Our little team has grown this year and we each have some words that we would like to share with you. Before you watch the video, there are two things I need to say.
One: We have the best team on the planet. Karen, Jennifer, Tamie, Laura, Kellie, Maggie, Sandrina, Lyndsey, and Erica – working with you every day is a joy. THANK YOU for your hard work, your dedication, your enthusiasm and your sense of humor. I can’t imagine doing this without you.
Two: To our Dirty community, you give us HOPE, you make us laugh and you bring us joy. THANK YOU for being here.
Thank you for reading our Saturday emails.
Thank you for fueling with plants.
Thank you for being in our Facebook group.
Thank you for subscribing to our meal plans.
Thank you for showing up for yourself.
Thank you for not taking yourself too seriously.
Thank you for laughing with us when we make mistakes.
Thank you for finding us.
Thank you for appreciating a perfectly placed “fuck”.
Thank you for being kind.
Thank you for loving your body, JUST how it is.
Thank you for getting in your kitchen every week.
Thank you for trusting us.
Thank you for talking about your farts.
Thank you for being patient with yourself.
Thank you for knowing with confidence that you are getting more than enough protein.
Thank you for being YOU.
From me and all of Team Dirty, may you have a very happy 2019.
Whole Food Plant Based Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting (oil free)
Whole Food Plant Based Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting (oil free)
Makes one 8-inch round cake layer, and about 1 1/2 cups of frosting.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes (about 7-8 Medjool dates / 130 g)
- 2/3 cup water (160 ml)
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (aka flax meal)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened, non-dairy milk (120 ml)
- 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (120 g / can sub with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (75 g)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (45 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin puree (60 g / remainder can be stored in your freezer)
- 2 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
Creamy Chocolate Frosting Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews (130 g)
- 2 large Medjool dates, pitted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (45 g)
- 1/3 cup full fat canned coconut milk (80 ml)
- 1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup (60 ml)
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Chocolate Cake Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Cut a piece of parchment paper in a circle to fit exactly into the bottom of a 8" round cake pan. You do not need to line the sides -- the cake will pull away as it bakes.
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While your dates are soaking, place the water and the ground flax in a small bowl and whisk. Set aside for 10 minutes.
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Place the non-dairy milk and vinegar in a small bowl and whisk. Set aside for now.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
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Drain the dates (discard the soaking water) and place them in your blender. Stir the water/flax mixture then add it to the blender, along with the non-dairy milk/vinegar mixture, pumpkin, maple syrup and vanilla. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
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Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients that you set aside earlier, and whisk until blended. Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan and smooth the top with a spoon so it's level.
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Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the sides have pulled away from the edges of the pan.
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Cool completely then frost with room temperature frosting (recipe below).
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Note: To easily remove the cake from the pan, slide a butter knife around the edge of the cake where it touches the sides of the pan. Place a plate upside down on top then flip it over. The cake should transfer easily to the plate, then you can carefully pull off the parchment paper.
Creamy Chocolate Frosting Instructions
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Place the cashews and dates in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Drain and discard the water, then place the cashews and dates into your food processor.
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Add the cocoa powder, coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut sugar, almond butter and vanilla extract. Process until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
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Frost your cooled cake while the frosting is at room temperature. (If you store the frosting in the fridge, it will thicken. Set it on your kitchen counter to return it to room temperature before using.)
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Store the frosted cake in your fridge, loosely covered.
Recipe Notes
Depending on how thick you spread your frosting, you may have some left over. It’s delicious on toast or apple slices!
Wishing you a happy week. May it be filled with Plant Based Chocolate Cake.
Xo
Molly
How awesome to see all of Team Dirty! Happy New Year to each and every one of you, and may your 2019 be filled with much joy, peace, prosperity … and plants, of course 🙂
Yay! So happy you shared this recipe, thank you! I’m currently eating it for breakfast as we made it as a birthday cake to celebrate Jesus’s birthday!… Love the video! I’m especially thankful for Kellie sharing what she learned/is going to implement in the New Year! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, CFDG!
So nice to see you all! Best to you in 2019 and thanks for the chocolate cake recipe ❤️
Happy Holidays to everyone! I typically use cacao powder instead of cocoa powder. Would cacao work in this recipe?
Sending lots of love your way too!
Cacao powder will work!
xo
Molly
I smiled before I even pressed play, because I could see Molly talked Luanne into an appearance. I loved each person’s message and seeing the team behind the magic! Thank you for all the tips! 🙂
Ha! You know it was not an easy task!
The whole team had a pact that if Luanne did it then they would do it.
So yeah, she kind of had to. heheheeh
xo
Molly
Hi. Looks great. Can you sub the pumpkon for applesauce?
Hi there,
We haven’t tried it with that swap but I think it would be okay!
Let us know if you try it 🙂
xo
Molly
That was fun 🙂 Nice to see everyone! Good tips too.
❤️🇨🇦❤️
Loved seeing all of you! Happy Holidays!
So nice to meet everyone!! Can’t thank you all enough for the wonderful recipes, they’ve totally made the difference for us in being able to eat healthy, stick with WFPB, and enjoy it. I absolutely love the amazing, crazy, fun, compassionate, beautiful community that you’ve fostered. Wishing you all every good thing in the coming year!
I would give 10 stars for that cake, and the icing, if I could!!!!!
This wasawesome! So nice to hear your voices, now as I read blogs and recipes I can hear you guiding and cheering me! Thank you for all you do! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Loved the video! LOVED the cake! I subbed banana for pumpkin in mine because I had three bananas that were teetering on the edge and canned pumpkin is chillin’ in the pantry all “you go first, bro” to the bananas 🙂
Molly and Luann,
Fun to see your dirty team!
May your successful dirty antics grow farther and wider in the new year.
Love to all.
How many bananas did you use?
What can I use instead of coconut sugar and coconut milk?
We haven’t tried it but soy milk and date sugar would be my sub suggestions.
Let us know if you try it!
xo
Molly
Okay, so I love Luanne’s accent. I’ve got a bit of a girl crush now. 😘
Right? I think it’s the cutest thing ever.
When we go back to Malaysia it gets even thicker!
xo
Molly
could you use maple syrup or coconut sugar instead of the date sugar?
Hi Meredith,
I’m not seeing date sugar as an ingredient in the recipe. I’m thinking maybe you meant to ask if date sugar could be substituted for the coconut sugar. In this case, it would probably work just fine. For the maple syrup, however, particularly for the icing, using date sugar probably would not work as well because of the liquid component. Hope that helps. ~Karen
sorry i meant what can you use instead of the 1/2 cup pitted dates- could i use 1/2 cup maple syrup?
Hi Meredith, We don’t think that much maple syrup will work due to the liquid consistency versus dried dates which have fiber. You could try subbing dried cherries or raisins but this recipe was not tested that way. If you try it, let us know! ~Karen
That was awesome. Happy 2019 Dirty Team and thanks for all you do!
XOXO,
Heidi
WOW this is stunning! Happy new year ♥
This was great! Made it for my son’s birthday tonight. Everyone loved it.
Absolutely loved the video and seeing and hearing and “meeting” our ntire Dirty Team!
Inspired daily 2017/2018 was life changing. 2019 will be better yet!!!!
I made this yesterday for my son’s first birthday- it was amazing! It came out almost like a brownie texture.
For the frosting I subbed the coconut milk with silken tofu and a bit of soy milk to add some moisture as we try to stay away from coconut milk.
What if I just have whole wheat flour, not pastry flour?
Hi Pamela, whole wheat flour is produced using a different type of wheat, which has more gluten, than is used to make whole wheat pastry flour. Here’s a video from Bob’s Red Mill about the differences. While it would work, I am guessing that using whole wheat flour will make for a much denser cake. I should add that I once tried to substitute whole wheat flour for the pastry flour – I cannot recall what it was that I made, it was years ago – and it spurred me to go buy the pastry flour because I didn’t really enjoy the end result. ~Karen
For a non-chocolate lover, do you have any suggestions for replacing the cocoa powder? Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth! A creative member of our private Facebook community posted about a version of this cake that she made without cocoa that she called a turmeric latte cake. If you join the Facebook group you can search for “turmeric latte cake” and the post will pull up, she describes the adjustments she made and that might give you inspiration to customize it. ~Karen
Could this be made using gluten free flours, like oat, almond etc?
Hi Rachel, a quick search of our private Facebook group and I can see that Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Fee Blend and Pamela’s Gluten Free Artisan Blend are both viable options, as is spelt flour. Hope this helps! ~Karen
I loved every damn bite of this cake. Thank you so much, Team Dirty, for sharing your magic.
yay! So glad you loved it!
This is the best recipe! I made it for my family that is not WFPB and they LOVED it!
Can I make cupcakes with this instead of a cake? I assume it might just cook faster, anything else?
Hi Tamara, Thanks for stopping by – so glad your family loved the cake! Yes, this will work as cupcakes. No other adjustments other than keeping an eye on them as they are likely to cook faster. ~Karen
Don’t know how you figured out the ratio of ingredients, but this cake is incredible. I used dark cocoa powder. The cake tasted so rich it didn’t even need frosting. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Our recipes Wizard Tammie spent over a month getting it just right.
I agree that it is an AMAZING cake!
xo
Molly
Is it possible to replace dates in the recipe for monk fruit or swerve?
Hey Alexz,
Here’s what our recipe wizard said:
She doesn’t think so. She hasn’t tested it, of course, but the 1-for-1 subs of swerve and monkfruit are dry powder like sugar. Dates are not. I think the liquid to dry ratio will be off. You could try but you might have to add a few tablespoons of liquid if the batter is too thick.
This cake and frosting are AMAZING! SOOOO rich without being super duper sweet. Also, I made the frosting in my Vitamix since that gets it silky smooth whereas the food processor does not. This recipe makes a TON of frosting and I was not complaining about it at all. 🙂 Thank you!!
I made this cake and my 5 year old loved it!! She’s super picky and i could not believe how much she loved it!!
Can these be made into cupcakes?
Hi Paulina, Thanks for stopping by! Yes! These can be made into cupcakes. You’ll just have to shorten the cook time, likely significantly. Start with 18-20 minutes – see how a toothpick comes out and then go from there. ~Karen
Hi, do you have any suggestions for subbing the pumpkin? I am not sure I have ever seen canned pumpkin here in Australia. Thanks Rosie
Hi Rosie, our substitution spreadsheet / global ingredient list suggests Queensland Blue Pumpkin in Australia. If you aren’t finding it canned or it is not in season for cooking, simple cooked sweet potato or cooked butternut squash will absolutely work too. ~Karen
Oh wow thats amazing! Thank you Karen.