Egg Free Chocolate Cake

I used to have a really old cadbury’s recipe magazine and in it was a Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. I know it sounds really wierd but it is actually a really moist cake!
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
275 grams self-raising flour
225 grams caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
200 gram jar of mayonnaise
4 talespoons cocoa
225 mls boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Toppings:
2 level teaspoons instant coffee
2 level tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons hot water
75 grams soft margarine
225 grams icing sugar

Sift the self-raising flour into a large mixing bowl and add the caster sugar and baking powder. Give a quick stir together and you’re ready to add the mayonnaise.
Beat the mayonnaise well into the flour, sugar and baking powder. It is very important to beat the mayonnaise thoroughly into the dry ingredients.
Keep beating until it looks like large bread crumbs. Put on one side while you make the chocolate mixture.
Dissolve the cocoa in the boiling water.Stir this gently until it’s smooth and there are no lumps of cocoa left. Add the chocolate mix to the flour mixture. Give it a quick stir and then add the vanilla essence.
Stir everything thoroughly until all the ingredients are blended but this time don’t beat the mixture because that will spoil it. Just keep stirring it gently until all the lumps are gone.
Line an 18 centimetre cake tin with grease-proof paper, greasing the tin side of the paper, otherwise it will stick to the tin. Pour the cake mixture into the tin.
Put the cake tin into the middle of the oven at 180º C, 350º F, Gas Mark 4. Be very careful around the hot oven. Cook for about an hour. To make sure it’s baked all through, test it with a skewer. If it comes out clean, then it’s cooked! Leave the cake to cool in the tin before you turn it out, otherwise it will crumble when you take it out.
Now for the topping, dissolve two level teaspoons of coffee and two tablespoons of cocoa in two tablespoons of hot water. Add the soft margarine and the icing sugar.
Beat the mixture thoroughly ensuring that no lumps are left and then spread the icing over the cake. This amount is enough to cover the top of the cake and all round the sides.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Serves 8

Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

The correct Italian name for this recipe is Torta di cioccolata alla Margherita.

Ingredients
450g/1lb plain flour (organic if possible)
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
300g/10oz caster sugar
125ml/4fl oz vegetable oil
300ml/½ pint water
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
whipped cream, to decorate
For the icing:
dark chocolate spread
OR
225g/8oz icing sugar
25g/1oz unsweetened cocoa powder
75g/3oz butter, diced
1 tbsp golden syrup
4 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and stir in the sugar.

2. Combine all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once and beat until smooth.

3. Pour the batter into a greased 23cm/9in springform cake tin and bake for about 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (place a sheet of foil over the top of the cake if it becomes too dark). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

4. Turn the cake out of the tin and spread the chocolate spread over the top. Or, if you are making your own icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl and make a well in the centre.

5. Gently heat the butter, golden syrup and milk until the butter has melted, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.

6. Beat with a wooden spoon until the icing has cooled and thickened slightly. Spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake with a palette knife. Decorate with whipped cream.