It was my mum’s birthday recently and she has a lactose intolerance. She loves her cake, and prior to her allergies, a lover of chocolate. I wanted to make her a cake, and it had to be chocolate. An American friend of mine passed me a recipe that used oil as the fat, and had no eggs or milk either. It gains its rise from the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Don’t worry, you can’t taste the vinegar. It’s a very small amount.

The good thing is, this cake is robust enough to layer, yet still light and incredibly moist. I filled it with buttercream (made with soya spread), and covered in marshmallow fondant – my new favourite thing!

My mother’s favourite colour is red, and she is Welsh by birth, so when considering decoration, there really was only one way to go. I drew the shape of the dragon free-hand with an edible food pen, then painted the design with confectioner’s glaze lightly coloured with food colouring. I then piped edges with some black royal icing to give the design a stained-glass look.

Dairy-free Chocolate Cake

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Ingredients

• 500g Plain Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 60g Cocoa Powder
• 2 teaspoons Bicarbonate of Soda
• 450g Caster Sugar
• 240ml Vegetable Oil (or any flavourless oil)
• 480ml Cold Water
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons White Wine Vinegar

Directions

1.	Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180ºC / 350ºF
2.	Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl
3.	In a measuring jug, add hot water to two teaspoon of instant coffee granules and stir well, then add the cold water
4.	In another jug, measure the oil, then add in the vanilla and vinegar
5.	Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain
6.	Divide the batter between two pans and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
7.	Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to fully cool
8.	Fill and top with the frosting of your choice