Cashew Cream Cake

Prepared this cake for last night's party, a simple chocolate cake with ganache and cashew cream to bid farewell to 2018 and a great hello to 2019 :)

I had 2 different flavors for the cream layer, of vanilla and chocolate, but you are welcome to have only vanilla or chocolate only :)

This cream needs to be prepared in advance, about 2 hours for chilling if using the fridge, or 30 mins if using the freezer.

• 3/4 c roasted unsalted cashew, soaked in hot boiling water for 5 mins, drain
• 1/2 c almond milk
• 1/4 tsp agar powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 c almond milk

Instruction:

• Bring milk and agar powder to boil, for 2 mins
• Pour into a blender, process with the rest of the ingredients and the additional almond milk
• Chill/freeze as mentioned above

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp BSoda
• a pinch of salt
• 2 c water
• 1/2 c oil
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence

Instruction:

• Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, pour and stir in wet ingredients
• Bake at preheated 350 F convection oven for 25 mins
• Cool on rack, slice horizontally

• 1/4 c + 1 tbsp almond milk
• 3/4 c DF choc chips

Instruction:

• Heat milk 1 min in microwave, full powder
• Stir in choc chips to melt completely
• Spread ganache on one of the cakes as topping

• Once the ganache is set, slice the cake into portions, set aside
• Take out the chilled cream from the fridge/freezer, whip for a minute or two then spread on the other half of the cake
• Top the layer with cake slices, then chill for 30 minutes to an hour before serving (best served chilled).

NOTE:

For the chocolate cashew cream, you need to add 2-3 more tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp cocoa powder before mixing in the blender, then chilled and whip :)

May the new year be kind and great (meeeh, scratch that. SUPERB!) to us all :D