gooey vegan choc cake

[Azura Skye]

This can be wheat free by using a mix of gluten free flour and spelt or rye flour, with some bicarb soda.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups All purpose flour
1 cup caster sugar (or less if you desire)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp vinegar
5 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil (not olive)
1 cup cold water (sometimes 1.5 cups is needed)
1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD:
Simply sieve together dry ingredients, when mixed thoroughly, make a well and pour in wet ingredients, bit by bit.
This is a shockingly wet soppy mix, so don't panic. Make sure it's mixed up good and proper with no bits; then pour into a greased and lined square tin and cook at about 180degrees (about gas mark 5 i think?) and cook for 30 - 45 mins.
It's a gooey cake but it shouldn't be wet when you check it with a knife.
Very tasty - all my non vegan friends love it.
Enjoy!

[Millymollymandy]

That sounds very nice but can you translate it from cups into imperial or metric?

[Andy Hamilton]

Does this help http://www.selfsufficientish.com/measures.htm

been meaning to get round to a simpler chart with metric, imperial, us cups and oz cups on it. Expect that next weekish.

[Millymollymandy]

Andy - you've got the liquid equivalent of a cup in metric, but not for dry stuff. I am always lost with US recipes - cups of flour etc. I usually just don't bother which is a shame because there are some really good sounding recipes out there.

The worst is when you get a recipe that says something like 7 cups of finely chopped courgette - so how many do you need to buy?????!!!!!

[Azura Skye]

I got this recipe off an American lady and I never bothered to weigh the cup measurments because the cup is so easy - it can be a thimble or a mug, but if you have the same number before it, then it should be ok. (perhaps thimble is pushing it a bit though)

Its worked well for me in cups so I dont want to tempt fate and use oz or anything as i might ruin my lucky run of good choc cakes :>

[hay331]

You can buy a cheap set of measuring cups for these recipes. I have a set for my bread making as most of the books available are in cup measurements, it cost me around £2. I think I have seen them in Poundstretchers.

[Andy Hamilton]

Always a minefield when it comes to cup measurments, someone said to me once if it is all in cups then you can use the same cup to measure everything and any cup will do.

If I have some spare time next week will look in my big collection of cookbooks for a cup conversion chart. On the case now,

[Millymollymandy]

The problem as I see it with cups is that if there are other ingredients in your recipe which aren't in cups, like 1 egg, a teaspoon of something, or a liquid measure in pints, then your cup size will make a difference if it is say 1/3rd more or less than the standard cup!

Plus have you got to tamp it all down firmly in the cup or not? Sometimes flour or sugar are lumpy which must make a difference to the amount in the cup.

I much prefer to weigh things then sieve after!

[Guest]

what sort of vinegar - malt?

thanks