I used semi-dark chocolate and didn’t even add cocoa powder, since we don’t have any at the moment (and I was too lazy to run to the grocery). This produced an almost milk chocolate-like chocolate flavor. I don’t see why a darker chocolate wouldn’t work as well – the flavor would probably just be more deep and not quite as sweet. This cake really doesn’t need any frosting, but I might drizzle some more chocolate over the top for a fancier presentation.

UPDATE: Alice from Veganland thinks this cake is totally cakey! And now that I’ve learnt that any cake can be cakey as long as it’s delicious, I have to admit that we were wrong – this is indeed a cakey cake!

The Chocolate Batter:

• 220 g semi-dark chocolate (40-50 % cocoa)
• 350 g firm silken tofu (Mori-Nu vacuum packed is what I use)
• 2 dl sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
• 3 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

The first thing I did was to preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I melted the chocolate and set it aside.

Now, I prepared the batter: I placed the tofu, sugar, oil, vanilla sugar, salt, cinnamon, and coffee liqueur in a large mixing bowl and puréed them with our immersion blender until everything was smooth and there were absolutely no tofu pieces visible.

I mixed the flour with the baking soda in a smaller bowl. Then I poured the melted chocolate in the tofu bowl, stirred with a fork until completely combined, and then added the flour mixture in the bowl as well. I stirred with the fork until just combined – some tiny lumps remained  – and then poured the batter in a glass baking dish (15 cm X 23 cm) covered with parchment paper.

Now, I baked the cake in 175 degrees for 35 minutes, until it was firm to the touch but still a little jiggly in the center. A toothpick inserted in the center did not come out quite clean at this point, but it wasnt’t soaked in batter either.

I think this cake was best when still a little warm, but it does keep in the fridge for a few days at least (or until it’s all gone, most likely). I like to warm it up a little bit but Heikki prefers enjoying it straight out of the fridge – it’s delicious either way.

The crust I made was really nice too, and its crunchy texture was a great compliment to the smooth filling. We’d left the sides of our springform pan over at a friend’s house, so had to use a pie tray instead, but that didn’t really cause any problems.

The Crust:

• 1 and 1/2 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 dl potato starch
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon muscovado sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 50 g margarine, cold
• 2 tablespoons soy milk, cold

I first mixed the dry ingredients together, then added the cold margarine, and mixed with a fork until crumbly. Then I added the soy milk and stirred until the mixture was sticky, and then pressed in the bottom our prepared pie tray with fingertips dipped in cold water. I baked the crust for about 17-20 minutes in 175 degrees Celsius, on the middle rack of the oven, until the sides were just lightly brown. Then I let the crust cool down before preparing the filling.

The crust puffed up quite a bit during the baking process, but settled once removed from the oven.

The Filling:

• 350 g silken tofu (we had Mori-Nu firm)
• 200 g vegan chocolate
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons agave syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 dl coffee liqueur
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur

First, I melted the chocolate in a water bath, and set it aside to cool down a little. Then I measured everything else in a mixing bowl, and blended with our immersion blender until smooth. Now, I added the melted chocolate in the mix, and stirred until combined.

When the crust had cooled, I brushed the sides of our pie tray with a little bit of canola oil. Then I poured the filling over the crust, spread it with a butter knife, and made wavy shapes on the surface with a fork. Now, we refrigerated the pie overnight to let the filling settle, but the original recipe said it would be good to eat after two hours.

We had some 99 % chocolate that needed using up, so I added that in with the regular semi dark variety. I also used an ice cube tray as a candy mold for half of the fudge, and followed Celine’s instructions with the rest. Both shapes were excellent and gone in no time!

My ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons soy milk
• 3 tablespoons coffee liqueur
• 170 g semi dark chocolate
• 30 g very dark chocolate (99%)
• 3 dl icing sugar
• 1 dl cashew nuts, toasted & chopped
• 1 dl hazelnuts, toasted & chopped
• (canola oil for brushing the mold)

Making the fudge is as easy as it gets: I just melted the chocolate, let it cool down for a bit, mixed the other ingredients in a bowl, and added the chocolate to the mix.

I brushed an ice cube tray with a little canola oil, filled the compartments with the fudge mixture, and covered with plastic film. The rest of the mixture I just poured in a rectangular dish covered with baking parchment, and then covered the fudge with another piece of baking parchment to level as per Celine’s instructions. Then I let the fudge set in the fridge for about 2 hours.

I removed the rectangular fudge from the dish, peeled the parchment paper, and simply cut it in pieces with a sharp knife.

To release the fudge cubes from the tray, I placed a cutting board over the tray, turned it upside down, and kept it under running hot water for a few seconds. Then I removed the cutting board, and tapped on the ice cube tray to release the fudge.

I stored the fudge in airtight containers in the fridge while it lasted.