There is nothing quite as satisfying as a cup of tea, complemented by a slice of warm, melt-in-your-mouth, gooey, chocolate cake. Have we got your taste buds tingling? We hope so, because here’s one of our very own V-Land home-made recipes to share with you lovely lot!

Ingredients:

Chocolate cake mix:

200g self raising flour

150g cocoa

150g caster sugar

2 medium overripe bananas or 3/4 cup strawberry jam

1 tsp vanilla essence

6 tbsp soy milk (or your fave alternative plant milk ie: coconut/oat/almond/cashew etc)

1 large mixing bowl, wooden spoon, 2 small cake tins

Chocolate ganache icing mix:

200g vegan chocolate of your choice

120ml Alpro single cream

200g icing sugar

Small saucepan, mixing bowl, wooden spoon

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6. Line cake tins with greaseproof paper and olive oil.

• Add the self-raising flour, cocoa, caster sugar and either the over-ripe bananas or strawberry jam (whichever you opted to use) to a large mixing bowl and mix together with your hands until light and crumbly.

• Add the 6 tablespoons of plant milk of your choice, mix with a wooden spoon and until a runny batter consistency. Add more if required until runny. Lastly add the teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix through.This is your chocolate cake mix.

• Distribute the cake mix evenly between both cake tins and pop in the oven for 20 minutes. At 20 mins pop a fork in the middle of the cakes to check if they’re cooked through. If still runny, cook for a further 5 mins and repeat. When the fork comes out ever so slightly wet, your cakes are ready to remove from the oven to cool.

• Whilst cakes are cooling, prepare your chocolate ganache: 

• Add 120ml alpro single cream to a small saucepan and stir continuously on a low heat with a wooden spoon, once hot (but not boiling) add in the dark chocolate gradually piece by piece and continue to stir until smooth. Turn off the heat and then add the icing sugar gradually, whilst stirring, until you get a thick, runny, consistency. This is your chocolate ganache icing.

• By now your cakes should have cooled. Pop one as the base on a plate and slather generously with ganache, place the second cake on top and push down slightly. Lastly using a flat knife add the remaining ganache and slather over the top and sides. Leave to cool at room temperature for a min of 30 mins before serving.Continue to mix everything around to avoid anything sticking to the pan. Reduce the heat if things are sticking.

• Extra tip - goes great with strawberries and / or sprinkles - tuck in!