Gluten-free Single Serve Chocolate Cake

This is an adaptation of a 5 min microwave cake someone showed me long ago, and I finally decided to make a second attempt at a healthier and gluten-free version (my first attempt turned out horrid), and it turned out surprisingly GOOD!  I'm not a pro at adapting recipes and actually have them turn out good in the end.
This one takes a little longer than 5 minutes to do though.  Unless you have superman's speedy powers.

It really doesn't look impressive as far as cakes go, but the taste makes up for it.
And this version actually turned out more moist and gooey-fudgy than the original, so it's delicious!

2 tbs coconut flour
2 tbs gluten-free flour mix
3 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs
3 tbs greek yoghurt
3 tbs coconut oil (liquid)
3 tbs agave nectar

• combine flours, cocoa powder & baking powder in a coffee mug & mix with a fork
• add egg replacer & greek yoghurt and mix well to combine fully
• add coconut oil & mix
• add agave and mix well to combine, and make sure there's no dry flour in the bottom of the mug
• microwave for 3 mins

Cinnamon Cake

The original name of this cake as I found it is Cinnamon Cinnabon cake, but it's not cinnabon-y enough to be classified as such, in my opinion, so to me it's just a cinnamon cake!

It was the yummiest the same day I made it - it was crunchy on top, but the next day the crunch was gone already.
But it's a tasty cake!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I used wholewheat) + 2 tbsp separately
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs baking powder
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup butter softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbs ground cinnamon

Instructions:

• preheat oven to 180 degree C (350 degree F), and grease 2 8inch cake pans and line the bottoms with wax paper
• in a mixer, blend 3 cups flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk eggs, vanilla and 1/4 cup butter.  Divide batter evenly between 2 cake pans
• in another mixing bowl, beat 1 cup butter with brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour and cinnamon.  Beat until fully blended and fluffy (about 3 mins).  Using 2 tablespoons, drop blobs of butter mixture onto cake batter and then use a knife to swirl
• bake for about 25-30 mins

 

Best munched on the day it's made!  I didn't have any on hand, but I think this would have been yummy with cream poured all over it. :D

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Oh my goodness....this cake is SOOOO good. :D  Not only the taste (which is realllly chocolatey), but it's so soft and so moist, and what I really like about it too is that it's vegan, so I can enjoy this guilt-free! (well....except for the sugar, still feel a little guilty there, but oh well).  This one definitely ranks as one of the best cakes I've ever had. :)

1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 cup white & 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup white & 1/2 cup light brown)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water or brewed coffee (I used coffee)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbs vinegar

• Preheat oven to 180 C / 375 F
• Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda & sugar in a mixing bowl
• Mix oil water or coffe and vanilla in a small bowl, then pour into dry ingredients and mix well with fork or whisk until combined
• Once the batter is smooth, add vinegar and stir quickly until fully combined and pale swirls (created by reaction between vinegar & baking soda) have been mixed in evenly
• Pour into a single greased cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes (I did mine for 25)

Once the cake is cooled, try to save some for the guests or other members of your family. :)

 The cake doesn't rise that much, so it won't work for a double layer cake IMO.

It's so tasty that I don't even both to make an icing / frosting for it.  But if I were to find a yummy and easy vegan icing, I'd try it out.

Vegan Carrot Cake with Apple & Coconut

This is my first attempt at a carrot cake and it was delicious! :D  With truly yummy vegan options like these, there's really no reason to go back the dairy-cakes way! :)

The original recipe called for some kind of boxed egg replacer and canned crushed pineapple, but I didn't have either, so I used freshly grated apple instead of the pineapple (my guess is my option is healthier anyway!), and I use my personal favourite egg replacer - ground flax seeds mixed with water.

What made me decide to try a carrot cake was because I had lots of left over carrot "pulp" from the carrot juice I made, and I always hate to just throw that away....what a waste!  So obviously the natural thing to do was make a carrot cake.  :)

2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin spice or allspice (I used the latter)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tbs ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbs water - let stand for 5 mins before using
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sunflower oil
2 cups finaly grated carrot
2 cups finely chopped apples (i peeled, cored and put them in food processor for few seconds)
1 cup desiccated coconut
nuts & raisins, optional

I didn't add raisin because I wasn't sure how I'd like it in a carrot cake, but after tasting the cake, I think raisins will got perfectly, so I'll add some next time, as well as chopped walnuts (I didn't have any of these on hand).

1.  preheat oven to 175 degrees C / 375 degrees F.
2.  in a medium bowl mix flour, baking soda, spices, baking powder & salt
3.  in a large bowl mix sugars and flax seed mixture with a spoon until well combined.  Then add vanilla and mix.  Lastly add oil.
4.  add dry ingredients to wet ingrediets and mix well until combined.  Stir in carrots, apple & coconut.  Add nuts & raisins if using.
5.  Grease a cake tin and pour mixture in.  Smooth batter and bake for 40-45 minutes or until tester stick comes out clean.

Note: I baked the cake on one of the higher racks in the oven for the full 45 minutes, but the cake was nonetheless a little underbaked in the centre (even though my tester stick came out pretty much clean)....which wasn't a big problem since there are no raw eggs or things in there, so it was still good (not gooey either - you can see from the photo it's not so bad), but I'd bake it just a teeny bit longer next time, maybe on a lower shelf? just to try and get the centre a little more cooked.  The rest of the cake was perfect and moist.

And I won't even bother trying it with pineapple next time, the apple in there was perfect and I think healthier than any canned item anyway. :)

I also didn't bother with the icing / frosting - it really doesn't need it at all, it's sweet and delicious enough just as is.