Easy Moist Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Sauce

I baked this moist chocolate cake with dark chocolate sauce for J’s birthday. The cake itself is dairy-free and was pretty damn delicious on its own, although it doesn’t taste as chocolately as it looks. When serving this cake with the warmed chocolate sauce (not dairy-free), it's pretty close to perfect. The sauce does set, so you could theoretically throw it on top of the cake and allow it to set before devouring.

This cake was so good that I made it for my birthday, a month later! I tried substituting half of the oil with apple puree (apple sauce). It was ok, but the 100 % oil version tasted better.


EASY MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE SAUCE
Makes 6-9 servings
Cake adapted from Best Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
Sauce adapted from Gourmet Magazine, September 1998 edition – Dark Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
150 g (1 c) plain (all-purpose) flour
200 g (1 c) turbinado sugar
33 g (⅓ c) cocoa
1 t baking soda
1 egg
½ t salt
120 ml (½ c) milk/milk substitute
½ t lemon juice
120 ml (½ c) oil (I used half olive oil, half peanut oil)
1 t vanilla
120 ml (½ c) boiling water

For the Dark Chocolate Sauce
45 ml (3 T) water
100 g (½ c) sugar
25 g (¼ c ) unsweetened cocoa
Pinch of salt
½ t vanilla
15 g (1 T) unsalted butter

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F and lightly grease a 20 x 20 (8 x 8 inch) dish.

2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, cocoa and baking soda.

3. In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients - egg, salt, milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Then add the boiling water and stir to incorporate.

4. Mix the wet and dry together, folding in until just combined. Try not to over-mix.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bung into the oven for 1 hour.

6. Check for doneness by inserting a skewer, if it comes out clean it's ready. Allow to cool.

7. For the sauce - place the water and sugar in a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cocoa, salt and vanilla and stir until incorporated. Turn off the heat and add the butter, stir until incorporated. Serve warm poured over the cake. Enjoy!