two baking trays, or cake tins. (You can also use muffin trays). Divide the cake mixture between these two tins/trays and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30-45 minutes. Check the cake after 30 minutes. The cakes are done when they are risen and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cakes to cool for 15 minutes in their tins before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• When the cakes are completely cool place them in a freezer bag or sealed container and freeze over night.
• Get the cakes out of the freezer and cut them to an appropriate size and shape.
• For the icing, put the icing sugar and cocoa in a bowl. Add the soy milk, vanilla and Nuttelex and one teaspoon of boiling water. Stir well. Keep adding hot water to melt the Nuttelex and give a smooth chocolate paste/icing that is runny enough to drip slowly off a covered cake. Put bowl into a larger bowl 1/3 full of boiling water to keep it soft.
• Fill another bowl with desiccated coconut for coating.
• Dip each cake into the chocolate icing, using 2 forks to turn it. Let the excess drip off and then place it in the coconut bowl. Use 2 more forks to coat the cake in coconut. Allow to set on a wire rack and repeat with the remaining cakes.

Mocha Almond Fudge Cake

This delicious cake didn't last long in my household! A choclety fudge cake base is complimented by a creamy, thick, rich coffee flavoured icing, and made extra special by the addition of roasted almonds. Definiently worth making again!

The recipe makes 2 9 inch-round cakes and is designed to be layered with filling on the top and middle, however i halved the recipe and made just one cake, and iced the sides as well as the top.

The recipe is from Chloe's Kitchen - Chloe Coscarelli

Chocolate Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups cold coffee or water

1 cup canola oil

1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar

1 T pure vanilla extract

Mocha Frosting

1 cup nonhydrogenated begetable shortening

3 cups powdered sugar

1 t pure vanilla extract

3 T instant expresso powder dissolved in 1/4 cup water (i used one tablespoon (australian) of normal coffee for half the recipe and found it plenty strong enough)

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup canned coconut milk, mixed well before measuring

2 T canola oil

To make the chocolate cake:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degees. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whist together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a seperate bowl whisk together coffee, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined, do not overmix.

4. Fill each prepared cake pan evenly with batter. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out almost clean, with a few crumbs clinging to it. Rotate the cakes halfway through the baking time. Cool the cakes compleately before assembly. (Note: i had to cook the cake for about 40 minutes)

To make mocha frosting:

1. using a handheld or stand mixter, beat the shortening until smooth. With the mixer running on low, add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat to incorporate. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso liquid at a time as needed until it reaches desired frosting consistency and espresso flavour. Beat on high for 2 more minutes until light and fluffy.

to make the chocolate fudge sauce:

melt the chocolate chips and coconut milk in a double boiler or microwave. whisk in oil until smooth.

1/2 cup almonds, toasted and rouchly chopped for garnish

Blueberry Cake

Baking Vegan desserts have often been a bit of a hit or miss in my past attempts. I don't like using a lot of oil, and sometimes egg-substitutes do not seem to work as they should. However one thing that I have found works really well to produce a soft, moist vegan dessert is using applesauce. This delicious cake is moist, and soft, just like a blueberry muffin but in cake form. Not the healthiest, but it is great for a morning tea snack every once in a while. The recipe is from Wild Vegan - by Angela Stafford 

120g (4oz) vegan margarine

1/2 cup unrefined sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened applesauce or stewed apple

220g (8oz) self-raising flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup frozen blueberries (frozen blueberries keeps them from getting squashed during mixing 

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350 F, Gas Mark 4) and grease and line a 19cm (7 inch) round cake tin. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the margarine and sugar with an electric mixer until it is very light in colour. 

3. Add the vanilla and apple and mix well. 

4. Slowly add the flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients, stirring gently by hand. 

5. Lastly, stir in the blueberries. Note the mixture will be thick. 

6. Pour into the cake tin, making sure there is an even coverage. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when tested. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.