Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake for My Sister

I know I have not been updating the blog as often as I should. I've just been swarmed with so much work this month, it feels like I'm holding down a full time job and then some. I have been cooking but I haven't been struck by inspiration due to the busy schedule. In fact, I'm a little ashamed to admit that for awhile hubby and I haven't been eating well. Anyway, that's all over now and I'm trying to find ways to cook fast and with some flair so if you have any suggestions please feel free to share. 

This cake is my sister's birthday cake. My mum requested for something very chocolaty and wanted it vegan so that we can all enjoy it. This is my first vegan cake for my family and hence I wanted it to be fabulous. However, I also did not want the cake to be too high in fats, after all my parents will be consuming it and hence I wanted it to be healthier than conventional cakes. 

So, I used the VCTOW's basic chocolate cake recipe, substituted part of the soy milk for coconut milk, cut back on the oil and replaced it with apple sauce and used a combination of organic sugar and dark brown sugar instead of white sugar. I also added coverture chocolate chips in the batter. For the frosting, I did VCTOW's mousse frosting with silken tofu, melted non-dairy chocolate and coconut cream. Yes, it is not fat free, after all it is a cake but I rather not let my parents have artificial margarine. I assembled the cake with some sliced strawberries and topped the remaining strawberries for the top.


So how was it? My family loved it! No one knew it was vegan except for my mum (that's cos she asked me to make a vegan cake). My sister said it tasted store bought! The cake was moist and the frosting did not have any soy beany taste. My hubby and I ate nearly half the cake and we didn't have the usual cloying feel that we used to get with traditional buttery cakes. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to make this cake again!