An old school British classic pudding that the whole family will devour! Serve with plant-based hot custard, cream or ice-cream for the best comfort food dessert.
baking pan/brownie pan about 11in long by 7 ½ in wide x 1 ½ inch tall (28 cm x 18 ½ x 4 cm)
Mixing bowl
mixing spoon
Jug or small bowl
cutlery fork
Saucepan for preparing chocolate ganache
cutlery tablespoon for stirring chocolate ganache
Ingredients
chocolate sponge:
200gramsself-raising flour[or plain/all-purpose flour with an extra ½ teaspoon of baking powder and pinch of salt mixed through]
2teaspoonsbaking powder
30gramscocoa powder
175gramscaster sugar[or granulated]
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
225millilitresdairy-free milk[we used soya milk but any milk will work fine]
6tablespoonsvegetable oil[such as rapeseed]
1gramssalta pinch
ganache topping:
100gramsdark chocolate [semi-sweet][check supermarket own brands of dark chocolate as many are accidently vegan friendly and cheaper dark chocolate does tend to melt well]
100gramsplant-based cream[such as Alpro/Elmlea/Oately plant cream, we used the Elmlea plant single cream)
2tablespoonsvegan cake sprinkles
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160 Fan/ 180 Celsius/ 350 Fahrenheit/ gas 4.
Prepare the baking pan by greasing with a little margarine or oil and lining with baking paper.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and pinch of salt to a mixing bowl.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mix and stir until combined into a smooth cake batter.
Pour the batter into the baking pan and level the surface if necessary.
Place onto the middle oven shelf and bake for 20-30 minutes. Our sponge was ready after 25 minutes using an electric oven [180C]. Fan ovens tend to bake faster so check after 20 minutes.
The sponge cake is ready when risen, firm, and a skewer popped in the middle comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the baking tray for at least 15 minutes before carefully removing out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once cool the sponge can be topped with the ganache.
Alternative serving suggestion - serve the cake hot:
If you would like to enjoy the cake as a hot dessert then you can have the chocolate ganache ready for when the cake comes out the oven. Once the cake has cooled for 5 minutes you can pour the hot ganache over the cake and the ganache will act as a chocolate sauce. You can scoop out portions of the cake the same way you would scoop out servings of fruit crumble or fruit crisps. As the cake is hot you will not be able to cut clean slices.
Preparing chocolate ganache:
Break the chocolate into even sized pieces and place into a saucepan.
100 grams dark chocolate [semi-sweet]
Pour in the vegan cream.
100 grams plant-based cream
Heat over the lowest heat and gently warm and stir until the chocolate has nearly melted. Remove the pan from the heat and mix quickly until the chocolate and cream are smooth, glossy and combined.
Pour the ganache evenly over the sponge cake - smoothing it out.
Scatter over the cake sprinkles and leave until the ganache has set firm.The ganache will set but will not go completely hard, it will retain a soft delicious bite. If in a hurry you can place the cake into the refrigerator so that the ganache can firm up quicker.
2 tablespoons vegan cake sprinkles
Once the ganache has set slice the cake into 8-12 square portions.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
Nutritional info does not include cake sprinkles.
Calories calculated are for 8 slices but this traybake can easily be divided into 12 smaller servings which would provide around 269 calories (includes the chocolate ganache topping).
Prep and cook time adds up to 45 minutes but do consider the time it takes to cool the sponge before adding the ganache frosting.
Store within a cake tin or covered container for 3-4 days. Or if necessary store within the refrigerator to keep the ganache firm.
Freeze with or without the ganache for up to 2-3 months - wrap with food wrap and place within a freezer container.
Thaw to room temperature without the food wrap.
A vegan hot custard recipe can be found over on our jam and coconut sponge recipe post within the recipe notes and FAQ section.
Elmlea plant single or double cream (find in the chilled section of supermarkets in the UK) can be used for this recipe both for the ganache and for pouring over the finished pudding.
Or chilled vegan Alpro single cream or Oatley cream (found on the shelf sections usually in the free from aisle of UK supermarkets can replace the Elmlea plant cream. Or use any plant cream equivalent.
You can use any type of milk for this recipe.
Instead of a ganache topping you can spread the cake with dairy-free chocolate spread, Biscoff spread or similar.
Cake sprinkles can be omitted or replaced with chocolate buttons, your preferred candies or sweets, crushed biscuits or cookies, or desiccated coconut.