MIKEY BELL

Yes. Emergency. In every sense of the word.

Not only does this cake provide you with a wonderful spongy chocolate cake for times when you need chocolate cake as a matter of critical urgency, but it’s also an incredibly handy recipe to have for when your cupboards are maybe a little bare.

It requires no eggs, no butter, no milk, no buttermilk… just some dry ingredients and a little oil and water. Which of course also, then makes this a vegan chocolate cake, meaning everybody at the party gets a slice.

If you don’t have a weighing scale or yours have miraculously broken the moment you need them (and this has happened to me), I’ve worked out that:

200g of flour is about 13 single shot glasses

200g of sugar is 10 single shot glasses full

I trust everyone has shot glasses.

Crisis avoided.

You can serve this cake humble and plain with a brew, but if you do fancy adorning it, you can turn to my Party Cake recipe for a fantastic vanilla buttercream (although that does remove the vegan aspect) but there’s nothing wrong with simply zapping 100g of dark chocolate in a microwave, stirring every 10 seconds or so until it’s melted and then drizzle over the cooled and sliced cake and then maybe throw over some of those absurdly rainbow hued Hundreds & Thousands, school canteen style.

Cuts into 9 squares

200g plain flour

200g caster sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

230ml cold water

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 23cm square baking tray.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and whisk to create a silky, lump-free batter.
3. Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake for 35 minutes, removing to check that a skewer (or strand of spaghetti) can be inserted and pulled out clean. If it can, it’s done.
4. Leave to cool. Slice. Serve.