Decadent Paleo Chocolate Cake

Nothing says a birthday celebration, or any celebration for that matter, than with a rich, moist, luxurious chocolate cake. And almost always, the best recipes have quite the story behind their genius.

My husband’s birthday happens to be on Christmas Day, and every year I make him a special birthday cake, because there’s just so much to celebrate on December 25 – the birth of Christ and my husband! Such a joyous day calls for an extra-celebratory cake! Hubby loves Guinness, so the past several years I have made a dense, indulgent chocolate stout cake, made with yours truly, good old-fashioned Guinness stout. The stout is just a backdrop for the four layers of chocolately goodness, made with four sticks of butter, four cups of flour, and more sugar than I care to admit. I’d never been able to taste the cake myself, because it is certainly not Mandy-friendly by any means, but everyone who’s had a piece have always raved about it. Of course, I wouldn’t have made it year after year if Hubby didn’t enjoy it; it’s been one of his favorites for a while.

This year Hubby requested something different. Something slightly healthier. Something paleo. To my heart’s delight, I researched some paleo recipes and decided to make the cake completely vegan as well so I could finally enjoy a piece of Hubby’s birthday cake with him.

I adapted my chocolate cake recipe from Otto’s cassava flour web site. The recipe calls for cassava flour, sugar, avocado oil, cocoa powder, baking soda, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, a dash of salt, and water. Simple. Clean. Delicious.

For the frosting, I had the brilliant idea to whip up coconut cream with dairy-free chocolate. How could you go wrong with coconut and chocolate? Well, let’s just say the resultant chocolate pudding was unbelievably delicious and decadent, but the consistency was not appropriate for a chocolate cake frosting. My coconut cream was nice and chilled and thick. I made the mistake of melting dairy-free chocolate chips and mixing the melted chocolate with the firm cream. No matter how much I whipped it in my Kitchen Aid mixer and no matter how many times I tried to re-chill the mixture, it never amounted to anything more than a thick chocolate pudding. My goal was an airy, light mousse that I could spread onto the cake layers, something that would hold firm when chilled.

I attempted to layer the cake anyway. Disaster pending, I smothered a thick layer of the pudding on top of the cake base, then set the top cake layer on top of the filling. It was like one of those slow-motion moments – I lifted the cake stand to place it in the freezer, and right before my very eyes, the top layer of the cake slid right off into the freezer, taking a good amount of the filling with it. My heart was crushed! Thankfully the cake layers were still in tact, and I was able to salvage the entire top layer that slid into the freezer. That top layer now became my bottom layer, as I placed the cake into a deep-sided pie dish. I put more pudding on top of that layer, knowing it was secured inside the pie dish, then placed the second cake layer on top, and finished it off with the remaining pudding. It now looked like a chocolate pie.

My epic failed turned into an epic delight. The cake turned out to be absolutely divine! After I cleaned out my chocolate-covered freezer, I placed the cake once again in the freezer to set. I took the cake out of the freezer Christmas morning so that it would be defrosted and ready to eat by the evening.

Not one person missed that chocolate stout cake. We found a new chocolate cake to celebrate Christmas and Hubby’s birthday with. And a healthier cake, might I add. One that I can enjoy too! There was only a small piece of cake left at the end of our dinner, so the next night, with two forks and cake still in pan, Hubby and I went to town on the remaining morsels.

I love it when we can both enjoy the same treats! In fact, I might just make another cake this week just because!

Decadent Paleo Chocolate Cake

3 cups cassava flour
2 cups coconut sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup avocado oil
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups cold water

Filling and topping:
1 can coconut cream
2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips (I love Enjoy Life brand)

First, make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift the cassava flour into a bowl. Add in the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and coconut sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, water, and vanilla extract. Stir with a spatula until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Divide the batter into two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans. No need to grease the pans, as the avocado oil in the cake is enough to ensure the cakes don’t stick. Bake the cakes for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the filling. Chill the coconut cream in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Using a double-boiler, melt the chocolate chips until they are completely liquid chocolate. Scoop the coconut cream out of the can into the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer. Pour the melted chocolate into the coconut cream and using the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate and coconut cream together. Chill for at least three hours, or overnight.

To assemble the cake, remove the cakes from the cake pans. Place one layer into a deep pie dish. Layer one-half to three-quarters of the chocolate filling on top of the first layer. Then place the second cake layer on top, and top with the remaining chocolate-coconut cream. Chill the cake in the refrigerator or freezer overnight to set. If freezing, take out of the freezer several hours before serving. Enjoy!