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Thursday, April 20, 2017

Single Serving Chocolate Birthday Cake + A Special Giveaway (AIP, Paleo, Vegan)



A Year in the Life


This past weekend, we celebrated a very special moment. One year ago we met our beautiful little girl for the very first time. We brought her home to our house and introduced her to her three fur siblings and then thought, now what? LOL. Let's face it, no one knows what the heck they are doing as first time parents. It's nerve wrecking, and terrifying and wonderful all at the same time. As each month passed, my husband would say to me, "well we made it one more month." We all still had our fingers and toes and everyone, for the most part, was doing well. Those first few months felt like years of time as the passed. All the time and energy I spent trying to have a beautiful breastfeeding relationship with Emily now seems so distant and a drop of water in the ocean (read about our journey here).

Then in a blink, it was time to let Emily enjoy all my favorite foods as we began baby-led weaning. No surprise at all, she was a natural foodie baby and loved everything I gave her. If you don't already, follow me on Instagram where I often share pictures of what she is having each day. Right around 6 months, was the moment I am sure the world started spinning faster and time sped up because the next thing I knew, it was less than two months until her first birthday and it was time to plan to celebrate a whole year of her life.



To Smash Cake or to Not Smash Cake?



I must be honest, I was not even originally planning on having a smash cake for Emily's birthday. I just didn't see all the hype, and since she is such a fantastic eater, I didn't expect there to be any smashing. BUT after attending a few of her friends first birthdays I couldn't help myself. I wanted her to experience that as well, and then one day we can look back at those pictures and I can share the whole crazy day with her.

When I finally decided to have a birthday cake for Emily, I knew two things right away.

  1. I will be making it from scratch.
  2. It will use my most favorite flour ever, Otto's Cassava Flour.

Recently, I shared this AIP Chocolate Mug Cake recipe which was in inspiration for the cake. I decided to remove the sweeteners from the cake and add applesauce. This required a little adjusting of the other ingredients. For the frosting, while I knew a simple coconut cream frosting would work just fine, I really wanted something that was more frosting like in texture. While Emily does not eat strict AIP (she does eat eggs and many other paleo foods), I decided to keep this as an AIP cake so that I could use it for other occasions.

I have tested this recipe three times now and Emily has had it twice. I can say for certain it's a winner for both mommy and baby. What I also love about this cake (having tested it so much) is that both the cake and frosting can easily be separately  made ahead and assembled wherever you need them. Or you can make then entire cake ahead, freeze it, and travel to your destination. For Emily's birthday, I made the cake and frosting two days before the party and kept them in the fridge. Then the day before, I put the cake together and froze it and drove to my parents house (2 hours away) and it kept in their fridge until the party the next day. It turned out perfect!

Emily's Birthday Giveaway

Not only am I sharing this delicious birthday cake recipe with you all, but Otto's Cassava Flour has so graciously agreed to giveaway a 5 lb bag of cassava flour to help celebrate Emily's birthday. To enter for a chance to win a bag of cassava flour comment below who you plan to make this birthday cake recipe for next! The winner will be chosen on Sunday, April 23 at 12:00 pm EST. (for U.S. participates only). This giveaway is over. Congratulations, Rebecca Nicodemus for winning a bag of Otto's Cassava Flout. Thank you for all those who entered.






Single Serving Chocolate Birthday Cake


Ingredients


Cake:
Frosting:
Option: fruit juice or vegetable juice to color frosting


Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 4-oz ramekins or a muffin tray.
  2. Start making the cake batter by sifting the cassava flour, coconut flour, carob powder, and baking soda into a large bow. Whisk to fully combine.
  3.  Add applesauce, coconut milk, and avocado oil and stir to incorporate all ingredients.
  4. Evenly distribute the batter between the two greased ramekins or two muffin molds. If using ramekins, place them on a sheet tray so they are easier to take in and out of the oven.
  5. Place cake batter in preheated oven and back for 25 minutes, or until they pass the tooth pick test (stick a tooth pick in the center of the cake, and if it comes out clean, they are done)
  6. While the cake is baking, you can get started on the first two steps to make the frosting.
  7. In a small sauce pan, combine coconut milk and cassava flour and warm over medium low heat. Stir until it turns into a paste, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to a fridge safe bowl with a lid, and place in fridge
  8. Using a standing mixer with whisk attachment or a large bowl and a hand-mixer, add the palm shortening and maple syrup to the mixer or bowl and whip on high until it is light and fluffy and peaks begin to form. About 10 mins. If it gets too soft and melted, place in fridge for a few minutes to firm up.
  9. By now the cakes should be done. Remove them from oven and let them sit for 5 minutes undisturbed. Then carefully remove them from the ramekins or muffin tray and place on cool rack. You will want them completely cooled before your frost them. If you have time, you can allow them to cool at room temperature, or you can place them in the fridge or even freezer to cool faster.
  10. While the cakes cool, finish preparing the frosting. Remove the coconut milk/flour paste from the fridge, be sure it is completely cooled. Add the paste to the bowl with the whipped palm shorting, and mix until fully combined and fluffy. About 10 mins. 
  11. Once cake is cooled it's time to decorate. Carefully slice the two cakes in half, making four even layers. Begin building your layers. Lay the bottom layer of cake on wax or parchment paper (so you can easily move it to another surface after it's assembled), then add some frosting, then another layer of cake, and so on until you have built your 4 layers.
  12. If you want to be fancy, you can first do a crumb coat. Which means you use a light layer of frosting all over the cake. It is just enough to catch all the crumbs so that you don't see them when it is fully frosted. If doing a crumb coat, place cake back in fridge or freezer to allow the frosting to set before doing the final layer of frosting.
  13. Now you can be as creative as you want. You can simple use a knife and cover the full cake with thick layer of frosting. You could use a piping bag and make a fun design. You could even mix in a little fruit or vegetable juice (a 1/4 tsp or less) to color the frosting. Similar to what I did for Emily's birthday. 
Note; If frosting gets to soft, simply place in fridge or freezer to let it firm up a little. Or if you leave it in the fridge too long and it is hard, use standing mixer or hand mixer, to whip it back to fluffy goodness. 
Note 2.0: The cake and frosting can be kept in fridge for up to 3 days. Which means, you can make the cake a few days ahead and not stress about it as you finish all other preparations. Or maybe you all aren't procrastinators like myself?



39 comments:

  1. OH My Goodness! This is the cutest post! I love the idea of keeping tradition with having a personal birthday cake, but making it yourself with nourishing ingredients. I think it makes the occasion much more meaningful as well. Thanks!

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  2. I would love to make this cake for my son on his 5th birthday in September and for my birthday in June ;)! I was Aip for a year and fell off the wagon way too long, so back at it to heal my son and I. Love your recipes and your daughter is adorable!

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    1. Congratulations Rebecca! You are nowthe winner of the 5 lb bag of Otto's Cassava flour! Please send me your mailing address via the contact me form so I can get that out to you. I hope your son and you love the cake!

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  3. I would love to make this cake for me! My 4 month old is allergic to eggs dairy gluten and nuts and I am nursing him and would love a treat! I will most definitely file this recipe away for his 1st birthday as well. I've never tried cassava flour before and would love to experiment. If my son doesn't outgrow these allergies cassava flour looks like a great option for baking for him when he is older thanks!

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  4. This looks like my next birthday cake! Yum! I've wanted to try cassava flour but haven't found it anywhere yet.

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    1. Try an Asian Market. There is a good chance you'll find some there.

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  5. Well, my birthday is in June so I'd make it for me but share with breastfed 1 year old because I avoid grains, eggs, and dairy for her! This cake looks lovely ��

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  6. I'd love to make this cake for my daughter's 6th birthday!

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  7. I will be making this cake for me since my birthday is next Tuesday, April 25th. My favorite cake has always been chocolate with white frosting. I didn't have a cake last year so I'm really excited about making this cake this year since I've recently done a chocolate reintro successfully!

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  8. I would love to make this cake for my loving husband. Both of us are aip and the last cake I tried was horrible. This sounds yummy

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  10. I will make this for myself!! I've been avoiding sugar but recently bought some Otto's flour so I'm looking forward to trying this! Maybe for my wedding anniversary next month or sooner just because I can't wait!!

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  11. I will make for my Granddaughter's birthday. She has Celiac disease. Thank you for a recipe that will make her day special!

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  12. I would love to be able to make this for myself! I've been working hard on getting my Hashimoto's into remission and this would be the perfect celebratory treat!

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  13. We would be making it for anyone of our birthdays, or just because...CAKE!;)
    Melanie Tijerina

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  14. Yum!! I'd probably make this cake for ME! Unless I find a reason to make it before November! ;-)

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  15. I would love to make a cake for my husband's 43rd birthday. We have an 18 month old and we both work full time and go to school. We have recently started gluten, dairy, corn, and soy free for my health and he has been struggling with our new eating habits.

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  16. I was going to say I would be making it for my husband's birthday on June 30, but who am I kidding--I have all the ingredients on hand right now and will be making it later today! (I've been strict AIP for 20 months and am always looking for compliant treats.) Thanks for the recipe!

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  17. My birthday is this summer. I would love to make this cake ! I am so limited with food choices due to allergies. This cake would surely be a treat.

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  18. Fun!!! I think I'll make this for my mother in law's birthday coming up this summer!! Happy birthday to your little one :)

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  19. My almost 3-year-old has not yet had a birthday celebration in his life, and this next one won't be around family either. I would love to make this cake for him as something special... (But should probably try it out on my husband in June for his birthday first!)

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  20. This will be perfect for my daughters 1st birthday and cake smash in june. So glad this popped up on baby led weaning! My little girl eats eggs but I can't yet so I'm excited to make something we can all enjoy! Thank you for the time and energy you spent on this and for sharing!

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  21. I'm so excited I came across this! Im going to make this cake for my husband who is dairy and gluten free. I've struggled to find a flour that has similar texture to wheat flour so I'm excited to try cassava flour! Thanks so much for sharing! Happy birthday to your daughter!

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  22. This recipe looks great! I just started using cassava flour for tortillas! I am very new to aip and this is a great addition. The recipe seems easy enough to follow!

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  23. I want to make this for my son's first birthday on May 3! I am new to aIP and was planning on just buying a cake for everyone else because I am too overwhelmed to figure out baking for me yet. But you have made it easy now. I am going to do a test run this weekend. I am so excited now!

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  24. I make a cake every year for my step-son's birthday. He's grown and rarely needs anything so he loves getting a homemade cake each year (and sometimes mid year!). I've really been wanting to make him more of a paleo cake this year since he's choosing to eat healthier (finally!) and I no longer keep non paleo flours in the house. Definitely going to try out this recipe soon.

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  25. This looks delicious! I might have to do this for my daughters smash cake in a few months!

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  26. So fun, I love this, and just in time! I'll try this out next week for my son's birthday. Thanks!

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  27. My grandson's birthday is coming up, and he has severe food allergies. I would love to be able to make him this cake!

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  28. My son and my birthday is next month. I'm definitely going to try this out. I had been looking for an egg free cake.

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  29. My husband has a birthday this month but my daughter will make him a gluten free cake while I could eat this. And then my birthday is new month so I will need to make it again. I am excited about this.

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  30. I am going to do this nice cake to my daughter mar next weekend!

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  31. I want to make this cake for my granddaughters birthday in a month! Thanks for sharing.

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  32. For my daughter's first birthday. She is my first AIP baby. She has two older brothers who are paleo now but weren't until later in their lives. I want to be able to create memories for her without giving her junk! Thanks so much for this recipe!

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  33. Reading your breastfeeding post really struck a cord with me. I delivered my son on July 30th last year and the first few months were more than just the normal new mom struggle. I felt such an immense amount of guilt and sadness because I wasn't able to breastfeed him (he was 4lbs at birth so latch was a struggle...on top of a low supply that even after supplements, herbs, oatmeal etc etc etc.. was never adequate). It's amazing how many moms I talk to that go through this, yet it almost seems like it's taboo to talk about how HARD it is!

    I commented on your baby led weaning post a while back about being nervous about the choking hazard. Well, we've been working our way towards it and he's doing wonderful. We eat paleo-ish and love trying new flours! Not to mention I'm a native south Floridian and we LOVE yuca!!

    I know it was a while ago, but thank you for sharing your breastfeeding story. In my situation, my son needed me to be mentally healthy and happy more than he needed the little breastmilk I was able to provide! Healthy happy mom, healthy happy babe!

    I hope to make this cake for my own little peanut's first birthday! I can't believe how fast this year is going!

    Happy Birthday, Emily!!

    (Sorry this was so long winded ... I get passionate about my breastfeeding journey :)

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  34. I would make it for my mom for mother's day!

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  35. I would make this cake for my son's 3rd Birthday in June! :)

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  36. I would love to make a cake like this for my baby's first birthday! Emma has several food intolerances. Dairy, soy, peanut, coconut, and avocado. What would you sub for the coconut flour and coconut milk?

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  37. I don’t see any reviews for the cake, just people saying they want to make it. I made it, testing it out for my daughter’s first birthday and it tasted horrible! The cake tasted bad and the frosting tasted even worse! I’ve made other AIP cakes that are delicious and I’m extremely disappointed in this recipe!

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