So today I had my 6th fail at attempting to make dairy free/soya free yoghurt. This time I used Hemp milk and while it looked ok and didn’t taste unpleasant it just didn’t taste yoghurty. I used 10 df probiotic capsules which is 20 billion bacteria and surely enough but I fear I put it in the fridge too soon (after 12 hours in the Easiyo). To summarise Koko makes mildly yoghurty but thin yoghurt. Tinned coconut milk makes lovely thick yoghurt except it didn’t taste At all like yoghurt. Oatly has a lovely consistency but I’m not a fan of the taste and still not sharp like yoghurt. A combination of coconut milk and Koko has given me the best consistency so far but still tasted like thickened milk! Any top tips on a dairy free yoghurt starter gratefully received!

The question is what do I do with a litre of slightly thick hemp milk because I do not see my family lining up to eat it. I was in the mood to bake today, I find it very soothing and it was a distraction from my daughter being away overnight with the school (she doesn’t have food allergies I just have short apron strings). I’ve been meaning to try a chocolate cake recipe I’d seen in The Telegraph a while ago which used Almond milk and pumpkin  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/11223633/The-New-Baker-Vegan-and-gluten-free-chocolate-pumpkin-cake.html but we can’t use almond so I substituted with #yoghurtfail6. I also used half as much sugar (it just seemed so much when I was measuring it) and my own icing as I don’t care how often you tell me how creamy avocado is my kids can taste green!

Dairy egg wheat nut free chocolate cake

Preheat oven to 180c
Grease two 8inch round cake tins (checking that you have in fact pulled two tins out that are the same size!)

Ingredients (be warned I started making the cake before checking I had the relevant ingredients so I had to be a little creative)
240ml failed yoghurt #attempt6 (or df milk of choice)
2 teaspoons Cider vinegar
120ml coconut oil melted
225g Pumpkin purée (hooray!! I’ve had that tin for about 18 months!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbs boiling water
150g granulated sugar
85g Nesquik hot chocolate powder (balls I’ve got no cocoa)
290g Doves farm Rice flour
60g Potato starch
20g Tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons Bicarbonate of soda
Half teaspoon baking powder
Half teaspoon salt

Instructions

Mix df milk/yoghurt with cider vinegar and allow to sit for 5 minutes
Beat pumpkin purée, sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and coffee until smooth (I used my mixer)
Stir in df milk/yoghurt
Sift dry ingredients then add to wet and mix well
Pour into prepared tins and smooth the top
Bake at 180c for 35 minutes
Allow to cool completely in tins on a rack

Icing
175g dairy free chocolate
1 tablespoon golden syrup
80ml coconut milk (tinned)
1 cup icing sugar (hhm should have weighed that so it matched the other measurements!)

Place chocolate, coconut milk and syrup in a pan and melt on a low heat. Once combined stir in the icing sugar and mix well.

Remove cooled cakes from their tins, ice the top of one, gently place the second cake on top and spoon the rest of the icing over the top.

Serve with a scoop of dairy free ice cream