March 20th was officially the first day of spring, or at least it was supposed to be…Yet here in Connecticut, spring came in the form of snow, which ultimately made my entire family a bit frustrated. While I prefer warm weather any day over the cold, I tend to try and keep myself busy, as to not looking out the windows and get depressed myself. Therefore, I thought it would be perfect to spend time in the kitchen making a chocolate cake for my mom, of which would end up keeping us both happy. I am thrilled to say that my plan worked, and what is even greater, is that the sun came out the next day, which brightened things up just a bit.
My mom, the chocolate lover and critic told me that the cake was “REALLY good,” and was astonished that I came up with the recipe myself. My father, who isn’t a big fan on sweets or chocolate in general, was going to wait until after dinner to try a piece, but after seeing my mom’s reaction, he simply could not wait any longer. His response? “This is flipping AMAZING!” Overall, they loved it, a lot, and not once would one guess, or even care, that it was free of grains, eggs, nuts, or coconut products, let a lone “Paleo” compliant. Now, I would not necessarily call this cake “Paleo,” as really, it is definitely not a nutrient dense, healing, sustainable food source. However, I just wanted to make a dessert where my imagination and creativity could go wild. I also wanted to prove to myself that, for future reference, I could make a killer birthday cake that could be eaten by those with some of the most common allergies outside of grains and dairy. In the end, the cake came out a complete success, and I truly could not be more excited with how much everyone in my family loved it. Tomorrow I will be sharing the chocolate buttercream that I made to frost the inside of the cake, so be sure and stay tuned for that, while if you are looking for a similar recipe, check out my strawberry snack cake here.
Triple Threat Chocolate Cake
Print Recipe
(Serves 10-12)
Ingredients
- 1 cup tigernut flour
- 1/2 cup water chestnut flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp grain-free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (plus more for greasing)
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp grass-fed gelatin
- 1/2 cup boiling water
Filling
- 3/4 cup paleo chocolate buttercream
Topping
- 3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
- 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated palm shortening
- 2-4 tbsp pure maple syrup
- Sea salt (for sprinkling)
Cake Process
- Use avocado oil to grease the sides and bottoms of 2, 8 inch cake pans.
- Place greased cake pans upside down on a large piece of parchment paper, trace around the outside of the pans with a pencil to draw a circle, then cut the circles out, fitting the pieces of paper into the bottom of each cake pan.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, sift together tigernut flour, water chestnut flour, arrowroot flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.
- In a food processor, blend together avocado oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- Place gelatin in a small bowl, and pour boiling water over the top, whisking quickly to dissolve the gelatin, then pouring it into the food processor with the rest of the wet ingredients, running until combined.
- Add in dry ingredients and pulse the food processor until the dry has become fully incorporated with the wet, forming a smooth batter.
- Pour equal amounts of the batter into each prepared cake pan.
- Place cake pans in the oven and and allow them to cook for 25 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool until the bottoms are no longer warm (at least 20-30 minutes).
- Once cool, remove cakes from their pan and allow to set up even further on a wire rack.
Frosting Process
- To frost, remove one of the cake rounds from its pan so that it is facing up on a large plate, and spread 3/4 of chocolate frosting evenly across its surface.
- Once cool, transfer the second cake round on top of the first by slowly flipping it over off of the wire rack and on top of the first round.
- Prepare the ganache topping by melting the shortening, unsweetened chocolate, and maple syrup in a small heat proof pan over low heat.
- Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then drizzle over the top of the cake with a spoon.
- Once the ganache begins to harden on the cake, sprinkle with sea salt and serve.
Recipe Notes
Psalm 62:7 “In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.”
I would love to try these but I am nervous that the water chestnut flour says it’s made in a shared facility with wheat, peanuts, greenest, dairy, soy, etc… Do you know if there is a real chance of contamination? Are you concerned about contamination?
Hi Amber,
I personally do not eat the treat recipes I make. Instead, it is my family that is the “taste tester” group. They do not have any allergies, which is why it is not a concern for me…Sadly I have yet to find water chestnut flour that is made in a clean facility.
greenest = tree nuts lol 🙂
This recipe looks really good! Your website is pretty much the only website where I can find recipes that I don’t have to substitute hardly anything! I was just curious if you had an AIP and coconut free pancake recipe? If you don’t that’s fine. I have just been trying to find a pancake recipe that will actually cook where I don’t have to substitute very many things. Thanks! 🙂
Hi Lydia! That is so great to hear. Hmmm….I feel like I just saw one but can’t remember who it was by! I will certainly keep it in mind and let you know when it comes to me 🙂
Actually, here is one of the ones I was thinking of – http://www.grazedandenthused.com/#!Cinnamon-Plantain-Fritters-PaleoAIPVegan/cu6k/55c180a20cf22830f5f4ccf9
Amazing!!! I have been searching for a good chocolate cake recipe that is AIP compliant for my husband’s birthday. This one is not just “good”, but great!! I can’t thank you enough.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I would like to make an AIP cake for my birthday so a friend of mine can have it, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of water chestnut flour… and my kids can’t have nuts ? Do you know what is like, what’s its role, so I can try to replace with something else? I wouldnt have a lot of options anyway… It could be coconut flour and I would have to check if tapioca or arrowroot flour are AIP friendly.
Thanks!
Hi Pam, water chestnut flour is starchy. I am not sure a 1 for 1 replacement for it, however, coconut flour may just work. I would start with 1/4 cup. Just a note, it may change the texture a bit…