Spiced Chocolate Cake {vegan, refined sugar free}

This week's been all about back-to-school - me celebrating the fact that I can stay at home and my sister fighting the fact that summer break is over and it's all back to 7 am mornings and homework afternoons... Let's pretend that I was just a LITTLE malicious - but hey, I'm a good sister, so I made her some cake: a super-duper light vegan spiced chocolate cake with a sticky glaze - half for her to take to school, half for me for lazy breakfasts for the next days - sounds like a good deal doesn't it?

I hid the fact that there's no white sugar in it from her, this was a fault: no more cake for me in the end - I just found a few crumbs, the rest was GONE! I don't think you need any more descriptions about how good this cake is, don't you? Even my mom was like, this cake that you just made was goooood, could you make it again for the weekend? Uhm, yes I will, just let me have a few more slices this time, please! ;-)

Just a few hints to convince everyone about it (yes, even those who think that there can't be a cake without white sugar, trust me there is!): it's a melt in your mouth texture, light and chocolatey with a hint of various spices, reminders of autumn that's just starting. And it's all topped with a smooth glaze that incorporates even more chocolate - without being to rich and even skipping the sugar coma. Aaaaan there's zucchini inside! Call me crazy but it works, moist like nothing else! What's not to love? Have a happy weekend everyone and how about making some cake? :-)

Spiced Chocolate Cake {vegan, refined sugar free}
- 220 g or 1 and 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, can be substituded with carrots
- 200g or 1 and 2/3 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch cloves
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 3 Tbsp oil
- 75 g or 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 150g or 2/3 cups molasses
- 70g 99% Chocolate, you can use one with lower cocoa percentage, just make sure to adjust the molasses level accordingly!
- 50 ml or 1/5 cup water
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar

1. Preheat your oven to 180 °C/ 356 °F. Line a 20 cm/ ~ 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized bowl mix the shredded zucchini, flour, salt, all the spices and the baking soda.
3. Melt 50g of the chocolate, mix with 100g molasses and oil and stir into the dry ingredients until well combined. Now add in the water, applesauce and white vinegar, add in some more water if dough is too dry.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
5. Now prepare the glaze: melt the remaining chocolate and mix with the remaining molasses, then pour it over the still warm cake. Remove from the pan and let cool to room temperature, then slice and serve or keep in an airtight container until ready to serve. Enjoy!