By request of Janet, my vegan chocolate cake recipe. I got it from my friend Shalene, a fabulous now-doctor of ecology that I met in grad school. This is one of my favorite recipes -- simple to make, rarely requires a store run, and easily adaptable to a variety of flavors.
Things I have done to this recipe: added cinnamon for a Cinco de Mayo party, topped with sliced strawberries, added in maraschino cherries + juice, put in orange/vanilla/mint/whatever extract, topped with powdered sugar etc etc. So fungible!
FYI, some changes mean the cake is no longer vegan. Also, to be *truly* vegan, you need to know where your different ingredients come from. For example, sugar is sometimes whitened using bone char. No bone char stays in the sugar or anything, but strict vegans don't like using white sugar unless they know the source.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I like putting 1/3 or 1/2 cup for a more chocolatey cake)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar (I use lemon juice -- I find white vinegar gives a strange aftertaste. not all agree with me)
• 1 cup water
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan. Or a 9x13 pyrex. Or whatever pan you like.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes or until a piece of spaghetti inserted in comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool.