Paleo Vanilla Bean Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting

My husband doesnt like chocolate cake, so when I came accross this recipe I was pretty excited.  I also liked it because I could take the nut factor out of it.  That is always a plus since I seem to have to have cupcakes ready for Avery to take to daycare for special occasions!

 

The down side to this recipe... OMG it is a lot of work (in terms of dishes) you have a lot going on.  Whipping egg whites and refridgerating them.  Then boiling your vanilla bean with the milk.  Mixing your dry ingredients.  Mixing your eggs and stuff.  Lots to do, lots of dishes.... but worth it.

 

I made this cake over Spring break, and I had some of my lovely friends over for coffee, cake and a playdate.  We ate almost the entire cake that morning.  I also made the cake for Avery's 3'rd birthday, and everyone seemed to like it.  Avery is quite happy with it, and that is the most important part :-)

 

 

 

I followed the recipe as is, not too much you can change with a cake recipe the first time around.  I did make my own frosting, so I included that recipe as well.  I located the recipe on Pinterest, but it originates here!

 

For the Cake

• ½ cup (80g) of Coconut Flour
• ½ cup (64g) of Arrowroot Flour
• ½ cup (112g) of Pastured Butter (or Coconut Oil), soft -I used coconut oil
• ¼ cup (50g) of Coconut Sugar - you can now buy this at Costco
• ¼ cup (84g) of Raw Honey - Grandma Bees (Save on Foods)
• ½ cup of Almond Milk (or Light Coconut Milk) we went with coconut mild
• 4 Eggs
• 1 Vanilla Bean - I get mine at costco, but you can buy them anywhere
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
• ½ teaspoon of Salt
• ½ teaspoon of Baking Soda
• Extra greasing butter/oil

For the Frosting

• 1 can of full fat coconut milk - refridgerated over night - I like Thai Kitchen Organic full fat milk  (stock up the first Wednesday of every month at the enjoy center - even when it is not on sale I find it the only place I can find it and price is NOT  inflated at all)
• 1/4 + cup of cocoa power
• 2+ tablespoons of honey

Instructions

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F. you have plenty of time to do this ;-)
2. Line the bottom of two 6"x2" round pans with parchment and grease the parchment surface and pan sides with butter/oil. Don't use cheap parchment paper and I used coconut oil to grease
3. Optionally pulse the coconut sugar in a food processor if the granules are large. - I didn't bother doing this, couldnt be bothered to dirty more dishes
4. Gently warm the raw honey so it's soft and nearly a liquid state.
5. Separate the eggs into egg yolks and egg whites.
6. Combine the egg whites with the cream of tartar and beat on high speed with a whisk attachment until stiff peaks form to form the meringue. Set aside, or place in the refrigerator while preparing the rest of the ingredients. this could take some time, give it 3-5 minutes
7. Gently warm the almond milk (or coconut milk). Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and place in the warm milk. Let the beans seep into the milk and scrape if necessary. Remove the pod. I absolutely had to scrape my pods
8. Add the vanilla extract and egg yolks to the warm almond milk. Whisk until combined to make the liquid mixture.
9. In the mixing bowl with a whisk attachment whip the soft butter (or coconut oil) until fluffy. coconut oil doesnt really get fluffy like butter so just whip it a few good minutes
10. Add the coconut sugar and honey to the butter/oil and whip on high speed for about 1 minute to make the butter mixture.
11. Sift together the coconut flour, arrowroot flour, baking soda, and salt to make the dry flour mixture. if you read my blog, you know by now I dont sift
12. Add half of the dry flour mixture to the butter mixture and whip until the flours absorb into the butter and becomes fluffy again. Scrape the sides with a spatula to incorporate.
13. Add the whisked liquid ingredients and the rest of the dry flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on high speed with the whisk until combined and fluffy.
14. Scoop in a heaping of the egg white meringue and hand mix into the batter. Gently fold in the rest of the meringue until combined.  This is quite the job, and takes quite a long time.  You do not want to lose too much air/volume from your cake mix
15. Portion the batter into each cake pan and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

 

 

For The Frosting

1. Seperate the coconut cream from the water and put the cream in your stand mixer
2. Whip for 3-5 minutes
3. add cocoa powder and honey (to desired taste) and continue to whip for another few minutes
4. You may chill it a little before frosting your cake, or just go right ahead and frost.  Ive done it both ways and the worked out each time :-)

 

I really hope you like it as much as I did, it really is worth all the effort and dishes!!

 

Happy Baking!!

JoJo