Paleo Chocolate Cake

I know... the first paleo recipe I blog about would be dessert!  I'm sure you're not surprised by that ;) Real quick story about how I ended up baking this cake. It was one of my close girlfriend's 30th birthday.  Her husband and I thought about ordering this paleo cake from this restaurant, but for 12 serving/slices... it would have costs us $65! Umm... the cake was good, but is it really worth $65?!?! Anyway, my gf's husband asked if I could bake a paleo cake.  Uhh... I can bake, but paleo is a whole new ballgame for me since I have yet to venture into the baking area.  

However, being me... I took the challenge and researched on some recipes.  I finally decided on this one from Elana's Pantry (with some modifications, of course!).  I told my girlfriend's husband that if the recipe failed, I would bring gluten-free cupcakes from Crave.  Luckily, the cake was a success!  3/4 of the cake was destroyed and my girlfriend was thrilled to have some cake to take home.  

Ingredients for the cake:

• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 10 (yes, ten) eggs
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted 
• 1.5 cups agave nectar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest (I used tangerine  zest since I did not have any oranges) 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degree F.  
2. Grease the cake pans with coconut oil (you can either use a sheet cake pan or 2 nine-inch cake pans)
3. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda (dry ingredients)
4. In another bowl (large) blend together eggs, oil, agave nectar, vanilla, and zest (I actually blended all this in my Kitchen Aide mixer)
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the large bowl until everything is blended
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes
7. Allow the cake to complete cool before frosting

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 1 cup of dark chocolate (chopped or chips), preferably 70% or higher 
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted)
• 2 tbsp. agave nectar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan (small), melt chocolate and coconut oil together over low heat
2. Stir in agave, vanilla and salt
3. Place the sauce pan (with the contents of course) in the freezer for about 10 minutes to cool
4. Remove from the freezer and whip the frosting with an electric blender until it's thick and fluffy 
5. Frost over cooled cake (or the frosting will melt right into the cake)

Now, really interesting note here about the frosting.  It does not "fluff" up like what you're used to.  Also... be careful of leaving the frosting in the freezer for too long.  I left mine in there too long and ended up re-heating the frosting and placing it back in the freezer to try and "whip" it to a consistency I was happy with.  At the end, the frosting turned out to be a thin layer and not thick like how I would normally like my cakes to be.   Regardless, it was still good and everyone enjoyed the cake :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. WOOD! I am so happy you enjoyed the cake!  Actually, I was more thankful that it turned out well and will probably try to make some dark chocolate chip scones in the near future :)

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting - Happy Graduation!

This past May/June, we celebrated 3 graduates in my family: my brother and my two cousins.  These three young ones will start college in the fall and I feel super old!  Ah-hem.  Anyway, I decided to get off my lazy butt and start blogging again since I have failed to keep this blog going!  I figured the most appropriate recipe for me is my "Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting."

I baked this cake for the graduates to enjoy.  I was actually asked to bake a cake after my aunt and her husband tried my carrot cake and fell in love with it (I will post that in the near future)!  They actually wanted me to bake another carrot cake, but I vetoed since that took a lot of labor on my part (sorry! but next time!). 

Also, my sister is engaged and getting married in another year or so (she has yet to select a date).  I've volunteered myself to bake her cake!!! Okay, yes... a task that might be a bit too much, but if it turns out bad I can always run to HEB, right!?!?

So on to the cake... I mixed and matched recipes because I wanted to play with the American Test Kitchen cookbook my dad recently purchased, but I wanted to try out this butter cream frosting I found online (my sister told me she wanted butter cream frosting and not fondant for her cake). 

My cousins thanked me for a delicious cake and my aunt even called to tell me that my cake was the first to go (out of 3 cakes they had that day!).  So I am very pleased to post this on my blog.  I hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Cake: (adapted from America Test Kitchen)

• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso or instant coffee (optional, but highly recommended)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350 degree F
2. Line two 9" round pan with parchment paper on the bottom (grease the sides)
3. Whisk the cocoa and water together in a small bowl
4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder  
5. In another bowl, whisk together oil, egg, vanilla and cooled cocoa misture
6. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan
8. Bake between 25 to 30 minutes (to see if the cake is ready, take the cake out, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake.  When the toothpick comes out clean and with a few crumbs, your cake is ready)
9. Allow the cake (in the pan) to cool on the cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Afterwards, flip the cake over to remove from the pan and allow it to cool for 1-2 hours. 

While the cake is cooling, you should make your butter cream frosting.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting: (adapted from ezrapoundcake.com)

• 9 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2.5 - 3 cups of confection's sugar (powder sugar), sifted

1. Melt the chocolate (you may either melt it in the microwave or over the stove) and let it cool to room temperature
• If you opt for the microwave, make sure you do not burn the chocolate! Just melt in increments of 2 minutes
• If you opt for the stove, either use a double-boiler pan or in a heatproof bowl, set it over boiling water (make sure they do not touch... I place a rack in my pan and place the bowl on top). 
2. Beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy
3. Add milk
4. Add chocolate and mix until incorporated (about 2-3 minutes)
5. Add vanilla 
6. Gradually add 2.5 cups of confection's sugar (on low speed) until the frosting is creamy and silky (add more sugar if needed)