Eggless Chocolate Cake with Jam for a Celebration

May is a month of celebration in my real home and also in my virtual home. It happens to be my birthday month (yup.. I'm a tough Taurean :-) ) and of course there's Mother's day celebrations. It is also my blog anniversary month -- Cook's Hideout has completed 7 years of blogging. 

Blogging years seem to me like dog years. There are a quite a few blogs that were active at one time, but are no longer virtually alive. I feel like a veteran among many new and upcoming food bloggers. I have to thank my family for their support and patience without whom I wouldn't have been blogging for so long. I was telling my mom the other day that I cook and eat well even when I'm alone because of my blog. 

Big thanks to Valli, the master mind behind Blogging marathon and all my fellow marathoners for their infectious enthusiasm.

I have never made a cake for myself, but this time I wanted to use the skills I learnt in my Wilton cake decorating class. Also I wanted to try one of the chocolate frosting recipes that I had pinned on Pinterest. This frosting uses some uncommon ingredients like cooked flour and granulated sugar along with other regulars liek butter and cocoa. It is a little time consuming to make, but the end result is well worth the effort -- its not too sweet and not too greasy. I thought it went perfectly with the chocolate cake. Do give this cake a try!!!!!

Coming to today's cake, recipe is adapted from 'Vegan with a Vengeance' by Isa Chandra. I modified the recipe just a little bit to include wholewheat pastry flour and reduced the quantity of sugar.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour (maida) -  1cup
Wholewheat pastry flour - ½cup (or just use 1½cups of all-purpose flour)
Dutch processed Cocoa powder - ½cup
Baking powder - 1tsp
Baking soda - 1tsp
Salt - ½tsp
Soy milk or any other dairy or non-dairy milk - 1½cups
Oil - ½cup
Jam - ½cup (you can use raspberry, strawberry or cherry preserves)
Sugar - 1cup (I made once with ¾cup of sugar and it still tasted good)
Vanilla extract - 2tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease 2 8" round cake pans. I used my heart shaped cake pan.
• Sift together the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
• Combine the milk, oil, jam, the vanilla and the sugar in a large bowl and mix it well with a fork. The jam should be mostly dissolved with the rest of the ingredients; some small lumps are fine.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in batches and mix until everything is incorporated. 
• Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick or a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the pan and let cool in pans for 10-15 mins, then run a knife around the cake and remove onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.