Inspired by Louise Brown’s vegan trifle recipe, I decided to give a variation for the cake part a go using another favourite of many vegans, the Chia egg. This can also good for anyone on a low histamine diet. The chia egg builds in some moisture and binding power to the recipe and means that slightly less oil is necessary.
Chia egg
For a chia egg, use a tablespoon of chia seeds and 4 tablespoons of water. Leave them
to soak for at least 30 minutes so the chia seeds swell up. Unlike egg with a sell-by date the
chia egg may be rolled out on demand from the store cupboard.
Chia egg cake
110 g flour of your choice (coconut, buckwheat, corn, supermarket gluten free blend…)
90 g sugar
1 chia egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100 ml non-dairy milk
A couple of tablespoons of oil (sunflower or olive oil)
Spices of your choice (ginger, turmeric)
A round tinfoil tin recycled from the purchase of a quiche or pie is ideal; similarly, a rectangular tin recycled from an oven ready dish from the supermarket is fine.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes on 180 degrees. The cake can easily sit alongside another dish in the oven to maximize the use of power.
The ginger spices work particularly well.
As a variation, you can substitute some of the flour with ground almonds which produces a
cake with hints of marzipan flavour, although it adds calories! Corn flour is best mixed with another variety of flour as it tends to produce a heavier cake on its own.
I’ve also tried a variation of the cake with cocoa powder.
The cake is very nice fresh out of the oven when it is still warm or with custard!
