Collaborator recipe: vegan Queen Elizabeth cake (from Cloclo Choco)

With just a few days left before Christmas, I’d like to share with you one of my favourite recipes: a vegan Queen Elizabeth cake, the perfect holiday dessert!

 INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

- 1 cup boiling water + 1 cup chopped pitted dates

- ¼ cup water + 2 tbsp. chia seeds

- ½ cup melted margarine (or melted butter, melted coconut oil, grapeseed oil or other vegetable oil)

- ½ cup cane sugar

- ½ cup brown sugar

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour (for a gluten-free version, use the "La Merveilleuse" flour from Cuisine L'Angélique)

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- ½ tsp. salt

- 1 cup grated unsweetened coconut

 For the topping:

- ⅓ cup of margarine (or other)

- ⅔ cup coconut milk

- 1¼ cup brown sugar

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 cup of grated unsweetened coconut

PREPARATION

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F, then butter an Angel’s food cake pan (24 cm in diameter and 10 cm deep) and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, pour the boiling water over the chopped dates. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. In another small bowl, mix water and chia seeds. Let sit until mixture thickens.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together melted margarine, cane sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Add chia seeds and dates, then stir.
5. In another bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add in the wet mixture while stirring with a spatula. Add the grated coconut and stir again.
6. Pour mixture into buttered cake mold. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (Do not unmold cake right away.)

For the topping:

1. In a saucepan, melt margarine, coconut milk, brown sugar and vanilla over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then whisk over low heat with. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring. Remove from heat.
2. Using a skewer, poke about twenty holes in the cake. Pour 2 ladles of mixture on the cake.
3. Add grated coconut to mixture, mix well.
4. Spread the rest of the mixture over the cake.

Cake assembly:

 Set oven to "Broil". Place cake in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the cake half a turn every minute to brown the coconut evenly. Take it out of the oven as soon as the coconut is golden brown.

1. Let cool down before unmolding.

3.To unmold: take the cake in one hand and turn it over quickly in the other hand, then take it out of the mold and put it on a plate.

Preparation: 1h30 / Cooking time: 50 to 55 minutes / Yields: 12 to 16 servings