Mary Berry’s chocolate cake has two ingredients that make it a ‘winner’

Mary Berry has revealed a delicious dairy-free chocolate cake recipe that’s the perfect dessert when hosting this festive season.

The cake uses coconut cream to keep it dairy-free whilst oil instead of butter keeps it moist. Between the layers are apricot jam and creamy chocolate icing, making it incredibly irresistible. BBC Good Food has even dubbed it a ‘winner’.

Instead of baking it all at once, this cake can be frozen before adding the jam and icing. This allows you to prepare the base days ahead, defrosting it just before your guests arrive and then finishing it off.

Mary also advised that this cake can be assembled up to six hours in advance, so you won’t be rushing around while your guests arrive.

Mary Berry’s dairy-free chocolate cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 175g/6oz self-raising flour

• One tsp baking soda

• One tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Two tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

• 150g/5½oz caster sugar

• Two free-range eggs

• Two tbsp golden syrup

• 150ml/5fl oz sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing

• 160ml/5½fl oz coconut cream

• Four tbsp apricot jam

• 55g/2oz dairy-free white chocolate

For the icing:

• 160ml/5½fl oz coconut cream
• 255g/9oz vegan milk or dark chocolate, broken into pieces

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and grease two 20cm/8in loose-bottomed sandwich tins and line them with baking paper.
2. Next, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and caster sugar in a large bowl. Then, whisk the eggs in a jug with the syrup, oil, and coconut cream.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the mixing bowl and whisk together with a hand whisk until well combined.
4. Split the mixture between the tins and bake for roughly 25 to 30 minutes until well-risen. Once done, take the tin out of the oven and place it on a wire rack to remove the baking paper.
5. As the cake cools down, start preparing the icing by melting the coconut cream and dairy-free white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
6. Mix the cream and chocolate until it’s liquid, then set aside to cool or pop it in the fridge until it reaches a thick, spreadable consistency.
7. Put one half of the cake on a serving plate, smother with half of the apricot jam. Then put the second half of the cake on top, covering with the remaining apricot jam and icing, swirling the icing in the middle of the cake.
8. Finish off by scattering grated white chocolate around the edge of the cake, then slice and serve.