Black Forest Gateau- vegan

You can decorate the cake with chocolate shavings, too. (And more cream..) 

Continuing with our 1970s theme, we thought it would be fun to make a Black Forest Gateau, that icon of the hostess trolley. But joking aside, the combo of cherries, cream and dark chocolate is actually irresistably delicious, and we can see why this cake has been so popular for so long. It originates from South Western Germany, probably in the early years of the 20th century, and historically contained schwartzwalder kirschwasser (hope I spelt that right...) a local cherry liqueur.
 With the addition of cocoa powder, dark chocolate, cherry jam, cherries and coconut milk a plain cake is transformed into a delicious dessert or tea-time treat. We made it large, as it's party season, but you could always halve the ingredients if you have less than about 12 people to feed. As it's not cherry time here right now and I couldn't bring myself to pay over the odds for a small punnet of under-ripe specimens form halfway round the world I used morello cherry preserve for the filling and glace cherries on top. They did the job admirably, although come the Summer I'll be making this again with fresh fruit for sure.

See below for the recipe:

800g self-raising flour

8 tsps baking powder

6 tabs cocoa

400g soft light brown sugar

300ml coconut oil

800ml soya milk (or whatever plant milk you like best)

150g dairy free dark chocolate 

a jar of morello cherry preserve*

about 12 glace cherries*

2 cans of coconut milk

*or a punnet of fresh cherries, preferably black.

• Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat in the oil and soya milk. When thoroughly combined, spoon into two large round prepared cake tins/ silicone moulds and bake for about 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C. (The cakes are done when a thin skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean with no cake batter clinging to it.)
• Leave the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, whip the coconut milk into cream, following these instructions. Leave the cream in the fridge until you need it.
• When the cake is cool slather it generously with the jam/ cherries and cream and sandwich together.
• Cover the top in melted chocolate. When that's set, decorate further with glace or fresh cherries and swirls of whipped cream, finished off with chocolate shavings.