GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

4 tbsp flax meal
1 cup soy milk
1 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
3 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup rice syrup
2/3 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup melted vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup pureed banana
1/2 cup pureed beetroot
1/2 cup vegan yoghurt
1 cup raw cacao
1 cup almond meal
2 cups gluten free flour

1/2 cup orange marmalade.
1/4 cup raspberry jam. Good quality stuff. Ideally made by your friend, Chloe’s mumma.

1/2 cup non-dairy milk of your choosing (I used soy)
1/4 cup room temperature vegan butter (I use nuttelex)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
200g dark chocolate

Cake:
Preheat oven to 180 C.
Combine flax meal with 10tbsp boiling water. Stir and set aside.
Combine milk and ACV. Stir and let sit for a few minutes.
Add to milk, baking powder, rice syrup, sugar, salt, butter, vanilla, banana, beetroot, yoghurt and flax. Stir to combine.
Add cacao, almond meal and flour. Stir to combine.
Spray a layered cake tin set (five shallow tins so you don’t have to slice a big cake later) and pour about a cup of batter in to each one. Divide any remaining batter among the tins until it’s been evenly distributed.
Bake in the oven for approx 30minutes. The cakes are ready when a skewer comes out of the centre clean.
Let cool and refrigerate.

Icing:
Heat milk and butter in microwave for approx 1 minute until warm.
Add chocolate, let sit for a couple of minutes then stir.
Once all melted and smooth, add icing sugar. Whisk until well combined.

Jammy Layers:
Combine marmalade and jam. Add 1/3 cup icing mix to jam and stir to combine.

Take chilled layers out of the fridge. Put 1/4 of the jam/chocolate icing mix on each layer and spread to the edges and top with the fifth layer. Return to fridge for about an hour.
Ice with remaining icing and return to fridge until ready to serve.

Notes

• I always use raw cacao. It is not heat treated so it retains nutrients. Eat that chocolate!

• Gluten free flour is readily available at the supermarket.

• re: the cake tins. You can cook this in one regular sized cake tin and slice it later, just be mindful of the cooking as it will need to be in the oven for longer. Just check it every so often after half an hour has passed and take it out once a wooden skewer comes out clean from the centre.