Moosewood Vegan Chocolate Cake!

This quick and easy cake recipe is inspired by Moosewood Restaurant. It is not only vegan, but is mess-free and delicious too! To begin you will need:

1 1/2 unbleached white flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I'm using grape seed oil because it has a more mild taste)

1 cup cold water (you can also use brewed coffee)

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (I'm adding 1 tsp of mint extract to give it the mint twist!)

2 tablespoons vinegar

and an 8" by 8" baking pan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees!

Then, in the baking pan, mix together:

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

and 1 cup sugar.

Mix until well combined

In a two cup measuring cup add:

1 cup cold water or brewed coffee

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Then, pour them into the dry ingredients (in the pan) and mix until combined.

It may sound odd to put vinegar in a cake, but it works! The chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar creates a fluffy texture. Be sure to do this quickly, lest you risk mixing out all the bubbles and end up with a dense cake.

After I add the vinegar I like to use paper towel to wipe excess batter away from the edges so it doesn't burn and it gives a cleaner look.

Once you have combined the vinegar (it's okay if there are light swirls), put the cake in the oven at 375 degrees, starting with 30-35 minutes. Test the cake by checking whether a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean, if not then put it back in the oven. Then, test every five minutes or so until baked all the way through.

Slice the cake into whatever size and enjoy!