I made this cake for the workshop I did with Kimberly from the little plantation at her home in London. I showed the attendees how I use flowers to decorate cakes then we styled it and photographed it, and eventually ate it, (of course lol) I had to make this with gluten free flour for the workshop as one of the attendees had an allergy, so it was a bit crumbly, but I would normally make it with plain wheat flour. it was really easy to make which I love when making a cake. we decided to make it a tiered cake so I just used two small tins in different sizes. I think the flowers made it even more special I cant get over that rose and ranunculus are my favourite flowers. the workshop went really well so we have planned another for the 28th, 29th and 30th of September if you want more details head to the workshop page. I used beet powder to dye the frosting, I would suggest adding very small amounts at a time so that you can get to the colour you want. Kimberly said that the cake recipe was up to me so I went with chocolate cake as I think most people like chocolate cake don’t they?.

• 2 cups unbleached white flour or all purpose flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 1¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ scant tsp salt

• 1.5 cups non dairy milk, divided
• ⅓ cup non dairy chocolate chips or bar (semi sweet chips, or dark chocolate for dark/bittersweet cake)
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 tsp vinegar(apple cider vinegar or white vinegar)
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• zest from 2 oranges and 3 tbsp. juice

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients for the cake really well.
2. In another bowl, heat 1 cup of non dairy milk and chocolate until just about hot (heat in the microwave or stove top). Whisk until chocolate is melted. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients and ½ cup non dairy milk and mix in until smooth..
3. Add the dry to the wet and mix to make a smooth batter then add the orange zest and juice and stir.
4. Transfer batter to two greased or parchment lined 8 inch cake pans.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F  180c for 32 to 34 minutes. or until toothpick from the centre comes out clean. Do not overbake as the cakes can get crusty or dry.
6. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes then remove from the pan and cool on the rack completely before adding a glaze or ganache. Cover the cakes with a towel while it is cooling to prevent drying out. To shorten the cooling time, cover the cakes with a towel or parchment or a lid and place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

frosting

• 3 cups coconut yogurt (choose one that is quite thick like coyo)
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp beetroot powder

whisk together the coconut yogurt and cream with the powdered sugar and beet powder until fluffy. then use a spatula to add some to the top of the larger cake then place the smaller cake on top and spread the frosting around.