Let's Celebrate with Chocolate!

Chocolate cake? Cookies? Brownies? What's your favorite dessert?

How do you like to celebrate? My dessert of choice will almost always include chocolate. Surprised? Many people think Health Coaches never eat sweets and spend their days looking up new recipes for kale. I like to do both! This past week was both Mother's Day and my birthday! Yay! And I made a rich and delectable three-layer chocolate cake. But because of various food sensitivities in my home, we used almond flour, dairy-free butter, and maple sugar as the sweetener. And guess what? It's still delicious! Sometimes you just need to find the right recipe and with our favorite grain-free recipe creator, Michele Rosen from Paleo Running Momma, we did just that. This cookbook has some of the best recipes for all kinds of desserts. We made the Double Layer Frosted Chocolate Cake (although we made it TRIPLE layer!) and with a few tweaks for our own personal preferences, it was amazing! This is my go-to cake for dinner parties - and EVERYONE loves it! (Even people who generally don't even like chocolate cake!)

As a Health Coach, I encourage my clients to explore different foods and cooking methods to find what works best for them. And this includes desserts. If you love chocolate, life is just not as fun if you never get to enjoy it!

If you are looking to explore what foods work best for YOUR body, and how you too can enjoy desserts again, give me a call or send me an email and we can get started!

Triple Layer Chocolate Frosted Cake

RECIPE:

CAKE

avocado oil spray

1-1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup full fat unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup maple sugar

1/2 cup melted plant-based butter, cooled

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

You can make this in 2 layers (two 9-inch cake pans, or 3 layers (three 8-inch cake pans). Baking times will vary slightly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cake pans with parchment paper and spray with avocado oil spray.

In a large bowl, combine the almond and tapioca flours, cacao powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.

In a separate large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the eggs, coconut milk, maple sugar, plant-based butter, and vanilla until very smooth. Immediately add the dry mixture and blend well until a smooth batter forms.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans and place on the middle rack of your oven. If making 3 layers, bake for 14 minutes. The cake is done once the center is set and a toothpick inserted near the center of a layer comes out clean or with a dry crumb.

Let cool on wire racks while you prepare the frosting. You can also wrap and refrigerate and frost the next day.

FROSTING

1/2 cup palm oil shortening

1/2 cup plant-based butter, solid but softened slightly

1 cup powdered maple sugar

1/2 cup raw cacao powder

1-3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk (to taste/texture preference)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

In a medium-sized bowl, use an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer) to beat together the palm oil shortening and plant-based butter until mostly smooth and fluffy. Add your powdered sugar and the cacao powder and continue to beat, then add 1 tablespoon coconut milk and continue to beat. Add the vanilla, salt and any additional coconut milk if desired.

Assemble the cake:

If the layers have chilled a bit they will be easier to frost. Carefully place 1 layer of cake on a cake stand or plate. Using a knife or offset spatula, frost the top of the first layer. Then, place a second layer on top and repeat with however many layers are left. Then frost around the sides as desired.

Place cake in the fridge to make the frosting a bit more solid.

Serve and enjoy!!!

Let me know if you decide to make this cake and how it goes! Questions? Just ask and I'm happy to share any tips!