Pumpkin Chocolate Layer Cake (Vegan, Nut, and Gluten Free)
This gorgeous cake was created for us by Hana at Nirvana Cakery using our Gourmet Dark Chocolate Bulk Bar.
Two layer cake:
3/4 cup brown rice flour (95g)
1/4 cup buckwheat flour (35g)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, ground into flour consistency (70g)
1/4 cup tapioca flour (30g 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup cacao powder (30g)
1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
¼tsp ground cloves
pinch nutmeg
pinch sea salt
3/4 cup rapadura sugar (100g)
2tbsp ground flaxseed + 6tbsp water
1 cup pumpkin puree (240ml)
1/3 cup olive oil (80ml)
1/4 cup plant milk (60ml)
2tsp apple cider vinegar
1tsp vanilla
Chocolate ganache: make the night before
6 oz Amore di Mona chocolate (170g)
1 cup oat or maple cream (240ml)
1- 4 oz maple syrup (add until achieve desired thickness)
½tsp cinnamon
¼tsp ginger
pinch nutmeg
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix 2tbsp ground flaxseed with 6 tbsp water and set aside to thicken.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180C)
Grease and line the base and dust the sides of two 6" round cake baking tins.
In a large bowl whisk together brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, ground sunflower seeds, tapioca flour, cacao powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt and sugar and set aside.
In a small bowl whisk together flax eggs, pumpkin puree, olive oil, milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
Add the wet mix to the dry mix and mix until well combined. You should have thicker muffin consistency. Add more milk if needed.
Spoon the mixture evenly into your prepared tins and level out the surface.
Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a cocktail stick comes out clean, might still be little sticky.
Remove from the oven once ready and leave to cool down for 20 min before removing from the tins.
Repeat the process to make another 2 layers.
To make the chocolate ganache finely chop the chocolate and place into a small bowl. Place the oat cream, maple syrup and the spices into a small pot and gently heat until the boiling point, or microwave in bursts until mix is 80 - 90 degrees F. Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until completely melted and smooth. Leave to cool down for a bit before using with a plastic cover on bowl. (It will take about 1 hour to be ready to spread on a cool cake. You can also put it covered into a fridge to set overnight but must warm to room temperature to use.
Once the cakes are completely cool, you can assemble the cake. Place the bottom layer onto a cake plate and using spatula spread with some chocolate ganache.
Top with the second cake layer and continue with the third and fourth layer. If the cake feels little wobbly you can insert a bamboo skewer through the centre to keep it stable.
Decorate your cake to your liking with fresh seasonal fruit and flowers. Topping ideas -fresh black grapes and blackberries, autumnal flowers.
Enjoy!
NOTES: This recipe is for 2 layers, I made it twice to get 4 layers. You can double the recipe to make 4 layers at the same time or make the recipe twice, depending on how many 6" cake tins you have. You can replace the buckwheat flour with any other gluten-free flour of your choice.