In case anyone has a late night chocolate craving during the blizzard:
No gluten, dairy, egg, or soy... Chocolate Cake:
1 ½ cups rice flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup arrowroot
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
* [½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon 5-spice
¼ teaspoon allspice] *(optional)
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup shortening
½ cup yogurt
½ cup pumpkin or other fruit or vegetable purée
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup black tea (brewed and cooled to room temperature)
Ingredient notes:
I've tested this with almond milk yogurt, and coconut milk yogurt.
It works best with mashed pumpkin or sweet potato, but mashed carrots will also do.
The spices are optional. If I had to choose one, I'd go with the allspice because it enhances the chocolate flavor.
It's flexible and forgiving. The cocoa powder could probably be shaved down to one-third of a cup in the interest of saving money on an expensive ingredient.
For a less dense cake, increase the baking soda by one-quarter teaspoon. Any more than that will make it too airy and flaky.
I usually sprinkle a little granulated sugar (with or without a dash of the cake spices) over it before baking, but it occurred to me that people like to frost cakes, so I left it out. Frosting is too sweet for me, so when I want to make it special, I melt a half a cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, then drizzle it over the cake.
Over the holidays, I made it with a half cup of chopped maraschino cherries added to the batter. I also made a gaudy pink icing with the cherry syrup, Cointreau, and confectioner's sugar. It was wildly sweet, but my husband enjoyed it.
I'm sure it could be baked in round pans to make a layer cake, but I don't have any, so I can't recommend a pan size or baking times.
Directions:
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, cream the shortening together with the brown sugar. Add the vanilla, and the fruit or vegetable purée, followed by about one-quarter of the flour mixture. Add the yogurt, then another small portion of the dry ingredients; mix to incorporate. Add the tea a little at a time, alternating with the remaining dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread the mixture evenly into a lightly greased 8 x 11.5 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave the cake in the oven for 5 more minutes. Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack before slicing.
