Vegan Moist Chocolate Pudding Cake with Orange Marmalade Sauce

How Chocolate Cake Was Meant To Be: Gooey On Top And Crumbly In The Middle. 

Photo by SG.

It poured tonight and I was all out of TV shows to watch, so I decided to tackle the chocolate pudding cake again. I used a vegan recipe from The Compassionate Cookbook (read the original recipe here). I pre-made an orange marmalade sauce to go with it yesterday, which is in the freezer. I let the cake cool for about half an hour and then placed it in the fridge for another half an hour to let the pudding sauce on the top thicken. I had a slice with a glass of cold milk--it tasted amazing, couldn't even tell that it was vegan! Am definitely trying this again, it's an easy dessert to bring to a party or potluck. Preparation and baking took me about two hours (baking about 55 minutes, because I wanted a thicker sauce).

Vegan Moist Chocolate Pudding Cake (adapted from the Compassionate Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar (white)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 1/4 cups hot water
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder 

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Lightly oil a 9 inch square baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, 1/4 cup of the cocoa and the baking powder. Stir in the soy milk and oil, then add the walnuts.
3. Spread the cake mixture in the baking pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Pour the hot water over the entire cake batter.
4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is set and the chocolate sauce is bubbly.

Note: I added a teaspoon of cinnamon in the cake mixture for more flavour. I used white sugar for the cake, but I ground it in a food processor til fine before mixing it into the cake mixture and pudding sauce. My previous attempt ended in an unevenly cooked cake because the sugar in the sauce did not melt evenly. This time around, I used a sieve to sprinkle on the sugar-cocoa over the cake mixture (step 3).

Orange Marmalade Sauce (from EatingWell.com)

Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 3 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Bring orange juice to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until reduced by half, 20 to 30 minutes. Add marmalade and brown sugar; return to a simmer, whisking until smooth.
2. Mix cornstarch with water in a small bowl; add to sauce and cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla . Let cool slightly; serve warm.