Adapted from “Meatless Soul Food Cookbook,” by Denise Hairston, for use at 5,000 feet.
Ingredients
CAKE
Nonstick cooking spray
1 3/4 cup unbleached flour
2 cups organic cane sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk (vanilla or plain)
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons powdered egg replacer, such as Bob’s Red Mill (see note), mixed with 1/2cup warm water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
FROSTING
1/2 cup soy margarine or dairy-free butter
2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar, preferably organic
1/3 cup soy milk, plain or vanilla
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
Spray 2 (8- or 9-inch) cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pans with parchment or wax paper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
Add milk, oil, egg replacer mixed with warm water, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be thin.)
Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until cakes spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, peel off paper and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make frosting: Microwave soy margarine in a mixing bowl until melted. Stir in cocoa a little at a time until dissolved. Alternately beat in powdered sugar and milk in batches with electric mixer on medium speed until it reaches spreading consistency. (Add a little more milk if needed.) Stir in vanilla.
Spread between layers, around sides and on top of cake. Sprinkle top of cake with chopped walnuts.
Note: Products like soy margarine and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer are available at health food stores or at health-focused supermarkets
