Double chocolate cream cakes - in a pan



I called these my cakes in a pan because I simply could not get the damn things out of the pan!





  I made the mistake of not putting parchment paper at the bottom of each pan (usually I do a round cut-out for the bottom), and as a result they would not release.  I did oil it, but the problem: this is a really moist cake, and these are new well-coated non-stick pans. 

 Well, it stayed in there.

Ingredients:

CAKE BATTER

* 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat and it turned out great)
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 1 1/2 cups unrefined sugar
* 1/4 tsp sea salt
* 1 3/4 cups water
* 2 Tbsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 1 tsp mocha extract (or more vanilla)
1/4 cup canola oil

FROSTING:

* 2 packages (349-g) SILKEN extra-firm tofu, patted dry
* 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
* 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 1 3/4 cups (generous) non-dairy chocolate chips (I do love vegan foods, but I'm not a vegan, so I was okay with not using non-dairy chocolate for this recipe.  I chopped up some good quality dark chocolate disk).


For the cake:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.  Then add in sugar, salt and mix well.  In another bowl, combine water, vinegar, extracts, and oil.  Add wet mixture to the dry, and stir until well combined.  Pour into 3 lightly oiled round cake pans (I've made it with only two), distributing batter as evenly as possible.  Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

For the frosting:

In a food processor combine tofu with maple syrup and vanilla, and puree until very, very smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.  Meanwhile, melt chocolate in a bowl fitted over a pot with simmering (not boiling) water.  Pour melted chocolate into food processor with tofu mixture, and puree again until well incorporated (again, scraping down sides of bowl).  Transfer to a container and refrigerate until cool (will thicken as it cools).  Once cool, spread frosting on cake layers, then refrigerate cake for at least a couple of hours to set (preferably overnight).