So, shall we take another stroll through Lenten cooking? This time you're in for a truly delicious and deeply chocolatey Lenten cake complete with filling and glaze — you could even call it a full-on Lenten layer cake. I already have a couple of almost-Lenten sponge cakes, like this Chocolate Cake. It turns out that if you replace the milk with water and leave out the egg in that kind of sponge, you get a completely Lenten yet wonderfully successful result. Thanks to the vegetable oil, the sponge has a really interesting moist texture, and thanks to the cocoa it has a rich, deep flavor and aroma. It even reminds me a little of Brownies, precisely because of that moist, melt-in-your-mouth quality. All that's left is to pair this beautiful sponge with something sweet-tart for the filling, and of course finish it off with a glaze — which I also borrowed from the cake mentioned above, dropping the milk without a second thought :-)
Ingredients:
- 200 g flour
- 200 g sugar
- 20 g cocoa
- 70 ml vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder (level)
- 0.5 tsp salt
- Filling:
- 6-7 tbsp sweet-tart jam or preserves (or 150 g frozen berries, see below)
- Glaze:
- 3 tbsp cocoa
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
How to cook lenten chocolate cake with jam
Place all the ingredients except the vegetable oil into one bowl. Be sure to use a good-quality cocoa powder for the sponge — drinks like Nesquik or cheap, low-quality cocoa powder won't work here. Good cocoa is the foundation of this cake's flavor.
Gradually pour in 250 ml of water and stir until completely smooth. Add the vegetable oil and stir to combine (the oil should be refined).
Pour the batter into a pan — mine is 20 cm in diameter. I lined it with two strips of parchment paper to make it easier to remove the finished cake.
Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the finished cake cool completely.
For the filling, I used 150 g of frozen black currants — I poured boiling water over them to thaw them quickly, then added 3 tbsp of sugar and blended them in a food processor to make a thick jam from the pureed currants and sugar. You can do the same with other frozen berries, such as cranberries, red currants, lingonberries, etc. Or you can simply use any store-bought sweet-tart jam or preserves.
Slice the cake into two layers. Place the first layer on a plate and spread a thick layer of jam over it.
Make the glaze. Combine the cocoa, sugar, vegetable oil, and 3–4 tablespoons of water in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir well. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, for about 3–5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Don't expect the glaze to get very thick — since it's completely Lenten, there's no butter, no heavy cream, or even sour cream to give it body and richness. Essentially, it's just a very strongly brewed cocoa sauce.
I also sprinkled the cake with shredded coconut and garnished it with currants. It's best to let the cake sit for at least a couple of hours — room temperature is fine.
This Lenten cake with jam and glaze is not only completely Lenten and vegan, but also — and this matters — it's made with very accessible ingredients and comes together incredibly easily. The cake turns out wonderfully tender, moist, and juicy, with a vanilla-chocolate flavor and aroma complemented by the sweet-tart fruitiness of the filling and the pleasant bitterness of the glaze!
Comments