Layered Chocolate Almond Coconut Cake (gluten free)

 

My boyfriend had some co-workers coming over yesterday, so I asked him last night if he would like me to bake something. He asked me to make Almond Orange Cake, but we didn't have any oranges, but we always have cocoa in the house, so chocolate it was! Neither of us require a gluten free diet, but since we both love almonds and coconut, we generally enjoy desserts made with almond flour or coconut flour better (plus we can make jokes about it being Paleo, bro!).

 

Cakes made with almond flour and coconut flour are perfect for layering. They do not rise, so they produce a perfectly flat cake with no cracks on top. The fat content in the almonds and coconut also helps to produce a moist, dense chocolate cake. This cake is pretty high in calories, so save this one for special occasions!

 

Serves 12

Ingredients (this is enough for two 9-inch round cake layers)

2 2/3 cup ground blanched almonds

2/3 cup coconut flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup coconut oil, plus more for greasing

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)

4 eggs (at room temperature)

For the icing:

2 soft, ripe avocados
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease two 9 inch cake pans with coconut oil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ground almonds, coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Mix together until uniform.

In a medium bowl, combine coconut oil and brown sugar, and mash together with a fork until uniform. Add maple syrup, vanilla extract and almond milk and mix again.

In another medium bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix together, and fold in the eggs. Pour half the batter into each cake pan and smooth over batter so it is flat.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, then carefully run a paring knife around the outside of the cakes to loosen from pan. Bring cooling rack to cake pan and flip them over so the cake falls out onto the cooling rack. Allow to cool fully before icing.

For the icing:

Slice avocados in half and scoop out the fruit with a spoon into a food processor. Add cocoa, maple syrup and vanilla. Blend all ingredients, stopping to scrape down sides as necessary, for about 2 minutes, until smooth.

Nutrition (per 1/12 of layered cake with icing)

Calories 474

Fat 31.5g

Saturated fat 12.1g

Carbohydrates 42.2g

Fibre 12.8g

Sugars 19.4g

Protein 11.1g