I’ve always been fascinated with different types of diets – and no, I’m not talking FAD diets, but ones that are ethical and voluntary. Veganism which is the rejection of anything that has come from an animal or the animal itself is a strict way of life that requires a lot of discipline and familiarity with food processes.

While I cannot say I could ever become a vegan, I appreciate the food that comes from the culture. Some vegan food has been so spectacular, it literally felt like fireworks in my mouth. Sometimes food nowadays can be so bland or salty, so it is very refreshing to have a flavourful meal.

With that being said, I am going to take it up to learn some Vegan recipes and share my experiences and recipes. Just follow the Vegan category!

My first attempt at a vegan recipe is a simple chocolate cake recipe.

This recipe was taken from vegweb.com:

Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients (I recommend using organic or vegan friendly ingredients):

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients first (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt).

3. Mix in wet ingredients (water, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla).  Continue mixing until you obtain an even batter (no lumps).

4. Pour into a cake pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, I had to tack on an extra 8 minutes to it because it was still wet in the middle. It came out fine and the top was crisp but the cake itself was moist. When I sliced the cake and put half of it into aluminum foil, it was fairly dense and heavy. While I can’t say this is the best chocolate cake I’ve had, I liked it because it wasn’t very sweet. If you want it to be sweeter, I suggest using the frosting recipe found here on the same Vegan website.

Happy baking!