Vegan + Gluten free chocolate cake for the win

 Hi! I'm back. Sorry for the intermission (not like I'm thinking a lot of people really care), BUT the past week has been pretty damn rough. My child is teething and it is not going well for us at the Bushong house. 103 temp 3 nights in a row was the cherry on top. Anyways, chocolate cake. I love it. I love chocolate. So, gimme! I also love the thought of allowing my child to indulge in a cupcake, a slice of pie, those yummy gooey brownies every once in a while because he's a kid, and childhood should be full of delicious things. But, lets get real here...I am not about to load him up with sugar and dairy. Two reasons: Sugar for a 1 year old; no. And dairy makes Silas cranky in the most unpleasant way (bless my husband who is usually the one to handle those diapers). I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what I can make my handsome little babe for his first birthday. Ta-da! My lovely cousin post a vegan chocolate cake recipe on her blog. Perfect. All I had was gluten free flour in my house so I subbed out the regular stuff for it and there you have it, a vegan + gluten free chocolate cake. It taste amazing. And yes, it has sugar. You can't win every battle. Enjoy! xo

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I subbed out same amount of gluten-free all purpose flour)
• 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp of xantham gum (only if you are using gluten-free flour. Otherwise, omit this ingredient)
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa (unsweetened)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp.  salt
• 1 tsp. white vinegar (I used apple cider)
• 1 tsp.  pure vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I used coconut oil; melted.)
• 1 Cup water 

Directions

Heat oven to 350. Grease your baking pan or cake pan. Mix all ingredients together (you're supposed to mix it all in the dish you bake it in, I went ahead and used a separate bowl). Poor batter into pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 25 minutes. Check a few minutes prior to that time and use a tooth pick to check for doneness (?). Do not over bake! When done, cool on a rack completely before frosting.

Chocolate frosting:

I came up with this on a whim because cake absolutely needs frosting! In a bowl whip together 1 cup of organic (non-gmo!) shortening, 1 smashed ripe banana, 1 tsp vanilla extract, coco powder (however much you like, I like it super chocolatey), and agave (although, I would have preferred to use powdered sugar). Whip until light and fluffy. Taste to make sure it is sweet enough, you should be using unsweetened coco powder.

*original recipe can be found here and my cousins blog can be found here.