Thursday, July 12, 2007

Amazin' Amazon chocolate cake (eggless)

Yesterday evening I was sorting out some of the hundreds of pages of dessert and baking recipes that I've printed out over the years - and yeah, only a fraction of them have been tried and posted. The others were printed out at various moments when I was feeling energetic and optimistic (not to mention, overenthusiastic) about trying complicated gateaux or gourmet dessert recipes...

But in the end, all I've ever done is read through them with just two thoughts running through my head over and over during the reading process.

The first thought: "Wow, that sounds so fantastic, too bad it's so complicated". And the next one: "Too bad I dont know anybody who would make it..." - and most important, this - "...and call me over to taste it!... followed by the first thought, followed yet again by the second thought (ofc with the all-important second part of the second thought)... and so on. You get the idea. I could probably go on like this all evening, so the expedient thing would be to agree that yes, you get the idea. :)

Anyway, I came across this recipe that had the intriguing title of "Amazon cake". Amazon cake? I thought. Why Amazon cake? So I quickly read through the recipe, which was ridiculously simple and, better yet, didnt require eggs. Ah-HA. The printout said that the recipe was from The New York Times, adapted from Cafe Beaujolais by Margaret Fox and John S Bear. That's all I know about it. (It never got around to explaining why Amazon, so I remain intrigued. And ignorant.)

So of course, since chocolate cake is the all-time favourite of my family, I made it. Easy as easy as can be and the cake was quite lovely. You wouldnt have known that it didnt contain eggs. I cut down on the sugar in the cake from 1 cup to slightly less than 3/4 cup, but that's because I was planning to frost it. If you dont want to frost it, use 1 heaping cup sugar for the cake.

The crumb was moist but not dense, and the end product disappeared like magic.
The Amazin' Amazon cake is here to stay!

Recipe for:
Amazin' Amazon eggless chocolate cake



1-1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp oil (corn oil, canola, vegetable or sunflower oil)
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 cup cold water

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease a round 9" baking pan.

2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.



3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, vanilla and vinegar with 1 cup cold water.



4. Then add the dry ingredients (flour mix) and whisk it all together, until the batter is lump free.



5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or till the cake tests done.



6. Cool before removing from the pan. Frost the cake when it is completely cool (any frosting is fine), or just sift icing sugar over the top before serving.

19 comments:

bee said...

i've bookmarked this, and will be makng this soon. it's vegan to boot, and i have the perfect vegan frosting for this.

Roopa (KitchenAromas) said...

Amazing indeed! Something tells me that I can make a batch of plain vanilla batter skipping the cocoa along with this, and make a marble cake! I am going to try! :)

Anonymous said...

Bee: Waiting to see the perfect vegan frosting recipe!

Kitchenaromas: Will keep an eye out for your version! :)

Laavanya said...

Hi! Cake looks good. I made a similar version last year (when I was not taking eggs as part of an elimination diet). It seems to be very similar to your recipe.
http://cookerycorner.blogspot.com/2007/06/eggless-chocolate-cake.html

Suganya said...

So simple. With all that chocolate it sure is tasty. You know something, yr maple cake was the first eggless cake i have ever tried. It was for a friend who doesnt eat eggs (like yr mom, it was for her that you made that cake). I dint know before that cake can be made w/o eggs.

archana said...

I am bookmarking this. It is so simple to make, I love such recipes and that too eggless :)The cake is looking too good .

Anonymous said...

Laavanya: I looked up your recipe - and yes, it IS very similar! Where did you get your recipe?

Suganya: Some eggless cakes come out very well, this is one of them.

Archana: Thanks! :) It is very simple to make!

Srivalli said...

Great one!..so simple ...I also eat only eggless cakes, so will have to prepare it myself if on the mood to try..will surely try this. I make with Condensed Milk ...

Srivalli
www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I've never made an eggless cake -- I have hardly made any cakes at all. Never heard of vinegar in cake either -- maybe it reacts with the soda to produce a rise. Would like to try this one, it looks so yummy with that ice cream! This time I'll take inventory first ;)

Shruthi said...

Why do you do this to me? :( Especially when I have no time to make anything right now? Btw, that Shepherd's pie of yours has been haunting me in my dreams... gotta make it sometime soon!

Anonymous said...

Srivalli: Do try it. :)

Linda: No, pls dont take inventory! I'd rather you tweaked the recipe and created a new one :)

Shruthi: Awww... maybe somebody could make it for you? :)

Terri the terrific said...

The kids insisted I bake this cake asap, so I had to substitute lemon juice for vinegar and Ovaltine for cocoa, and it still came out great. It tastes even better the next day. Thanks for a great recipe!

Shammi said...

Terri: You're welcome! :)

Priyanka said...

You have a great blog going here- love your recipes- am bookmarking a lot of them to try out. thanks a lot.

Anonymous said...

For Amazon chocolate cake .We need vanilla extract, what is vanilla extract, what if i exclude it?

What can b used as an replacement 4 egg, 4 any kind of cake? ihave tried many alternatives n the cake turnes out as dull,heavy n hard :/

Above all keep up the good work, n best wishes.

Anonymous said...

Priyanka: Thanks! :)

Anon: Thanks for your wishes :) To answer your question, vanilla extract is the flavouring derived from the vanilla bean. It's also (mistakenly) called vanilla essence, although usually essence is a by-product of the petroleum industry!

As for what to use as egg replacements... well, I'm still looking for the perfect substitute. Some eggless cakes turn out beautifully - others are disastrous! I'll be trying more eggless cakes, so keep an eye on this site! :) There are a few recipes I've already tried and posted on this site.

NS said...

Hi.. the cake looks yummy! Can you tell me how to do this in a microwave oven? Assuming u have done it in a baking oven.
Thanks!

bee said...

shammi, didn't get around to making this. i will, i promise. the perfect vegan frosting that i mentioned is here:
http://jugalbandi.info/2007/02/chocolate-rum-cake/

Anonymous said...


I have the Cafe Beaujolais cookbook. In there, the also have a recipe for Amazon Cream Cheese Cupcakes.

Mix 2 eggs
12 oz natural cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 c chocolate chips
1/2 c chopped walnuts.

Fill 36 paper-lined muffin times about 1/2 full of batter. Top with 1 generous tablespoon of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.