The arrrghh-I've-run-out-of-cocoa chocolate cake {Blogtoberfest day 10}

Isn't it annoying when you are part way through cooking something and you discover that an ingredient is missing?

Take for example, the the time I was dining at a beautiful Thai restaurant. The dessert orders had not long been taken, when the waitress returned with news from Chef. Apparently the kitchen was all out of bananas. It wouldn't have been issue but for the fact that all the desserts on the menu contained banana. Hmph.

I had somewhat of a banana moment myself today.

There I was part-way through making a chocolate cake to take to Curlypop's place, when I discovered that I was clean out of both cocoa and chocolate. I doubted my ability to sell the merits of the lesser-known chocolateless chocolate cake, so started frantically hunting for a substitute.

Ah-ha. There it was: granular and brown. My patent disregard for baking rules quick thinking, saw the addition of a heap of super sweet, rich Green and Black's drinking chocolate.

I think the result was quite passable. And infinitely better than it would have been than if I decided to use gravy powder.

The arrrghh-I've-run-out-of-cocoa chocolate cake

Adapted from this recipe at taste.com.au

1 1/3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2/3 cup sweet drinking chocolate
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used 1 heaped tbsp Orgran No Egg, an egg substitute)
125g butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180oC.
2. Grease a 20cm (8-inch) round pan; line the bottom with paper.
3. Sift together the flour, soda, chocolate and caster sugar.
4. Stir the lemon (or vinegar) into the milk, then combine with the eggs, butter and vanilla.
5. Beat the dry and liquid ingredients together with an electric mixer for 4 minutes.
6. Pour into the cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes.
7. Cool the cake on a rack, then ice and decorate (I used marshmallows for the flowers).