People on the paleo diet often miss sweets and baked goods. Fortunately, there are a number of ingredients that you can use to create delicious treats that are paleo friendly. This chocolate cake uses all paleo-friendly ingredients such as nut flour, as well as an icing made from avocados.
The Recipe
This cake is grain-free and dairy free. It also contains no refined sugar or artificial ingredients.
Both baking soda and cream of tartar are paleo friendly. The cream of tartar and baking soda combination mimics the effect of baking powder, which contains cornstarch (and is thus not paleo-friendly).
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 8 ounces organic, dairy-free, unsweetened dark chocolate, cut into pieces (such as Sunspire)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2/3 cups pure maple syrup
- 6 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups almond flour
- 2 teaspoons coconut flour
- 1/2 cup organic cacao powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
For the frosting:
- 1 cup organic cacao powder
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1 cup medjool dates, mixed into a paste in the food processor
- 2 ripe avocados
- Dash sea salt
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line two nine-inch round pans with parchment.
- Place chocolate and coconut in a double boiler over boiling water. Stirring constantly, melt butter and chocolate until smooth and combined.
- Cool the mixture for ten minutes.
- While the mixture cools, whisk together maple syrup and eggs in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer using a whisk attachment until the mixture is light and fluffy, about six minutes.
- With the whisk still going, slowly add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla.
- Sift almond flour, coconut flour, cacao powder, baking soda, and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together with a spatula until just combined. The batter will still have a few remaining streaks of flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
- Cool the cake in the pans on wire racks for ten minutes. Then, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cakes onto wire racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
- Combine cacao powder, honey, date paste, avocados, and sea salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Add coconut milk and continue processing until smooth. Spread on the cooled cake.
Baking for the Paleo Diet
Baking on the paleo diet can be challenging, but it is possible. A number of paleo-friendly ingredients can substitute for ingredients that aren't paleo.
- Use coconut or almond milk in place of dairy milk. Be sure to select unsweetened versions of these ingredients.
- Use coconut oil in a 1:1 replacement for butter.
- Use nut flours such as coconut, hazelnut, or almond flour in place of grain flours. You'll need to experiment a bit with ratios to get just the right texture in the finished product. For example, coconut flour soaks up a great deal of moisture, so if you're using it you'll need a larger amount of wet ingredients.
- Avocado can add creaminess in frostings.
- Replacements for refined sugar include medjool dates processed into a paste, pure maple syrup, and raw honey.
- Use organic cacao powder in place of traditional cocoa powder. For melted chocolate, select dairy-free, sugar-free, organic dark chocolate.
- Replace baking powder with a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar, both of which are paleo. To create a baking powder substitute, mix baking soda with cream of tartar in a 2:1 ratio.
Paleo for Chocoholics
You don't need to give up chocolate entirely to eat a paleo-friendly diet. This recipe will provide the perfect bite for chocolate lovers.
