Rich chocolate cake - vegan (no dairy, no egg)

This is the cake that I made for each of my children's first birthday parties - no dairy, no egg, and vegan-friendly. It's rich and moist, and very easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 250g dairy-free margerine
• 200g dark chocolate (eg 2 blocks of Cocolo 70% Dark or Bittersweet)
• 1.5 cups strong coffee (I use fair trade Colombian instant coffee)
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 1.5 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup Abundant Earth fair trade organic cocoa powder
• Orgran egg replacer equal to 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence

To make:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 25cm round cake pan. I use a springform pan, and a double layer of baking paper on the bottom of the pan to reduce the chance of burning the bottom of the cake.
2. Melt the margerine and chocolate in a small saucepan over low to medium heat on the stove. Stir in the coffee, then dissolve the caster sugar in the mix. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Fold the flour, baking powder and cocoa into the liquid mix - no need to sift anything.
4. Stir in the egg replacer and vanilla essence.
5. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for approximately 1 hour.
6. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before turning out of the cake pan - this cake needs a little "setting" time.

This cake can be served with a dusting of icing sugar, but for birthdays I like to make a chocolate fudge icing. Stir together a couple of tablespoons of melted dairy-free margerine, 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, a tablespoon of hot water, and a cup of icing sugar. If the icing is too runny, add more icing sugar til you get the consistency you want.