It’s my birthday tomorrow and the hubby and I are heading north to spend 2 nights at a cabin in the woods. Obviously I had to take this opportunity to make myself this Chocolate Orange Fudge birthday cake so that
A. I could create a new recipe for you all
and
B. I could actually enjoy some cake on my birthday without worrying about reacting to any of the ingredients.
I feel like times like this are a great excuse for me to get in the kitchen and create a new recipe. It seems the food world needs a good healthified chocolate orange fudge cake! Full disclosure, I can’t take all the credit for this. I took inspiration from Minimalist Bakers 1 bowl chocolate cake recipe, (which you should also check out if you’re fine with gluten). I adapted a few things from the cake mixture and created my own frosting.
The result?
A fudgy, soft, sweet (but not too sweet) chocolate cake with hints of orange throughout. This cake was made in 2 layers, with frosting layered in-between and on top. And the addition of orange juice and the zest help to drive that orange flavor home. So, if you’re after a decadent birthday cake that will satisfy those with all the common food allergens as well as family and friends that would otherwise eat a traditional cake, then keep reading!
So here we are! A fudgy cake featuring my favorite flavor combination of all time – chocolate and orange.
This cake ticks all the dietary boxes, but don’t mistake that for it not tasting every bit as decadent as a gluten, dairy, and sugar-filled cake. I dare you to make this and serve it to someone that would usually go for a regular old cake and see how they like it. I love doing these kinds of ‘blind’ taste tests to family or friends that would usually turn their nose up at something because it’s ‘healthy’. I’ll wait until they’ve polished off their plate before dropping that their cake was full of veggies or what have you. Joke’s on them!
This Vegan Chocolate Orange Fudge cake is:
- Vegan (duh)
- Grain Free
- Dairy Free
- Refined Sugar Free
- Soy Free
- Nut Free
- And contains a creamy sweet potato frosting!
So, about the frosting. This is such an awesome hack to achieve a thick consistency while still using minimally processed ingredients. The frosting contains just 4 main ingredients, tastes so decadent and is the perfect thick and creamy consistency to sit on and amongst this 2 tier cake.
- Steamed sweet potato
- Coconut Cream
- Unsweetened chocolate
- Maple Syrup
I used Tigernut flour in this recipe – Tigernuts are actually a tuber which makes this is a grain free and nut free flour. I used this brand.
Vegan Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium8
servings30
minutes34
minutes300
kcalVegan Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake that ticks all the dietary boxes – nut free, dairy free, refined sugar free, soy free and grain free.
Ingredients
- Cake
1 1/2 cups plant based milk**
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approximately 3 oranges)
1/4 cup orange zest
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 1/4 cups unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/2 cups tiger nut flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 cup dutch process cocoa
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pink salt
- Frosting
1 medium sweet potato (365g)
2.5 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 can coconut cream, chilled
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Grease down 2 9″ cake tins, while also laying 2 thin strips of baking paper across each other to create an easy pull out tab – set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk your almond milk with the apple cider vinegar, and leave for a few minutes to activate
- Transfer mixture to a large blender with the orange juice, apple sauce, coconut sugar and vanilla.
- Blend together until foamy
- Pour mixture back into your mixing bowl and sift in your dry ingredients (cacao, gf flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Mix vigorously, until all ingredients are incorporated. Add in the coconut oil, whisking until combined well.
- Lastly, stir in your orange zest then evenly pour cake batter into your 2 prepared cake tins
- Bake for 34-38 minutes until just set. A good way to check this is to stick a skewer in the middle, it should come out clean with just a few wet crumbs
- Allow to cool completely
- Frosting
- Peel and cut sweet potato into small chunks. Steam until tender, set aside.
- Scoop the solid part of the coconut cream out of your can, discarding the liquid at the bottom.
- Gently melt your chocolate down in a small saucepan, be sure not to over heat it, you want it to the pint where it’s just melted.
- Add the sweet potato coconut cream, melted chocolate, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt to a blender. Blend until fully incorporated and you have a smooth but thick consistency.
- Transfer to a bowl and chill until thick but spreasdable. Roughly 1-2 hours.
- Assembly
- Place one layer of the cake on a cake stand or your choice of a cake plate. A good way to ensure it doesnt move around is by spooning a small amount of frosting on the plate before you put the cake down. This should hekp it stay in place.
- Using a flat spatula, genntly slather a layer of frsoting on top of the first cake, spread out so you have an even layer. Gently place your second cake on top.
- Frost the top of the second cake and arond the sides. Using the side of the spatula to smooth the frosting out.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- I would suggest making the frosting first so that it has time in the fridge to chill while you’re making the cake.
- Milk options include hemp or coconut for nut free or almond, cashew for those that can have nuts.
- I suggest using dutch process cocoa (aka baking cocoa) this will give you that rich chocolate flavor
- A tip to keep the batter even in each cake pan is to place 1 cup at a time in each until you run out of mixture.
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