The Chocolate Cake To Live For

Serves 10 to 12

What You Need For The Cake:

• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup soymilk
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons balsamic or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

What You Do For The Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and line with parchment paper two 9-inch cake pans.
2. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Stir with a wire whisk to mix. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients with a wire whisk until foamy.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly until the batter is smooth. Don’t panic, this batter is very thin.
4. Pour batter into pans. Bake on center rack of preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until center of cake springs back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted into center of cake removes clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire cooling racks for 10 minutes. Use a dinner knife to release cakes from sides of pans. Turn layers out of pans directly onto racks, cool completely. Wrap layers tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate before assembling the cake.

What You Need For The Ultimate Chocolate Frosting:

• 3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons kuzu or 1/4 cup arrowroot, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water

What You Do For The Ultimate Chocolate Frosting:

1. Put cocoa, maple sugar, and salt into food processor and pulse to combine. With the motor running, pour boiling water through the feed tube. Stop the processor, scrape down the sides, and add maple syrup and vanilla. Process again until smooth.
2. Pour sauce into a pot over low heat and bring to just under a boil. Add dissolved kuzu or arrowroot to hot sauce, stirring rapidly. Cook kuzu 1 to 2 minutes after the boil, arrowroot just to the boil. Pour frosting into a container, cool 10 minutes, cover and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight. It may need even longer chilling before the consistency is just right, but it gets there.
3. To assemble the cake, place strips of waxed paper around the edge of a serving plate. Put one layer on the plate, spread with one-third of the frosting. Cover with the second layer, press down lightly. Frost sides and top of cake with the remaining frosting. Chill the cake for at least one hour or up to overnight. Remove waxed paper before serving.