Get into the Christmas spirit with this vegan-friendly Black Forest Gateau recipe
| 6th November 2020
As we witness the return of lockdown 2.0, it seems to me that we are in need of a banana bread recipe replacement, to fill our days as we countdown to December 2nd where hopefully, we can celebrate Christmas with a little more normality.
Thankfully, our friends at The Cherry Tree have provided an alternative festive recipe which is not only vegan friendly, but rich and tasty and full of seasonal goodness – the perfect winter pick me up, in the form of the classic Black Forest Gateau.
Vegan Black Forest Gateau with Morello Cherry Jam By Delia-Maria Asser
- 500g almond butter (you can use a different nut butter if you prefer)
- 160 ml maple syrup
- 4 mashed bananas
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 g cocoa powder
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 4 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 grated courgettes
- 100g vegan dark chocolate
- 450ml vegan double cream
- Fresh cherries to decorate
- Jar of The Cherry Tree Morello Cherry Jam
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 ° F/180 ° C/Gas Mark 6
- Grease two round cake tin s with oil (coco nut/olive). Line with baking paper
- In a bowl, m ix together maple syrup, almond butter, mashed banana s and vanilla extract
- Stir in the cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt
- Fold in the grated courgette
- Pour the mixture evenly into the cake tin s and bake at 30 - 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tins
- n a bowl, empty the jar of jam and add a splash of hot water to loosen the jam
- Use a skewer to pierce the cake layers before pouring half of the jam over each layer. It may be best to do the second layer once it is on top of the first
- Make the ganache by heating 15 0ml of the cream in a saucepan until very hot. Break the vegan chocolate up into small squares and place in a separate bowl. Pour the hot cre am over the chocolate and stir until fully combined. Allow to cool for 10 mins
- Spread the ganache over the cherry layer of the first cake layer – reserve half of the ganache to use on the top layer
- Whip the cream with a sprinkle of sugar and another ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Spread half of the whipped cream over the chocolate ganache on the first cake layer
- Place the second cake layer on top repeat the process of adding the jam, ganache and cream
- Decorate the top of the cake with fresh cherries and grated chocolate. Enjoy!