In June last year, my husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary, and our younger son, who was ten at the time, declared that morning that he would make us a cake. He came up with this recipe for a chocolate poppy seed cake completely by himself, and it turned out to be finger-licking good! 🥰😍😋🤤 Hence, I’ve named it “Best Vegan Chocolate Poppy Seed Cake.” Since then, we’ve prepared this cake multiple times, and each time it’s been a complete success, with the tray getting finished within a day or two. That’s only if we don’t bring everything out on the table at once. 🙂
The recipe contains sugar, so it’s not the usual dessert recipe you might find on my blog, but it has significantly less sugar compared to typical cakes. It’s made with whole wheat flour, plus it’s oil-free. So, in my opinion, it still falls into the healthier dessert category.
Some of you may be surprised to hear that a ten-year-old completely devised this irresistible and successful recipe on his own, but he is far from an inexperienced cook. Ever since he was very little, he has been interested in cooking, especially sweets, but also in baking and dough preparation in general. He enjoys making pizza, bread, experimenting with cakes, chopping potatoes, and other vegetables. When I was little, my friend and I made a mud cake, but my son, at six years old, made a real cake with his friend, topped with pudding. 🙂 Of course, there was always an adult with them to ensure they didn’t get burned and everything was safe, but it was still very impressive.
Be sure to try it. It’s suitable for beginners. Since it doesn’t contain oil, I recommend keeping it in a sealed container to stay fresh longer. We served it with strawberries, as it was June, and they pair excellently, but it’s delicious even without them.
The Best Vegan Poppy Seed Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- Baking tray 35 x 27 cm
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 500 g of whole spelt flour
- 150 g of sugar we used whole sugar
- 100 g of poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon of ground vanilla
- 450 ml of oat milk
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
For the chocolate glaze:
- 80 g of dark chocolate minimum 60% cocoa
- 3 tablespoons of oat milk
To serve with the cake:
- 500 g of fresh strawberries optional
Instructions
- Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly.
- Gradually add oat milk and mix until a uniform mixture is obtained.
- At the very end, add vinegar and gently stir the mixture with a spoon. The vinegar will react with the baking soda and create bubbles that will raise the dough.
- Pour into a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven at 180 °C (356 °F) for about 20 minutes.
- Mix chocolate with oat milk and melt (in a double boiler or in a microwave).
- Spread the glaze over the cake while it’s still warm.
- Cut into squares and serve immediately with (optional) fresh strawberries.
