My Chocolate Snack Cake recipe is requested by many. This is my keeper recipe for a quick and lighter chocolate treat. It is easy to whip up as it does not have any eggs to beat or butter to cream. As you know, I keep trying to add whole foods to my cakes and other baking goodies. In almost all the cakes, I was successful substituting 50% of the flour with whole wheat flour or oats flour or millet flour like ragi. Today, I tried using 100% Whole Wheat Flour for the cake and all Honey in place of White Sugar. The result was great and no one could make that there was honey in it. So, I thought to share this Decadent, Whole some, Eggless and Sugar Free cake recipe. You can by all means use All Purpose Flour and White sugar in the same recipe and the result would be spongy, tender and moist chocolate cake. Substitutions are shown in the braces in recipe section. The frosting used was low calorie chocolate ganache which made the whole cake a decadent treat.

Using whole grain flours like whole wheat(aata) is tricky in cakes. It results in denser and drier cakes. Substituting honey also needs some care. It can make your batter watery. Here are few things you need to keep in mind while using them.

1. Honey is more sweeter and watery than sugar. So while substituting honey for sugar, use 2 tbsp less honey than sugar. Also reduce other liquids in the cake by 2 tbsp and increase the baking soda by 1/4 tsp. It means for every 1 cup of sugar + 1 cup of water used in the cake substitute ‘3/4 cup+2 tbsp’ of honey and use ‘3/4 cup + 2 tbsp’ of water.
2. Also while using honey decrease the oven temperature by 25ºF. I used 325ºF temperature and baked for longer. My cake took 45 minutes to cook.
3. Honey cake would be sticky but as it cools down the stickiness goes away and the cake would be fresh. So its best served the next day.
4. Whole wheat flour absorbs more water. So increased the liquid by 2-3 tbsp. (So the total liquid is 3/4 cup+2 tbsp+2 tbsp=1 cup)
5. Whole wheat flour cakes require time to hydrate and soften the bran. This hydration can happen before or after baking. So make the cake a night before for maximum taste or mix the batter and bake it after 1 hour.
6. In any egg-less cakes, adding 2 tbsp of hot water in the end results in moist and soft cakes.

Chocolate Snack Cake {Vegan}

Servings: 16; Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour: 1 and 1/2 cups (Can use half and half of All purpose flour and whole wheat flour or just all purpose flour)

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: 1/2 cup (not dutch processed)

Baking Soda: 1 tsp

Salt: a pinch

Wet Ingredients:

Warm Water: 1 cup (If using only All purpose flour use 2 tbsp less water)

Light Colored Honey: 3/4 cup+2 tbsp (Or use 1 cup of white/brown sugar)

Vegetable Oil: 1/2 cup (Any neutral flavored oil or melted butter)

Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp

Vinegar/Lemon Juice: 1 tbsp

Hot water: 2 tbsp

Vegan Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

Dairy Free Chocolate Chips: 1 cup (You can use any chocolate that is lying around in your house to make this. Hershey’s or Cadbury’s Dairy milk chocolate bars works well too)

Light Coconut Milk: 1/4 cup (Or any dairy or non-dairy milk)

Vegetable Oil: 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325ºF. Line a 8 X 8 inch square or round baking pan with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment, oil the pan and dust some cocoa powder.
2. Sift together whole wheat flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda to remove lumps and incorporate air and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together warm water, oil,honey and vanilla until well blended.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients little by little in three increments and mix well until there are no lumps.
5. Add vinegar and hot water. Mix well. You will see tiny bubbles in the batter due reaction between baking soda and vinegar. (Test your baking soda for activeness before using.)
6. Pour the batter in cake pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool completely before taking out of the pan.
8. For making Ganache, combine all ingredients in microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute in intervals of 30 seconds. Stir in between to distribute heat.
9. Pour on cooled cake and serve while hot or cold.
10. Decorate with berries or toasted nuts and powdered sugar. The cake tastes its best after sitting for 8 hours or over-night covered at room temperature.