It was my birthday and I really really wanted chocolate cake. The only problem was that I had given up most grains and my son was eating gluten free. My auntie’s chocolate cake recipe, a store-bought cake, or something from a box was just not going to cut it. Another minor detail: not everyone eats grain free or gluten free, so I didn’t want a cake that was going to look and taste like cardboard.
In the past, I’ve made other Paleo/grain free chocolate cake recipes but they either call for 9 eggs or a lot of almond flour. I’ve had a lot of recipe flops since starting this whole grain free thing and almond flour isn’t cheap. Surely I could come up with something that resembled a cake, right?
It only took two tries to nail the recipe as you see it plus 14 more “just one more time” and “just making sure it’s right”. I’m serious. I’ve sent cake to my neighbors, to my husband’s office, and my freezer is full of chocolate cake squares for EE or “emotional emergencies”. When you are a mom of 3 I say a lot of things qualify for EE.
Making this recipe is easy. Check it out!
After I made the cake, I asked my husband what he thought of it. He said it was really good and my daughter had a big piece topped with ice-cream (they both have no dietary restrictions). My son Alex is the one who has really benefitted from this recipe. He’s taken small pieces of cake to school twice (or more) per week for over a month.
Of course, Baby G didn’t complain either. He stole a piece or two after every take. Thief.
It is recipes just like this that enable me to stick to eating Paleo while also helping my family eat healthier (who says “no” to chocolate cake, right?).
Through the years, I’ve been able to modify and create so many easy, low-budget meals that are also Paleo compatible and even gluten/grain free. I’ve pulled more than 50 of them together into the Family KickStart Program – my 30-day comprehensive program that will help you and your family eliminate processed foods and sugars without sacrificing the fun meals your family loves.
Family KickStart gives you access to recipes, 4 weeks of meal plans and shopping lists and everything else you need to eat fresh, whole foods as a family for the next 30 days. There’s even a weekly “treat” like this recipe so the kids have something fun to look forward to. And seriously, the recipes are so good, our kids have asked if we could do KickStart again so they could revisit some of their favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes! Check out the Family KickStart Program here.
Coconut Flour Cake
I will add, that it’s imperative you sift the cake. See the little light chocolate clump? that’s a little almond flour clump. Must.sift.dry.ingredients. Got it? good. We made this cake so many times I even taught my son how to sift.
What’s the cake like? This cake has the texture and feel as traditional cake, is less sweet, and full of chocolate flavor. Unlike many cakes that are heavy on the coconut flour, it doesn’t have that potent coconut taste or grainy texture. My intern took my second to last cake (minus one testing piece) and her family could not believe it was a grain free.
Say goodbye to expensive grain free / paleo cake recipes. This cake is “da-bomb-dot-com” -anonymous. You can frost it -or not. I sprinkled it with a little shredded coconut but you could use powdered sugar or without. I hear it’s amazing warm with cold vanilla ice cream on top.
Here are all of my “test notes”from the 14 baking tests (I will update as I continue making this recipe):
- Yes, I tried making this cake with baking soda + vinegar but the cake sunk and therefore, I dont’ think it was a good substitute.
- Make sure your eggs are all the same size. I made this recipe with local organic eggs once and one egg looked like a jumbo while the other was very small. Consistent egg size is key (I measured my eggs nearly every time to the point I was obsessed). Check out this egg chart if you use a different size egg.
- You cannot use all coconut flour for this recipe.
- The only successful substitute for almond flour was chestnut flour. You can try using finely ground sunflower seed flour -but I haven’t tested it.
- You can use maple syrup instead of honey. Honey is cheaper than pure maple syrup so I kept honey in the recipe.
- You can use regular milk instead of coconut milk. Measure 400ml and you are good to go (all pyrex measuring mugs have ml on the other side -it’s a lot easier than measuring 13.5 liquid ounces).
- I did notice that on rainy or very humid days my cake was less spongy. Remember I said I tried this over 14 times? Yeah, I also took note of the weather. Dry weather is best but it will still come out great.
- The cake will crack on the top as it expands during baking; do not worry.
- Finally, you can double this recipe and use 2 9inch round cake pans. You will have a dome, but I hear after you cut the dome off it’s really good to “test”. If you are using 9-inch round pans, check for doneness around minute 45. *I think* this might be it.
Paleo Chocolate Cake Recipe
This recipe is grain free, paleo, and dairy free -but full of the chocolatey flavor it deserves! Made with a mix of coconut and almond flours this is the best grain free cake ever!
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 9 squares
- Category: desserts
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (56g)
- 1/4 cup almond flour (25g)
- 2 teaspoons grain-free baking powder* (7g)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (59g)
- 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk (400ml)
- 1/2 cup honey (125g)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10ml)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line an 8×8 inch square baking sheet with parchment paper -this is done so you can easily “lift” the cake out.
- Sift coconut flour, almond flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder into the bowl of your stand mixer (or large mixing bowl). Mix your dry ingredients until they are all combined.
- Place coconut milk, honey, eggs, and vanilla extract inside your blender. Blend on low speed for 10-15 seconds until all ingredients are throughly combined.
- With your stand mixer on low speed, slowly pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix just enough for everything to combine. Stop the mixer once or so to make sure there are no dry ingredients left at the bottom. Do not over-mix the batter. It should look like chocolate mouse.
- Pour chocolate batter evenly into your lined pan. Bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes prior to transferring it to a cooling rack.
- To store, refrigerate for up to a week.
Notes
If you are not on a grain free diet and can eat corn, use regular baking powder. Otherwise, check out the recipe below on how to make your own.
Keywords: paleo cake recipe, paleo chocolate cake, coconut flour cake, almond flour cake, coconut flour chocolate cake
Grain Free Baking Powder
- Yield: 5 tablespoons
- Category: Pantry Staples
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon baking soda
- 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
- 2 Tablespoons starch (potato, arrowroot, tapioca)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix all ingredients and then sift into a small airtight container.
Notes
I like to make this grain free baking powder in small batches. If you bake a lot, you can double it. Who knew that cream of tartar has more uses than homemade play dough?
Leave a Reply 166 comments
I will vouch and say that this cake is the BEST Paleo Chocolate Cake!! SO yum and moist
★★★★★
This sounds great. We’re on SCD here and not able to use baking powder. Any clue what the swap with baking soda might look like??? I’d love to try this….
I used 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon vinegar. Baking soda gets mixed with dry ingredients, vinegar with wet. you must mix the wet and dry ingredients quickly and pour into pan to bake immediately. BUT, it’s like I said on the post, it did not look this “fluffy”. it was still good… but not “cake” like this. if you make it and it rises well for you, will you please let me know? thanks!
Zantham gum
Yum! That’s all I have to say, yum!!
I’m working on reducing wheat in my diet, and I LOVE brownies and chocolate cake, so this recipe looks perfect for me! One question, I love using Hershey’s Special Dark Baking Cocoa in my recipes. Do you know if this will work in your cake recipe?
yes it will work. I’ve used it numerous times. it will be a tad extra rich.
Is there a substitute for the coconut flour and coconut milk? Thanks.
Tracey, the coconut flour cannot be substituted in this recipe. the milk you can use full fat dairy milk. If you need a gluten free chocolate cake recipe, check this one out.
Hi. This sounds great. What can I use instead of eggs?
Meg, I’m afraid eggs is the only thing that will work for this recipe. Please check the comment above with the other allergy friendly recipe.
Can you use chocolate almond milk instead of coconut milk? I can’t wait to try this recipe. It sounds great!
Yes you can, but you can’t leave out the cocoa. perhaps reduce by a tablespoon. I have not made cupcakes yet, but it’s on my to-do list (see notes)
Also I forgot to ask, can you make this into cupcakes too? Or have you tried that? 🙂 thanks!
I brought these to a potluck today, and everyone asked for the recipe. Yum!!
i made this cake on friday and we have been enjoying all weekend. was very impressed with how easy it was to make this. tastes great. i’m more than happy to feed this to my kids when i know that it’s full of wholefoods.
when i usually make chocolate cakes that are flourless they are flat, this wasn’t, turned out brilliantly!
will be making this on a regular basis, i have a feeling that it will freeze very well.
★★★★★
First off, wow I knew you were awesome but I had no idea you were THIS awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been gf/df for almost a year now and haven’t seen any recipe that even comes close to this anywhere. i can’t believe you tested it 14 times. WIsh I was your neighbor! We could share those EEs since we’d have 6 kids between us.
Thanks so much for this my daughters birthday is coming up and I can’t wait to try this!
★★★★★
I can’t wait to hear what you think Stacy! It is super simple to make and of course, you can frost it or whatever. I’m making them tonight as cupcakes so I’ll let you know how may they yield in case you are interested. I wish you were my neighbor too!!!!
Did you ever make these as cupcakes… what was the verdict?
I did! I got 18 cupcakes out of it (I filled them a lot!). Baking time is around 22-25minutes but I would keep an eye out. Definitely line the cupcake pan with liners. Enjoy!
Hi!! This is an amazing cake!!!!! Do you by chance have a nutrient breakdown? Calories, fats, etc. ❤️
Hi Adrienne! I’m so glad you liked it. The recipe has been updated to show the nutritional information. Enjoy!
Hi Laura, thank you for sharing the recipe. I just made the cake and unfortunately came out still wet and dense. I baked for 10 more minutes and still looked the same. Total baking time: 60 minutes.
I followed your directions – I didn’t change anything. Do you know what could have caused this issue? So sad.
did you use full-fat canned coconut milk?
Mine didn’t look like Mouse after it was all combines will this matter it’s in the oven right now so I have to wait and see how turns out
I hope it came out great for you!
I did make this chocolate cake and followed the directions to a T. I must say it made a very pretty little cake but there is a taste that just is not appealing. My hubby is the taste tester and it was definitely not a hit with him. I won’t be making this again.
★★
I’m sorry it wasn’t a hit at your house. It’s not sweet like traditional cakes for sure.
I’m interested in the nutrition on this. It says it’s keto safe but I have to make sure. So far it’s making me drool but I can’t risk going through induction again. XD
Like any recipe, please plug it into a nutritional calculator. I hope it’s safe for you!
Finally a paleo receipe with grams!!! Great help for us Europeans 🙂 thank you!!
Hi Laura,
first let me thank you for this lovely recipe 🙂
second I have a question!
You said in your test notes that you cannot use every coconut flour?
Can you tell me which I can use and which I can not?
Best regards
Eve
Thanks for this recipe! I made it last night and it worked out perfectly. I didn’t wanted to get my blender dirty so I just mixed the wet ingredients with my hand mixer first, then added the sifted dry ingredients and continued mixing briefly. Even the baking time was dead-on! Will definitely be making this again. Cheers!
Hi Laura,
This recipe look great, looking to make it this weekend, I do not have any almond flour and quite difficult to get in shops, would Ground almond (almond meal) be ok to replace the almond flour for this recipe.
Thanks Michelle
Almond meal will work!
Hi, the recipe looks easy! I’m just wondering if I can substitute the almond flour for something else. I have nut allergies. Thanks!
Suzana, I have not tested it with anything other than almond flour. You could try sunflower seed flour but I’m not sure.
I didn’t have coconut flour so I thought if I grinded up my own coconut flakes it would work. It was all watery instead. Is coconut milk the only way to make coconut flour? Why can’t I use flakes?
Liz, coconut flakes when ground still have moisture. One makes coconut cream with the flakes. Coconut flour is ground coconut flakes then dehydrated. unfortunately, it’s not an equal substitution. sorry!
Hi,
This recipe looks so good, and I want to try it for my birthday cake… EXCEPT , I’d like to make it a white/yellow cake.I can’t find any good paleo white cake recipes using these 2 flours. Will this work if I omit the cocoa powder? I’m not sure how much more flour I would need to add if I did…any suggestions for this?
thanks
N
Nicole, It won’t and it tastes pretty awful. I haven’t found a grain free yellow cake yet! sorry..
Hi, this is the best Chocolate Cake I have ever tried. Thanks so much for the recipe. I used rice milk instead of coconut milk, also only had three eggs so used 1 tblspn chia seeds and 1 tablespoon water.
Cheers
thanks so much Karene!
Hi! I love this cake. New to paleo diet. This takes care of my sweet craving. I also cut it up into squares and froze the rest. It freezes perfectly! No change in taste or texture when thawed.
Thank you!
Awesome Joanne! Enjoy!
This cake is perfect if you like very dark chocolate, 70% cocoa or more, and not too sweet. I made this for my husband’s birthday dessert. It was delicious and everyone liked it (including children aged 1 to 11). I substituted dark muscovado sugar for honey and it worked fine.
Thanks for a great recipe! I plan to make it again very soon.
★★★★★
thank you Johanna! I am glad you were able to enjoy a birthday cake for everyone!
Thank you so much!!
I used cacao powder, and made 12 chocolate cup cakes, while those were baking I threw in a bunch of shredded coconut into remaining batter and had 8 more.
Very happy, thank you again for sharing
★★★★★
FANTASTIC!
This recipe is truly lovely, I made this cake last night and it’s delicious, will be making it again……soon
I made this today and followed the directions as written, however my batter was super runny not mousse like at all….I hope it turns out ok.
Same here. Did yours work out??? I’m quite worried
Stumbled on this recipe through Pinterest today, and had to try it out! I’m an on-again, off-again Paleo-ish person, and am trying to get ‘back on the wagon’. This is a great cake recipe! Most I’ve used recently were too dry, too gritty, too mealy, or just plain blah. I love how light the texture is – like a cloud of pudding fluff 😉 I already had a sink of dishes that were giving me the evil eye this morning, and didn’t want to generate any extra. I decided to bust out the trusty food processor and give it a go. All the wet stuff went in first (blended it up), then sifted in all the dry stuff (blended it again). Poured the whole mess into the pan, and POOF. Fabu-cake! I made it before heading out to run errands, so I got to enjoy it with a cup of coffee when I got home. Scrumptious 🙂 Hoping to try it with home-made coconut milk next time (that’s a project for another day), as I am not a fan of the additives found even in organic CM.
★★★★★
I had to smile at your Fabu-cake! Thrilled you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hi Laura,
Thank you for a lovely recipe.
This was my first attempt at making a gluten free cake and it turned out really well. I took your advice and baked the cakes in two round pans. I layered it with some chocolate ganache (made with coconut oil, cocoa powder, maple syrup , vanilla extract and little salt).
I served it to my guests as a yummy gluten free version of the devil’s chocolate cake and they absolutely loved it.
wow! I am going to have to try it with your ganache next! thanks for letting me know your guests loved it.
Is there a good alternative for eggs in this recipe? My son has an egg allergy and I also think gluten intolerance so I am omitting from his diet; hopefully this improves a lot of his current health issues.
I have not made this cake successfully without eggs. If you find a substitute that works, please let me know.
I would absolutely love to make this cake!
Do you think I could use coconut sugar or ‘swerve’ instead of the honey? In your opinion, how could I change the propotions dry to wet ingredients? I saw in the reviews 1/2c sugar to 1/2c honey but wanted to hear your thought..?
14 trials?!! I would be throwing pots and pans out the window :). Thanks for being so ‘stubborn’!
I found that when I used coconut sugar my batter was too thick and it completely changed the consistency of the cake. the liquid sweetener accounts to liquid volume needed to make the cake right.
As soon as I read this post I ran to the kitchen and started baking. Thank you for this recipe! So delicious! I was so happy with the results and will make this again and again!
★★★★★
I’m glad it was a success for you Tasha!
I made this cake for my dad’s birthday as he prefers low-carb and I can’t eat grains. We all enjoyed it, thank you!
★★★★★
Hello, I just tried making this cake for my Birthday that is tomorrow Feb 13th. I baked it in an 8×8 glass pan. Well, I kept checking it after 50,55,60,70 and 75 minutes and the it was still very wet in the middle. I don’t know if it will turn out dry on the outside and wet in the middle. It is out of the oven now. I am nervous since it is for my birthday otherwise it would be okay. Any ideas?
Thanks so much,
Yoli
Yoli, happy birthday! I am not sure what occurred. Did you make any substitutions? Did you oven fully preheat? Is your oven running cold?
Hi Laura, Thank you!! My cake was okay but flaky, it was kind of dry but moist at the same time. I used Maple syrup and chestnut flour instead of Almond flour. I did pre heat the oven. I also have a thermometer in the oven. This happens to me when I try to make brownies, the middle is always wet but when I use other pans like a bunt pant it comes out great.
Ok. this makes sense. Chestnut flour has a different % of fat content so the texture will be a little different. One thing I suggest is placing your oven rack in the top 1/3 of the oven, not in the middle (if you don’t have it placed there already). Some ovens will have cold air pockets (it’s just how it is, mine does). Another way to remedy this is to add 25 degrees F to the recipe and cook it at a higher temperature for the first 1/4 of the time of the recipe. if it’s a 20min recipe cook at a higher temperature for the first 5min. Then, reduce the cooking temperature back 25 degrees.
Although… as long as it tasted great… it was a happy birthday indeed!
This same thing happened to me. All ingredients are exactly per the recipe. Followed the directions exactly and have a thermometer in the oven. Used a glass pan, it just wouldn’t get done in the middle. Eventually flipped it out of the pan and put it on a cookie sheet to try and get it cooked, but of course it kind of fell apart in doing that. When I did eventually take it out of the oven it was pretty crumbly but still most. I can see how this would be a winner, if only it would cook properly.
★★★
Christina, all I can offer is the same answer as I told Yoli. The cake has been tested hundreds of times by people successfully. This is a classic oven issue -please google it or call your oven’s customer service. I am sorry I can’t offer any additional suggestions but dropping the temperature by 25F and topping the cake with foil to cook for an additional 10minutes is all I can offer. Not opening the oven door is key as well.
Hi I am making this cake now and the mixture is incredibly runny!!! Is this how its meant to be ?? Thanks
It will be “thin” mouse like. Did you make any substitutions?
This was fabulous! I made it for a birthday. So, I took it a little further. My children have a favorite Oreo cake that I make them every year for their birthdays. Some of us have become GF over the last several years. So, this year I made one regular cake and then I took your recipe and used it as the base for a GF Oreo cake. Could not have turned out better!!! I put Enjoy Life mega chunks in the batter and added a cream cheese (sweetened with maple syrup) frosting. Then crushed GF Oreos sprinkled on top. It was better than the original. I did us maple syrup instead of honey in the cake batter. Thank you for such a great treat!!!
★★★★★
[…] Everyone always says the key to baking is to be precise in measurements and process. In this instance, I tweaked the recipe but kept the integrity of the recipe by adjusting all ingredients accordingly. I started with this recipe. […]
What brand of coconut and almond flour do you use? I don’t have much luck with the brands I use. thanks.
Thank you for this recipe. This cake is great! I made a batch last week and it only lasted for a couple of hours. My toddler was crazy about it, my husband loved it and my 1yo tried a tiny piece and begged for more more more! I took half to a friend I was visiting and her high schooler thought it was divine. Today I woke up in the crack of dawn just to make a batch to take some to a workshop I will be attending. So yes, this is a very vey good cake. Because it’s not only delicious but also very easy to make.
Laura, I thought you would like to know that I used hazelnut flour for tbat first batch and worked perfectly. I had some around and wanted to use and try to get a “Nutella” flavor, but the cocoa was too overpowering so it didn’t quite work. So best stay with the coconut/almond flour combo because is less expensive.
Thanks a lot!
★★★★★
Hi Juliana! I am so glad it was such a hit with the family! This is definitely a cake that satisfies if you are trying to stay away from grains. Great thinking on the hazelnut flour! But you are right, the chocolate is very overpowering 😉 (good thing, right?). I hope you enjoy it for years to come.
Hi there, I can’t believe I tried making this before for my birthday. I just saw my post, LOL. I tried making it again and the batter tasted bitter and I could not get rid of that taste. I used coconut flour and chestnut flour. I did drop the temp by 25 degrees. I hope these cupcakes don’t taste like the batter. Any ideas?
Once cooked, they don’t taste like the batter. Also, the type of cocoa matters. It is not a “sweet” cake like out of the box.
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I used Raw Cacao powder and my own mix of Lo-han, Erythritol and Xylitol, all powdered together. It did come out better than the batter. I am going to try it today because it always seems to taste better the next day. How long will these last in the fridge?
Thanks again,
Yoli
The bitterness is from the Lo-han, Erythritol and Xylitol powdered together. The orignial recipe does not call for those ingredients and those will definitely bitter up the taste. The cake will last 4 days in the refrigerator.
I make all my baked goods with my sweetener combination and have never had a bitter taste at all. So I am quite sure it is not my sweetener.
Hi, I was wondering if I could use organic stevia powdered extract instead of honey?
I have tried this recipe with stevia and other sugar substitutes and the taste isn’t good. The honey also serves as a liquid measurement, so substitutions are not recommended.
That’s okay, I’ll try it again soon.
Thanks so much,
I made this cake (using raw cacao & maple syrup) for my birthday cake.
Being Paleo, it was so good to have a “cake” that had the texture of cake & was chocolatey too. I used avocado, raw cacao & maple syrup to make a Paleo friendly frosting. I topped it with fresh raspberries. Thank you so much; this will now be my Go-To Chocolate cake!
Awesome!!
I made it today – it tasted good but not perfect.
I’ve used Xylitol instead of honey, this way it wasn’t sweet enough.
Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★
I forgot: the texture was really perfect!
★★★★★
awesome!!
I also enjoy a really great chocolate Guinness (which is not grain free) cake! I have a few paleo chocolate cake recipes that I have made Guinness cake with, but this one is by far the best. Just substitute the coconut milk with Guinness and… AMAZING!! I have been using Rickoli Black Irish Dry Stout in place of Guinness, it is made from malted sorghum not traditional grains, and is gluten free, but it is no longer available and I am nearly out. There are tons of great beers that are considered grain free being brewed in small batches. I make my own root beer, and I plan on trying that in place of the coconut milk today, I expect it will be equally amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe.
★★★★★
wow! definitely not grain free but I am sure it was amazing!
Can you substitute agave nectar for honey?
You sure can! Enjoy.
[…] tweaked the recipe but kept the integrity of the recipe by adjusting all ingredients accordingly. I started with this recipe. Instead of a “sheet cake” square-cut dessert, I used a 9-inch round pan. To make sure I had […]
I made this in two shallow round 7″ tins in order to make a paleo Black Forest cake for a birthday. I lowered the temperature slightly and only baked them for 35mins. They came out perfectly, flat tops exactly right for layering, and the texture almost like a chocolate sponge! Awesome recipe! 🙂
★★★★★
so glad it came out great! thank you for sharing your modifications too!
This cake is amazing! I have had a few coconut flour failures, (I only kept going because I had the bag to use up) but this is a really lovely cake. Texture is as good as it’s grain filled counterparts.
The biggest plus is my extremely fussy two year old ate it and asked immediately for more.
Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad this was a success!
My grandson has a bunch of allergies and egg is one of them so I use egg replacer in the recipes – has anyone tried this yet? It looks like a good recipe.
I have not tried this with an egg replacer Jessica.
I made this recipe for tomorrow and it was fantastic! !! It’s a keeper:)
★★★★★
I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I am already excited and so very, very thankful…more than anything for the fact that you put weights as well as cup measure for all ingredients! Makes it so much easier to work out the carbs for my Type 1 Diabetic. 🙂 I’ll get back to you when we’ve taste tested. 🙂
I made this yesterday and my extended family loved it! It was lovely and moist- a real winner.
Thank you for sharing this receipe. x
★★★★★
Hi Laura.
That looks absolutely delicious!! I am looking for a chocolate sponge for my wedding cake and wondering if this cake is strong enough to hold the fondant icing and how well does it last from one day to the other?
Aire, I am not sure that this will be considered sponge cake but it is strong enough as a cake. I’ve never used fondant on it but it’s not a soft cake. I hope this helps and Congrats!
Laura – thanks so much for this recipe – it’s so moist there were no complaints about no icing – i used it for my 3 year old’s birthday party (see link to blog post) and actually my daughters had it in the week before because I had to do a practice run! I worked out the sugar content using maple syrup and it’s about 11g per 100g compared to 29-34g in shop bought iced cakes. Oh and I swapped vanilla extract for orange oil. Great recipe, will be using again, and again!
I’m so glad this cake recipe worked great for your family!
Hello. First, thanks for your recipe.
I have a question, can i replace the honey with xylitol or the honey has a precise role in the recipe?
This is for a birthday cake i want to make tomorrow.
Thank you.
I have not tried to replace it with xylitol since I do not use it. Sorry!
This is an awesome recipe! Made it today and it was a hit!! Thanx!!
★★★★★
Hi Laura, these is our FAVOURITE cake ever! We make them weekly and actually make them into cupcakes so it’s easier for the kids. My daughter has been wanting to do a YouTube video and she decided that for her very first one she would make your cupcakes! I hope that is ok. I included a link to the recipe. If you would like to have a watch you can see it here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5FetaRp84g
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Cheers, Emma
★★★★★
Emma, I Just watched Lenny and she’s amazing!!!! Thank you for sharing this video with me! I hope to continue to share recipes that will inspire her to cook more!!
Hi, your recipe said 1/2 cup or 75g coconut flour, when I measure 1/2 cup which is 2oz is only 56g, which measurement to use? cause 75g is more than 1/2 cup. I’m baking it now but my batter came out runny not mousse like. I didn’t substitute anything.
It’s 1/2 cup measured by volume, 56g by weight.
I cannot wait to try this. My question is do you use the whole can do coconut milk. Liquid and fat? That always confuses me in recipes on how to know. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Yes, I use the whole can. Milk + Fat. 🙂
Thank you. I can’t wait to try it.
Amazing recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to come up with this. I made cupcakes of this. My mix came up more runny than I think it should. I had to make a couple adjustments. I didn’t have coconut milk so I used full fat dairy milk. I was also a little short on cocoa powder and honey. I mean just barely short. I added about a tablespoon of sugar to make up for lack of honey. The taste was amazing. In love. The only problem was they came out a bit soggy on the bottom. I cooked them 20 mins at 350, tried a toothpick and still not done. Then gave 5 more mins, not cooked. 5 more mins.. Not done. So I upped the temp to 375 and 10 mins later my toothpick came out clean. It may be the oven or the slightly altered ingredients but perhaps next time I will start them off at 375 for 20 mins. This is my favorite Coconut/Almond flour mix I’ve yet had. More coconut and less almond flour. Thank you thank you! You nailed it.
★★★★★
Kim, I’m so glad that it turned out for you! I think you guessed it right that the culprit was the milk. The consistency isn’t the same as coconut milk from a can. Since it seems you can tolerate dairy, next time, use yogurt if you do not have coconut milk or reduce the milk by 1/4cup. I’m glad you liked it!
Hi, can you substitute oil for the milk, or some of it? I.noticed there was no butter/oil?
No. the fats come in play in the cooconut milk in this recipe. No oil is necessary.
Hi just wondering will this recipe work if I substituted the almond meal with a gluten free flour? what would you recommend instead of the almond meal flour
Hello ! I live in Germany but want to try this recipe for my son’s birthday. We don’t find vanilla extract here as easily so I was wondering if it works with granulated vanilla (dry) instead? Or does the liquid factor make a difference here ? Also would like to do it in a round shape, and raise ingredients by half. Any experience with this ? Thanks
granulated vanilla should work as well. You can use a round baking pan. Just check for doneness around the same time. Enjoy!
Looking forward to doing this recipe for my son’s birthday!
Any tips for doing this instead of square in a round tin cake pan (28cm) ? (Will try to do half more than what’s on the recipe)
Also, does replacing vanilla extract with (pure) vanilla powder make much of a difference with the liquid difference?
★★★★
This was great- I substituted date paste for some of the honey and it was delicious, not too sweet. Definitely refrigerate leftovers- I forgot and it got moldy before we could finish it all! I might try to freeze half of it next time.
★★★★
How can I replace the maple syrup or honey?
Can I use a homemade sugar syrup?
My baby cannot have honey and I’m concerned about trying maple syrup the same day (1st birthday) that we are trying other foods 🙁
Homemade sugar syrup will work. As long as you substitute with an equal liquid, the cake should turn out ok!
Hi Laura,
I would like to try this recipe and wondered what temperature you bake at.
thanks
Jenni
Hi Jenni, all the details are in the recipe. Enjoy!
Heyy, can i use coconut cream instead of coconut milk?
Karuna, you can dilute coconut cream with water but you need additional liquid to 14oz in this recipe.
Made this cake over the weekend since I am celiac, allegic to dairy and processed sugars. I brought the cake to a barbecue where other people with allergies also enjoyed it. I will definitely be using this recipe again!
★★★★★
Since I made this cake in March for my father’s birthday, the whole family keeps requesting that I make it again and again. It’s incredibly easy to make and I am amazed at how delicious it is – honestly this is the first dessert from the “healthy category” that I feel is not lacking in flavour or texture. Thank you so much for such an amazing recipe! I also wrote a blog post about it in hopes that my fellow Slovene bakers will try it out, too. 🙂
★★★★★
I’m so glad it has been such a hit! Thank you for baking up my recipe!
Just wanted to let you know that I made your cake using *all* banana flour instead of the coconut flour/almond meal. I increased the flour to 1 cup in total as the batter looked too wet. The resulting cake didn’t rise very much, but it was a lovely even texture and consistency, and the kids and husband loved it! To make it into a proper birthday cake proposition, I would cook two next time and layer them together with some whipped coconut cream. A complete success in my mind, and fabulous to make a paleo/GF cake with no nuts! A treat that can go in their lunch box and off to the nut free school! Yay! 😀
I’m so glad it worked with banana flour! I haven’ experimented too much with it since I don’t have it easily available in my area but this is great to know. Thanks for letting me and others know!
I just put mine in the oven but the batter seems way too liquid. Hope this turns out ok…
For those saying it was too runny and crumble/falling apart.
Try adding 1/6 cup of buckwheat flour (it’s completely gluten and dairy free) and add in an extra 1/4 cup of coconut flour and mix well. The consistency will be more mousse like and less runny. (Coconut flour absorbs moisture and liquid extremely well).
I’ve done my 3rd batch now with those extra flours and it turned out moist and doesn’t crumble.
★★★★
I’m so glad that you found buckwheat to be a good solution. Unfortunately, buckwheat is not grain-free, and those who follow a paleo lifestyle and need a grain free recipe cannot use it. I am so glad it turned out well for you since you are able to have it.
For some reason, I chose to attempt your amazing looking chocolate cake between a long day on my feet and rustling up spaghetti bolognese for dinner. But wow, fantastically moist and moarish cake for dessert straight out of the gate! My first couple of experiments with coconut flour were less than successful, so I was expecting a rushed flop; considering I left my fp in the cupboard and whipped it up with elbow grease. But the coconut/almond flour combo was on the money. Swapped in organic cacao powder and agave, but consistency seemed about right. Baking time/temp for my oven needs tinkering because the top was a teensy bit scorched. But judicious application of a sharp knife and a melty scoop of vanilla ice-cream, perfection.
Thank you Laura, for a keeper of a cake and a suitably impressed husband!
I am so glad it came out great for you! I was a bit worried when I started reading your comment! LOL. A meal of blolognese and this cake sounds heavenly!
This sounds really delicious and something new to try. Thank you for sharing this.
Simon
Hi,
I read through ALL the comments hoping I would find an answer. I am wanting to use this as a component of a homemade dairy free ice cream cake. Do you think it will hold up okay with coconut ice cream in the middle? I thought maybe freezing it and then applying soft ice cream and freezing again?
Also, I have someone with a nut allergy and so I want to try the sunflower seed flour. I will grind it myself, but if I just grind the raw seeds will it be too moist? Should I soak and dehydrate first?
Thank you very much. It is for my son’s 5th birthday party.
Hi Aleidria, the cake will hold up to become the sandwich of the ice cream cake just fine. Once it cools, cut it in half, freeze it, then stuff it with ice cream. The texture of the cake will be different with sunflower seed flour but it will be ok. I recommend that you give this cake a “go” before your event to make sure you are happy with it. Just raw sunflowers, milled to a flour-like consistency.Enjoy!
Is arrowroot powder the same as arrowroot starch?
It sure is!
Great recipe, thank you Laura!!
I do not have any diet restrictions and everybody in my family loved the cake. Looking forward to trying out more of your recipes.
★★★★★
thanks so much for trying this recipe Nelly! I hope to inspire you to make other fresh recipes from my website.
Thank You for this recipe! My sister and I made it and it turned out to be deliciously moist and fluffy, exactly how you promised it would be. This cake was super easy to throw together and super healthy!!!! THANK YOU a billion times! Here is our gorgeous rendition of your cake on our blog!! We served ours with coconut cream and berries and more melted chocolate!!!
https://sprinkleofvanillasugar.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/8-ingredient-flourless-chocolate-cake-gf-paleo-df-refined-sugar-free/
★★★★★
WOW! Thank you for sharing!
I definitely LOVE this cake. Great crumb, barely sweet so it’s a treat but not a crazy one. I accidentally had to quadruple the recipe (trying to double & misread…) but the good news is now I have a bunch in the freezer. I made it for my bday, but I crumbled it up, mixed it with coc milk ganache, cream cheese, and chopped strawberries (kinda like a chocolate truffle cheesecake) then covered it in more ganache. It was so over the top amazing that I went out on my bday still and gave most of the leftovers away. Lol! Anyway, I love this cake by itself, made into craziness, however. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!!!!
★★★★★
Awesome! Glad you love it. And your birthday cake sounds delicious!
Hello…this looks fabulous! Do you recommend the same temp for making cupcakes? And how long of a baking time do you think? Going to make some cupcakes in addition to regular cake for my sons birthday so I can stay on track how does it freeze? Thanks in advance!
definitely the same temperature about 12-14 minutes although I’d check. Enjoy!
This cake is AWESOME I’m a uk Paleo and had to buy some U.S. cups, I can’t believe how easy it is to bake without all the weighing!it’s U.S. recipes all the way for me now.
Just going to whip another of these cakes up for work tomorrow, a tasty treat will go down well with work friends, thanks for posting!!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad this worked out for you! Enjoy!
Hi!
Do you have certain brands of coconut flour you recommend? I made a half recipe in a 6″ pan as a test before I make this for my daughter’s birthday. Mine came out with an eggy bottom. I remember reading on a different recipe that this will happen with certain coconut flours. I used Bob’s Red Mill. Of course I also used whole cows milk, so the batter was runnier and maybe this contributed as well? I’m going to buy coconut milk for my next test, but I’m wondering if need a different coconut flour as well?
Hi Sarah, using cow’s milk was (unfortunately) the culprit for the recipe fail. You can use yogurt or canned coconut milk next time. Also, the recipe is not meant to be halved either. I hope this helps
This cake is delicious! I keep meaning to freeze some of it for later, but we end up eating it all before I can freeze it! It is by far the best paleo cake we have tried! I will say that I think your weight measurements are key here. I typically just go by volume, but decided to try an experiment with your recipe. I measured everything by volume and then weighed each ingredient to see how they matched up. Some were right on, but some were very different! I adjusted everything so the weights matched yours in the recipe and it came out perfect! I’m guessing with so many different brands of ingredients and different cooking/measuring methods (some may pack the flour more into their measuring cup, etc.), things can change a lot if just going by volume. This can create problems, especially when using coconut flour. So long story short, for those who have had issues with this recipe, give it another try, but use the weight (gram) measurements and hopefully it will work out! Thank you for an amazing recipe, Laura!
I’m so glad!!! Yes, definitely weighing your ingredients is most accurate and when only using the recipe by volume there can be some discrepancies -especially with coconut flour like you said! It’s a favorite of mine as well.
This recipe looks really good. I’ve been looking for a gluten free chocolate cake recipe for my housemate with Celiac, not necessarily paleo. However, I also live with someone who is deathly allergic to all tree nuts, especially almonds. Do you think rice or tapioca flour could be an okay substitute for the almond flour?
Unfortunately, rice or tapioca flour are not good substitutes here. Use oats instead (they are naturally gluten-free, check the brand label). Grind the oats in the blender really fine into a flour first, measure to the same ratio as almond flour in the recipe, then add the other ingredients. Enjoy!
This cake is delicious and super easy. I made it last night. Great chocolate flavor,, just sweet enough with good crumb.
I would like to make this for my daughters birthday…do you know how much I’d need for two 10″ and two 6″ round cakes? 3 or 4 batches maybe? Thanks.
Each batch is for approx 1, 10″ cake. you can probably make 3 batches and save a bit from each of the first two 10″ to fill a 6″ cake.
Leave a Reply: