I am sitting here typing this, knowing we cleaned up the last slices of this cake last night. 'NOOOO!!' I actually ate the last bites wanting to cry because I kid you not, this loaf is my favourite treat recipe to date! Coming home from a long day on placement and settling onto the couch with a slice of this is the best!!

The combination of matcha and chocolate is also unbelievably good. Sweetened with only dates, moist from the healthy fats: olive oil and flax seeds, soft and well risen. Plus the coconut yoghurt frosting and fresh berries add some light sweetness to it. Plus this recipe is free from any animal products! Vegan baking has been known to be typically difficult, and after a few attempts, I'm now convinced this recipe will show you you can have a healthy vegan cake that's also delicious! Plus I even got my partner hooked on this, even though he vowed that he hated chocolate cake and matcha- put them together and its all changed ;) they say baking is like chemistry, you have to get all the ingredients right, now look, I've had so many failed baking attempts where I don't measure anything and just throw lots of things together, and after eating lots of flat, chewy, tough, dense or undercooked and soggy cakes or loafs I decided to read up on some of the baking tips and tricks. I've included some in the recipe and given gram measurements for some key ingredients. I hope this brings you success if your baking endeavours if you are a bit of a novice like me!

I am absolutely hooked on matcha, in my last post I explained what it is, and I've been using Aiya Matcha, which is the best quality and from a traditional Japanese family run business. I used the cooking grade matcha for this recipe.

Recipe:

Vegan, Dairy Free, High Fibre, Healthy Fats, Low in Sugar

dry ingredients:

1 cup / 180g white unbleached self raising flour

1 cup / 160 whole grain spelt flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp matcha powder

1/2 cup cacao powder

wet ingredients:

12 medjool dates (200g)

1 tbsp flax seeds

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cup almond milk (homemade- recipe from my eBook in the shop section of my site!)

to decorate:

250g coconut yoghurt (look for a no added sugar variety)

1 cup fresh berries

handful of cherries

extra matcha powder

edible flowers such as dried rose petals (decoration only)

how to make:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan forced) or 200 degrees celsius (non fan forced) and line a banana loaf tin with baking paper (alternatively you could bake in a circle cake tin)
Sieve all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Add all wet ingredients to a blender and blend (ensuring the dates are well processed/smooth)
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients from the blender into the bowl.
Fold the wet mixture through the dry until just combined (note: you want the timing between mixing the wet into the dry to be quick and not over process it so the loaf rises nicely)
Pour/ scoop the mixture into the baking tray and place directly in the oven.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, check on it after around 40 minutes, stick a skewer in a check if it comes out clean.
Remove from oven and leave in tin to cool for 20-30 minutes, then remove from tin and place on cooling rack to cool for another 20-30 minutes.
To decorate, spread coconut yoghurt over loaf, top with fresh berries, cherries, edible flowers (for decoration) and dust with extra matcha powder.