Prepare to be blown away – by this healthy paleo chocolate cake. It’s decadent, it’s chocolatey and I bet you can’t tell it’s also gluten, dairy and refined sugar free! Super easy and quick to make, it’s the perfect mid-week chocolatey treat. And even better – no nuts, for all those who are fed up with all the healthy sweet treats being nut-based (or have a nut allergy)!
The best. That’s a bit presumptuous, isn’t it?
It’s assuming that you’ve tasted all the paleo chocolate cakes out there and that THIS ONE comes out on top. Unfortunately, I haven’t sampled all the paleo chocolate cake recipes in existence – but I’m still confident in my claim.
Why?
Because people not following the paleo diet (or any sort of diet) couldn’t tell whether this cake is healthy/paleo/gluten/dairy/refined sugar free on not.
It’s decadent.
It’s chocolatey.
It’s moist.
It’s super easy to make.
And, yes, it’s HEALTHY, paleo and allergy friendly (and that includes any nut allergies).
Basically, you could eat if for breakfast, and it would be a really balanced choice. Plus, that’s one hell of a reason to get up on a dreary Monday morning! Or any morning, really.
Here’s what we’ll need for the paleo chocolate cake sponge:
melted coconut oil
honey or maple syrup
cocoa powder
eggs
almond milk
coconut flour
arrowroot flour
salt
baking soda
baking powder
Simple ingredients, that you most probably already have in your pantry.
The coconut oil, the liquid sweetener of choice and the cocoa powder come together to make what is essentially (slightly thick) melted chocolate. It’s just as luscious, just as shiny and just as dangerous.
Next, eggs are mixed in and the lusciousness factor increases. Exponentially.
After we’ve added the almond milk, we basically get a bowl of what looks like hot chocolate. Life is good, my friends. Life is good.
The dry ingredients are chucked in (<— totally professional vocabulary, don’t you know) and we’ll mix everything together until we get a really dense mixture that just seems… wrong. Because – it’s chocolate cake. The batter should be runny and smooth and not at all like this strange concoction. Right?! Well, not quite. It’s paleo chocolate cake, so things will be a bit different.
(Also, it’s THE BEST paleo chocolate cake EVER, so everything will be just fine. Pinky promise.)
The strange concoction is then put into some cake pans, and into the oven it goes.
After anxiously sitting in front of the oven for about half an hour (no sense trying to deny it), we’ll allow the paleo chocolate cake sponges to cool and whip up a batch of the AMAZING paleo & vegan chocolate frosting. Another easy and healthy recipe that will leave you craving more. So. Good.
And then… we’ll stack this beauty.
There’ll be no fancy decorating here. I mean, you can go crazy and decorate to your heart’s content… but, honestly, we all just want to get to the eating stage. Yeah? Yeah.
Sponge. Frosting. Sponge. Frosting. Sponge. An attempt to make the final layer of frosting look “pretty”. We’ll kinda succeed… but only kinda, because there’s an empty frosting bowl waiting to be licked clean… and, well, priorities.
(I mean… come on. Just look at that perfection. It’s giving me goosebumps. Seriously.)
By now, people have probably noticed that there’s CHOCOLATE going on. Enjoy basking in the gratitude of people because you’ve made chocolate cake and that makes you the best kind of person.
Also, when you inform everyone that that slice of decadent, moist, delicious chocolate cake they’re oohing and aahing over is actually healthy? It’s totally okay to feel a bit smug.
Recommended products + tools
To make things easier for you, here are the products I’ve used and recommend for this recipe! So often, I get asked about what kind of gluten free flour I use or which kind of baking pans are best – and I know that the baking/cooking world can be overwhelming, what with the bazillion different products available out there. Well, no more.
The links below are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission for every purchase you make, at no additional cost to you. This allows me to fuel my – and your 😉 – chocolate addiction, so thank you for supporting The Loopy Whisk! (For more information, check out the Disclosure Policy.)
- Use a high quality coconut oil – organic virgin (cold pressed) coconut oil is often best, as it doesn’t have s strong coconut smell and aftertaste.
- Similarly, I like to use a non-GMO organic coconut flour and arrowroot flour.
- Note that this recipe makes three 6 inch sponges – so it’s a rather small cake, but that makes it super cute and perfect if you’re only baking for a small number of people… or even just for yourself! I love these 6 inch cake pans from Wilton.
The Best Paleo Chocolate Cake. Ever. (Gluten & Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 3/8 cup (75 g) melted coconut oil
- 3/4 cup (225 g) honey or maple syrup
- 5/8 cup (60 g) cocoa powder
- 3 medium eggs
- 3/4 cup non-dairy milk (for instance coconut milk, rice milk or almond milk if not sensitive to nuts)
- 3/4 cup (96 g) coconut flour
- 3/4 cup (96 g) arrowroot flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups paleo & vegan chocolate frosting (Note 1)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 355 ºF (180 ºC) and grease three ~6 inch round cake pans (at least 1 1/2 inch deep) with a bit of melted coconut oil. You can line the bottom of each baking tin with a bit of greaseproof/baking paper.(If you don't have three such baking tins, or they don't fit into your oven at the same time, make the cake batter in batches and bake them one/two at a time).
- In a bowl, whisk together melted coconut oil, liquid sweetener of choice and cocoa powder until you get a mixture resembling thick melted chocolate.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition.
- Add the almond milk and whisk until you get a mixture that resembles hot chocolate.
- Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the wet mixture. Mix everything together until you get a homogeneous mixture with no clumps. The final batter will be quite dense, but that's OK. (See pictures above in text.)
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the three cake tins and smooth out the tops with a spoon or spatula.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for about 25 minutes, or until the cakes have risen and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the baked cakes from the oven and allow to cool. In the mean time, whip up a batch of the paleo & vegan chocolate frosting.
- Assemble the cake by placing the first sponge on a plate of choice. Spread out about 1/3 of the chocolate frosting on top in an even layer. Place the next sponge on top and repeat until you have used all the sponges and all of the frosting.
- Enjoy!
- The paleo chocolate cake keeps well in a closed container (or wrapped in cling film) in a cool, dry place for about 3 - 4 days.
Looking for more delicious paleo desserts?
You’re in the right place!
