Egg-Free Cocoa Spice Sponge Cake

Of course, you probably know me very well for invading Vocal with my film studies stuff and articles entitled ‘a filmmaker’s guide’. I have often explained that I love to bake as well. Since I was young, I have loved the idea, the creativity and the relaxation of baking different things. I love to make macarons, layer cakes and gingerbread in particular and the activity of it really gets me away from my laptop (where I’m sure you know that I spend most of my life). So, I hope you enjoy me talking about what I bake and why I bake it complete with pictures (if not very good) of me actually baking, my baked goods in the process of being created and when they’re finished. I’m really happy to share this with you. And if you like, you can show me your baking (yes, I spend a lot of time writing, but I also spend a lot of time reading other people’s articles!), I would love to see it. Since I was in school, I was always interested in creating things, whether that be pieces of writing, welding things to make small statues or baking foods and making sweets (candy, if you’re American). I hope you enjoy looking at some of the stuff that has honestly kept me sane, because I seem to be going slightly mad.

Egg-Free Cocoa Spice Sponge Cake

I love cocoa and spice because it reminds me of winter and Christmas. It reminds me of ginger-spiced hot chocolate and is a perfect bridge between the autumn and winter seasons. It's soft and light with a beautiful flavour that is not too chocolatey and it is not too spicy. It tastes nice and warming, going brilliantly with a cup of coffee in my favourite flavour - black.

Here's the recipe then!

The Cake

• 375g Self Raising Flavour
• 25g Cocoa Powder
• 10g Ground Cinnamon
• 15g Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 125g Softened Butter
• 250ml of Almond Milk
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Blend together the spices, cocoa and flour with the bicarbonate of soda
3. Mix together the butter, almond milk and vanilla together
4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and whisk together until combined
5. Split between two cake tins and bake in the oven for half an hour
6. Cool for fifteen minutes in the fridge

The Decoration

1. Spread a jam of your choice on the inside of the sandwich cakes and then spread a thin layer on top of the cake - a very thin layer
2. On the top, put on either glacé or maraschino cherry halves
3. Put it in the fridge to harden a little and then serve.

Enjoy your cake!

Variations on this cake:

Other ways you can make this cake is to replace the cocoa with lemon zest to make a lemon and spice cake. Another combination you could try is to replace the cinnamon with ground almonds. Ginger and ground almonds normally taste great together. When it comes to it, the best flavour for this cake is either the one in the recipe or putting some ground almonds in the cocoa mix along with apple sauce in replacement of the vanilla. People sometimes add vinegar to this recipe because one teaspoon reacting with the bicarbonate of soda makes a slightly fluffier cake. It really depends on how fluffy and light you want the cake. The bicarbonate of soda and vinegar are used to replace the egg as a binding agent, but then again the vinegar is not actually required if you are using almond milk because it binds perfectly with the bicarbonate of soda anyway.

In conclusion, this cake is the perfect Christmas cake, you can put in sultanas or cranberries into the mixture on about one hundred grams in the cake mixture should do it. Another thing you could add to the mixture is some honey or maple syrup to add some sweetness to the spice, along with decorating with mixed nuts and raisins, this could make an excellent cake for sharing after a nice warm dinner. But, the simplest mixture is always the one in the recipe. Nice and warm, eaten with a smooth cup of coffee and enjoyed with the comfort of your family