Chocolate cake with Fudgy lotus/biscoff glaze

This recipe is the result of a total experiment involving an ignored jar of Lotus caramelised Biscoff spread that was sitting in the larder, looking all lonely and sorry for itself. I’ve used it before to great success in these little stuffed chocolate pillows of biscuits, but although it would seem like a great substitute for peanut butter, however, we find it far too sweet to use as a spread. So the jar has been sitting there for many months, looking less and less loved. While it may be on the sweet side for a spread – which is only our opinion, some people can’t get enough of the stuff – I reckoned it could have some other interesting uses.

The above mentioned cookies paired the sweet caramel flavour with chocolate to great success, and this is a repeat of that combination. This is basically a riff on a chocolate fudge cake – the sponge is supremely moist and delicious, not at all dry and crumbly like some dairy and egg-free cakes can be. The Fudgy lotus topping gives a wonderful sweet glaze and compliments the deep chocolate flavour rather perfectly.

Chocolate Cake (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, can be soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 1 2lb loaf

• 1 cup plus 2tbsp plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup soft brown sugar
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup dairy-free yogurt
• 1/3 cup sunflower oil

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade/Gas Mark 4
– Line a loaf tin
– Sift together the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl
– Stir in the sugars
– In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt and oil
– Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until thoroughly combined
– Pour into the lined loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a knife comes out clean and the top of the cake is springy to the touch
– Cool in the tin before transferring to a wire rack

Fudgy Caramelised Icing Glaze (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

• 1/4 cup lotus spread (I used crunchy but smooth would work even better)
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp golden or maple syrup
• 2 tbsp dairy-free milk, I used Oatly
• 1 tbsp dairy-free spread, such as Pure

– Melt together all the ingredients
– Bring up to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes to thicken
– Cool slightly then pour over the cake
– Decorate if you wish, then leave to set.