Eggless Chocolate Walnut Cake

It's been a while since I baked last.I mean,in my kitchen and in my oven.When I was in my hometown a while back,me and amma did a good amount of baking together.I had compiled a list of Eggless recipes and we baked a cake/cookie everyday I was there.The star of course,was Nankhatai.I will share the recipe for THE Nankhatai in a while.The best I've made so far.

Amma isn't very fond of Chocolate cakes,so despite wanting to bake this cake for long,I had to skip baking this.Made a mental note to bake this as soon as I landed in Chennai,but it wasn't to be.Life's quite busy these days and to measure,sift,line the pan and bake did seem like a bit too much work,yes it happens to me too!
 
While watching Masterchef last night,I saw this fudgy,gooey chocolate cake they made for a team challenge and thought to myself-this is it!I got to buck up and bake and the first bake after the break's got to be a chocolate cake.(it rhymes!!)

The recipe is quite easy to put together.It uses oil in place of butter(no waiting for butter to soften)and chopped walnuts and chocolate chips(my addition)as a natural topping.I love the combination of chocolate and walnut and added a tsp of instant coffee to the batter to pep up the flavor and the resulting cake's a winner.Fudgy and chocolatey with the crunch of walnuts,this one's truly a chocoholics treat.

I
Eggless Chocolate Walnut Cake
Recipe adapted from PAB

Ingredients

Flour - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Instant coffee powder - 1 tsp
Thick curd(homemade) - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 1/4 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla bean - 1/2 of 1 bean,scraped(or else use a tsp of Vanilla extract)
Chopped Walnuts - 1/2 cup
Vanilla bean sugar(or regular sugar) - 1 tbsp
Chocolate chips - 2 tbsp

Method

Preheat oven to 200C.Grease and line an 8' round cake tin.
Sift together flour,cocoa powder and coffee powder,reserve.
In a mixing bowl,beat together sugar and yogurt till creamy.Mix in baking powder,baking soda and scraped vanilla bean,beat well and let it rest for a couple of minutes or till bubbles start to appear on top.
Beat in the oil.Add the sifted flour mix and beat till you get a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Sprinkle the top with chopped walnuts,chocolate chips and sugar.
Bake at 200C for 10 minutes and 170C for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack for further cooling.

Notes

• Cool the cake completely before cutting.I was impatient and cut the cake while still warm(the batter was too delicious and I couldn't wait!).
• The cake remains soft even after refrigeration,but if you are not eating it immediately,cover the cake with a cling film on top and warm it up in the microwave just before serving.
• Though the cake is delicious on its own,it would pair up wonderfully with ice-cream or even some chilled coffee.

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