BY SARA KIDD

We secretly all want to be kids again. Let’s face it, you can eat cake and not feel guilty about it. So here is a really easy way to bake a cute little gluten-free vegan cake with some pretty sprinkles and a chocolate sauce filling. You will be feeling like a kid in no time!

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Preparation and baking time: 1 hour | Makes 9 mini cakes

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Ingredients

For the cakes:
60g melted vegetable shortening
50 g cocoa powder
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste
240 ml soy milk mixed with 1 Tbsp white vinegar
65 g buckwheat flour
120 g light-brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
40 g walnut meal (walnuts finely ground in a food processor)
70 ml boiling water
1 Tbsp instant coffee
Optional toppings: vegan buttercream and sprinkles

For the berry coulis:
1 tin boysenberries or raspberries, drained
2 Tbsp white sugar
Juice of 1 medium lemon
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in a small amount of water

Instructions

To make the cakes:

• Preheat the oven to 170°Cand place a small heatproof bowl filled with water on the bottom rack.
• Grease and flour a muffin or cupcake tin with 9 to 12 holes.
• In a blender, add the melted shortening, cocoa, vanilla bean paste, and milk and vinegar mixture, coffee and blend on low until completely combined.
• In a large bowl, sieve the buckwheat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt then add the walnut meal and mix well.
• Whisk in 1/3 ofthe liquid mixture at a time thenslowly stir in the boiling water.
• Pour into the muffin tin, filling the cups 3/4of the way, and bake for 27 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick in the centre comes out clean.
• Let cool in the tin for 20 minutes then flip over on a cake rack to remove from the tin and let cool completely.
• Decorate with vegan buttercream and sprinkles, if desired.

To make the berry coulis:

• Combine the berries, water, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring continually.
• Vigorously whisk in the cornstarch mixture.
• Continue cooking while stirring until the sauce thickens then remove from the heat.
• Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds and lumps then serve with the cakes.

Need more help? Join the Vegan Baking Facebook Group.

Sara Kidd has completed courses with some of the best mainstream cake designers, including Thao Pham, Stevi Auble, Katherine Sabbath, Kara Andretta, Zoe Byres, and the trainers at The Australian Patisserie Academy in Sydney. She worked in the film industry for 15 years and has launched her own retro-themed baking show on YouTube called Bake Vegan Stuff With Sara Kidd.