December 17, 2024

 

The 17th Hobbity Yule Calendar surprise is another recipe: Yule mocha squares!

Mocha squares is something that you can’t avoid here in Finland. It’s a brownie-like cake that you will find almost at every children’s party. The frosting is flavoured with coffee, hence “mocha” squares. I have found a recipe that is free of gluten, egg, and dairy, and it stays nicely moist and delicious for many days (if you don’t eat it all in an hour, that is). Here, I have added some special Yule spices to the regular recipe.

The recipe is vegan and gluten-free, but you can also use dairy products and wheat flour. You can also leave the Yule spices out (cinnamon, clove, ginger, orange peel) or add other flavouring as you like. 1 dl = 100 ml. In the picture below, I have made a double portion of this recipe and used just normal sprinkles on top. To make it more Yule-ish, feel free to decorate it with crushed gingerbread cookies, crushed Yule candy canes, and similar things – anything goes! If you are making a glutenfree and/or vegan version, make sure that the decorations are gluten-free and vegan as well.

Yule mocha squares

For the cake base:
100 g milk free margarine, room temperature (soft), diced
2 dl (170 g) sugar
1½ dl oat milk (or other plant-based milk)
1 dl boiling water
¾ dl natural soy yogurt (or other plant-based substitute, e.g. coconut cream)

3 dl (200 g) wheat flour or gluten-free flour mix
0,5 dl (30 g) cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clove powder
1 tsp ginger powder
(1 tsp bitter orange peel powder)
pinch of salt

For the frosting:
75 g milk free margarine
3/4 dl coffee
5 dl powdered sugar
(1 tsp of Yule spices – for example: 0,5 tsp of each)
5 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch of salt

For the decoration:
Crushed Yule candies, nonpareils, sprinkles, crushed gingerbread cookies, marshmallows…

In a bowl, mix the margarine with the sugar into a creamy mixture. Add the oat milk and the soy yogurt and mix them together.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, vanilla sugar, baking soda, salt, and the Yule seasonings (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, bitter orange peel). Add this flour mix into the other wet mixture in portions and mix them together well. In the end, add the boiling hot water and mix it evenly. Cover a baking tray/dish (e.g. 35 x 25 cm) with baking paper and pour the mixture on the paper, spreading it evenly on the tray. Bake in the oven for approximately 25 minutes at 180°C. Let the cake cool down properly before adding the frosting.

Prepare the frosting only when the base has cooled down. For the frosting, melt the margarine in a saucepan. Take the saucepan from heat. Pour in the coffee, and add the powdered sugar & cocoa powder plus the Yule spices (optional) through a sieve and mix well. Pour and spread the frosting mix over the cooled down mocha square base evenly (best do this right after you have mixed the frosting, it will settle pretty quickly when it cools down). Sprinkle some candies or other decorations over the frosting before it has settled (the decorations will stick to the frosting better when it’s still soft).
Cut into squares with a knife (if the cake/ frosting sticks to the knife, you can dip the knife into hot water in between so the cuts are clean). Enjoy!