Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling and Fudgy Frosting

The first vegan chocolate cake recipe I came up with on my own was made with brown rice flour.  I thought it was actually really good, so I was excited to combine it with my chocolate mousse for this cake, which I figured would only make it better.

Apparently not so much.  After about 2 days in the fridge (which is necessary because of the mousse) the brown rice flour gets an apparently undesirable taste.

I ate the cake on day one. I thought it was yummy.  I offered some to my husband, but he didn’t want any.  Fine.  More for me.  I ate the cake on day two.  Again, yummy.  Again, hubby didn’t want any.  Day three went like this:

Tim:  I think I’ll have a piece of that cake

Me: Great.  I’ll cut you a piece.

Tim: (tasting it) Is there coconut in this?

Me: No.

Tim: I taste coconut.  You know I hate coconut.

Me:  There is no coconut!

Tim:  Are you sure?  I know coconut when I taste it.

Me:  Pretty sure, yeah, since I am the one who made it.  Do you want to see the recipe?

Tim:  No.  I trust you. If you say there isn’t coconut, then there isn’t coconut.  (Pause) But it tastes like coconut. (Looking at the piece on his plate in front of him like the dog had made a no no on the plate) It doesn’t matter that it tastes like coconut,   I didn’t really want a piece anyway.

Me:  And your honor….that is why I killed him.

And so, I tried different formulas until I can up with one that apparently doesn’t taste like coconut.  In case you do like coconut though, I’ll post the other recipe at some point as well.  Although I swear there is no coconut in there.  Only coconut oil, unflavored.  Promise  

Ingredients: (for a single layer cake, you will need to double it for the layer cake)

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo baking flour
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 2 heaping Tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup monkfruit
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (the liquid kind)
• 3/4 cup warm milk (really important to heat the milk if the applesauce is refrigerated so that the coconut oil won’t seize up)

Ingredients for fudgy frosting:

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 cup date syrup

Double this recipe for a layer cake

Directions for the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease one (or two) cake pans with oil or vegan butter and line the bottom of them with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (Flour through monkfruit) To make the two layers, I use two bowls and make a separate batch in each.  I do not have the ability to evenly divide a double batch between two pans and have them come out even.
3. Whisk together the wet ingredients  in a small bowl (applesauce through milk) and add it to the dry ingredients (again, I do two bowls– one for each layer). Stir to combine, then pour into prepared pan and tap on counter to eliminate on counter to remove any air bubbles.
4. Bake 15 minutes, then rotate and bake another 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool in pan for at least 30-45 minutes before turning out onto a rack to completely cool.
5. While the cake is baking, you can make the frosting: melt the chocolate and oil together over low heat, stirring almost constantly until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Remove from heat and stir in the date syrup, and let the frosting sit until thick enough to spread on the cake.  Don’t give in to the temptation to put it in the fridge to speed the process along.  It will get really thick very fast and tear the cake when you try to spread it.

To assemble the cake: place one layer face up on a plate and then put several large scoops of chocolate mousse on top. ( see the recipe for chocolate mousse).  Smooth the mousse and add the top layer of cake, facedown, then frost.  Store in fridge, but it tastes best if you let it sit at room temperature for a bit before serving.

Enjoy!