Dedicating this to my lady queen, my Mom.
The best part of this chocolate cake is how easy it is to dive your fork right into it. It is unbelievably moist, with a light, rich chocolate crumb. This paleo chocolate cake is the perfect balance of rich, deep chocolate flavor and a little tart. Totally smothered in a creamy, rich chocolate coconut cream frosting and some extra jam, but also filled with blackberry jam in between each thick layer.
Need I say more? I’ve wanted to master a classic chocolate cake for so long to satisfy my mom’s everyday craving for it and I really mean EVERYDAY. So, I finally did it! My mom is a cake queen, meaning she loves to eat the cakes I bake. Not necessarily bake the cakes she eats. She gave it 5 stars!
It doesn’t matter that it’s not made with your traditional cake ingredients! The only thing that matters is that is tastes INCREDIBLE! I will say that there are no substitutions for these flours, so if you have a nut allergy, I am so so sorry! If you don't want a 3 layer cake, you can make it a 2 layer 8-inch instead!
Baking can be so damn frustrating, like going to throw my deflated cakes across the room frustrating, but it’s also so fun trying to figure out how to make this work. I mean, science that involves food is the only way to science. Am I right?
My favorite things about this cake is the crazy easy frosting made with two simple ingredients, not counting the salt! Just note that you will need to make the frosting ahead of time, but that it's incredible and totally worth the wait! I know it's so so tempting, but don't like it all out of the bowl before you frost the cake, but definitely a few spoonfuls.
If you are looking for more chocolatey recipes, I've got you covered:
No Bake Brownies with Chocolate Ganache and Strawberries
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes (Paleo)
Sprouted Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Hemp Seed Cookies
Double Chocolate Muffins (Paleo)
Twix Bars (Paleo & Vegan)
If you make this Blackberry Chocolate Cake, I’d LOVE to see! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know how you liked it & how it turned out!
You can also follow me on Instagram @abouttosprout and tag #abouttosproutrecipes to show me your beautiful creations!
Blackberry Chocolate Cake (Paleo)
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 1 ½ cup coconut sugar
- ¾ cup cacao powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coffee or espresso
- 1 cup coconut milk + 1 tsp. lemon – this acts as your buttermilk!
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water or coffee
Blackberry Jam:
- 3 cup fresh blackberries
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Frosting:
- 1.5 cups hard coconut cream
- 3 cups chopped dark chocolate I used Alter Eco 90% Dark Bar
Instructions
- Begin by making your frosting: Add the chilled coconut cream, chopped chocolate and a pinch of salt to a metal or glass bowl over a double broiler on low heat. Whisk until melted and let cool 5 minutes before covering wand placing in fridge for 2-6 hours, until hard.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 6-inch round cake pans (or 2 8-inch) and line with parchment paper.
- Add all flours, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground coffee or espresso to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your paddle attachment, mix all dry ingredients.
- Add coconut milk & lemon mixture, melted & cooled coconut oil, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture and combine on a medium-low speed.
- Reduce speed to low and slowly add boiling water/coffee to the cake batter until well combined. Batter will be thin, this is what you want.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until your cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cake cool completely before frosting. Let your cake cool in the fridge for at least an hour before removing from the pan and frosting. The cake should be room temperature when you frost it. Cake can be made a day ahead if you’d like!
- Make the blackberry jam: Add the blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until berries start to break down. You can help them along, mashing them with a spoon. Continue to cook and stir until berry mixture starts to thicken and berries are broken down. About 20 minutes total. Remove from heat and let it cool for 10 minutes then pass the jam through a fine mesh sieve to separate the pulp and seeds. Place jam in fridge until ready to layer your cake.
- Finish making your frosting: Pull the hardened chocolate coconut cream frosting away from the sides of your bowl and using a hand mixer, beat until peaks form and it looks fluffy. Use right away.
- Layer your cake: Spread an even layer of jam on the first layer then an even layer of whipped frosting. Repeat with the second layer. Use only frosting for the top layer. Take the last of your jam and whip it into the frosting and cover the outside of the cake with it. Pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes to completely set.
- Cake can be stored at room temp for a day, then transferred to the fridge.
Notes
• You can use 2 flax eggs if needed, but middle of cake may sink a bit
Great!
Hi. Looks great! Would like to make this for a birthday. How far in advance can I make it and how would I store it?
Also, does the frosting hold up in 55* weather?
Thank you!
Hi Holly! You can make cake layers 2 days in advance triple wrapped in plastic wrap sitting at room temp OR you can bake off the layers 5 days in advance and triple wrap with plastic and freeze them and then the night before you frost let them sit at room temp. As for the frosting, since it is coconut oil based, it may start to get very soft, but might be okay without being in direct sunlight. I have not tested at this temp, so not totally sure. Most frostings don’t hold up in sunlight, but please let me know if it works out! I make this cake way more than I should☺️
Thank you for responding! I sure will let you know how frosting holds up! I love the grain free vegan cake recipe! Would love to see more!!
Thank you so much! I will certainly be working on more grain free vegan recipes! If you want a super easy and satisfying one, check out my no bake brownies! They are the perfect sweet treat!
Hi Rylee! Ok, so I made the cake last night. Followed recipe, but middle of cake never cooked thru. I had it baking 50 mins and still gooey inbthe center, but sides were firm. Batter looked great until I added boiling water. After that it appeared almost too thin. Smelled delicious while it was cooking. Any insight? Will check out brownie recipe, thank you!
Hi Holly! Your batter should be very thin after the boiling water, so that sounds right. Make sure you are not opening your oven too much to check on cakes as well. If it’s cooked around the outside, but not the middle, then I would cover the cake tin tightly with foil and put back in oven. This should help trap the heat and help cook the inside of your cake. Bake for another 10-15 mins checking after 5-7 mins to make sure it’s working! I make this cake MANY times a year and have never had a problem. I hope the tin foil helps! Since it is vegan and gluten free you may expect slight sinkage in the middle of your cake but there should be no problem cooking it all the way through.
Thank u! Will try again with the tin foil! Appreciate your kindness!
I hope it works! Please let me know! Happy to help anytime!
HOLY CAKE!! This was seriously impressively good and I followed the recipe to a T. I have tried countless paleo chocolate cake recipes, but I have never had a paleo cake this, just like the real thing and will be my go-to for now! Thanks for the recipe!!
I am so glad you loved it and happy to hear it will be your go to paleo chocolate cake recipe!
Thanks so much for your sweet review!
Hello! Super excited to try this recipe. Could you clarify what hard coconut cream is? Is it creamed coconut?
Hey Noelle! For sure, the hard coconut cream is either coconut cream from the can that says coconut cream or the part of the full fat coconut milk can that solidifies on top. Whichever coconut milk or coconut cream you get, be sure to place it in the fridge overnight so it gets solid!
And it doesn’t have to be entirely solid when you whip it for the first step of the recipe, but it needs to not be liquid and needs to be thicker so it can be whipped.