Vegan Cookies and Cream Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This recipe offers a scrumptious multi-layered vegan cake, embellished with a creamy cookies and cream buttercream and a rich chocolate ganache. Mini cookies provide the finishing touch for this delightful dessert.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 480ml dairy-free milk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 420g self-raising flour
• 400g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 120ml sunflower oil
• 100g ‘cookies and cream’ cookies

For the Buttercream:

• 370g dairy-free block butter
• 150g Natures Charm Condensed Coconut Milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ‘cookies and cream’ cookies
• 350g icing sugar

For the Chocolate Ganache:

• 100g dairy-free dark chocolate
• 100ml dairy-free cream
• 2 tablespoons Natures Charm Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Decoration:

• Mini ‘cookies and cream’ cookies

Instructions

Cake Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan setting) and prepare three 8-inch cake tins with grease-proof paper. If you have just one tin, cover the batter with a tea towel while baking each layer separately.
2. Combine dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar in a bowl, whisking them together. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to form a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. Use a high-speed blender to finely blend the cookies and cream biscuits. Then, in a large bowl, sift together the flour, ground cookies, sugar, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda.
4. Add the oil to the ‘buttermilk’ mixture and whisk them together.
5. Pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
6. Equally distribute the batter into the lined cake tins. Tap the tins to release any air bubbles.
7. Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Once done, let them cool on a rack. Store in a sealed container to keep fresh until frosting.

Buttercream Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, whip the dairy-free butter until creamy using either a stand mixer or a hand mixer.
2. Add in the sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whip them together.
3. Slowly pour in the condensed coconut milk and continue whipping until thick and creamy. Fold in the ground cookies.
4. Layer the cakes, spreading a generous amount of buttercream between each layer. Optionally, make a well in the center of each layer of buttercream to add a tablespoon of chocolate fudge sauce.
5. After stacking, coat the entire cake in buttercream. Chill the cake for about 10-15 minutes. After chilling, apply another thick layer of buttercream for a smooth finish.

Ganache Preparation:

1. Melt the dairy-free chocolate and cream together in a saucepan on low heat. Add in the chocolate fudge sauce.
2. Let it cool a bit and then transfer to a piping bag. Create drips around the edge of the chilled cake.

Decoration:

1. Use any remaining buttercream (with a large star tip nozzle) to pipe swirls around the top edge of the cake.
2. Garnish with crumbled ‘cookies and cream’ cookies and whole mini cookies.

Serve slices of this luxurious cake with a sharp knife and relish every bite. This cake perfectly captures the essence of cookies and cream, ensuring a memorable dessert experience.