Happy new year you guys! Hope you enjoyed the last day of 2015 and the first of 2016. We stayed home yesterday and looked after Timmi the dog, made homemade pasta (more on this topic soon) and played board games with a friend, all the while sipping (moderatly) on some vegan bubbly. Even though we both don’t care very much about NYE, we somehow managed to spend a perfect day. We cleaned up the apartment, walked the dog and I relaxed reading a nice book huddled under a blanket. This is basically all I ever wish for: animals, a book and some good food.
I for one am not one for resolutions. Basically I just want to find more time to do exactly what I did yesterday – relax more and spend more quality time. In 2016 I hope to study hard, eat healthy, read more books, be a good girlfriend and friend and generally be a caring person. But that is something I’m always working on and I think I’m not doing that bad of a job. The relaxing part though… that is something I could improve on.
What about you? Do you have any new year’s resolutions?
I also started the day off by baking this Chocolate Cake. Besides the great benefit of being able to have the removed cake dome and leftover cream and ganache for breakfast, it’s such a nice way to start your morning. Who doesn’t love the smell of baked sweets warming up the apartment? It’s also a nice way to wake up your boyfriend, believe me! And the best thing: it’s incredibly easy to make and done in less than an hour. Way to impress your friends at the next party, without the stress of complicated and time consuming preparations. But nobody will know, and nobody will care!
The cake is a lovely moist chocolate sponge cake, which I baked at once and cut up in the middle. Visually it would be nicer to divide it into two baking pans, but I have just the one and I wanted to keep it quick and simple. For the cream I used some refrigerated coconut milk cans and whipped up the firm part with some sugar. Super easy. As I wanted to serve it on NYE I decorated the Chocolate Cake with colourful sprinkles to make it look extra festive. I’m definitely digging it!
Festive Chocolate Cake
For the dough:
200 gram all purpose flour
85 gram raw sugar
20 gram cocoa powder
1 packet backing powder
1 pinch of salt
55 milliliter oil
200 milliliter sparkling water
For the cream:
800 milliliter canned coconut milk, refrigerated
3 tablespoon raw sugar (or any other sweetener)
For the ganache:
250 gram dark chocolate
120 milliliter non-dairy milk
Fruit or sprinkles for decoration
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two 18 cm baking pans with parchment paper (or just the one, if you only have one).
2. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients for the dough, then add the oil and water and mix until smooth.
3. Divide the dough evenly into the two baking pans and bake for 15 minutes. If you only own one, bake for 30 minutes. Then let it cool off (preferably on the window sill or somewhere else outside to speed up the cooling process).
4. Remove the coconut milk cans from the fridge and open them. Spoon out the firm part in a high container and whip it until creamy. Add the sweetener and whip for another 30 seconds.
5. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and stir in the non-dairy milk.
6. Once completely cooled off, slice the sponge cake in half if necessary and remove the cake dome. Spread the coconut cream on one part of the sponge cake, then top with the second part. Evenly distribute the chocolate ganache and decorate as desired.
7. Serve immediately or store at a cool and dry place.
