Reggie Turns Three (& the Best Gluten Free Cake Ever!)

I can't believe my baby is three! She's my third baby, and today is her Golden Birthday because she is turning three on the third of September.

To celebrate, we invited friends to swim at my in-laws pool for one last hurrah before they drain it after Labor Day. Only a few of our friends came, but it was a great little celebration!

I also found an amazing gluten free cake recipe! I made it in three parts too. I saw this idea on Pinterest for creating a heart by cutting a circle layer in half and then putting each half on two sides of a square layer. I didn't have the fresh pumpkin like the recipe called for, so I tried a can of cooked pumpkin puree. It was really good, though you could definitely taste the pumpkin flavor.  Still really yummy though!

The Not-Buttercream icing was astonishingly good!
Everyone was deeply impressed (myself included) that something made from cauliflower and avocado could be so delectably decadent! I highly recommend you check out these recipes!

Clean Chocolate "Ganache" Icing

Last September, I posted about Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Cake.   If you notice, I said in the recipe to divide the batter between three 9" pans. I actually only used two of those layers for the cake you see in the pictures on that post. That was on a weekday, so I actually saved the third layer for the weekend so I could serve my parents some cake when they had time to drop by.
Part of the reason for this decision was because on my daughters birthday, it was getting late and I figured after frosting two layers that it looked good enough, and we should just go ahead a light the candles so the kids could get to bed. (I think we were also low on frosting after those two layers.)

As I also mentioned in that post, when I talked about how to make the frosting, that I usually grind my coconut sugar in an effort to make the frosting more smooth. However, when it came time to frost the final layer on Saturday morning, I had the idea to melt the coconut sugar instead, when making new frosting.  We've made coconut syrup for pancakes before when we've been all out of honey or maple syrup and it is really good. So I figured, it ought to work. . . . Aaaaand . . . Happily . . . .

It totally worked!

I don't think I'll ever grind my coconut sugar again! This icing was so smooth and delectable!

Plus it was a lot quicker to melt the sugar than to grind it.

So here's the revised recipe with this new technique included.

Chocolate "Ganache" Icing

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups of Coconut Palm Sugar* 
• 1 tsp of water or so
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract*
• 2 1/4 cups of Coconut Oil* and/or Butter*
• 1/4 cup of Cocoa Powder* (Or more for a darker chocolate.)
• A dash of Sea Salt* or Real Salt* to taste (especially if your butter is unsalted)

Instructions

Place the coconut sugar in a small saucepan with the water over low heat and stir until smooth

Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter/oil, stirring again stir till smooth.

Transfer syrup to a stand mixer or mixing bowl and beat in the salt, adding the cocoa a little at a time until well blended and smooth.

If the consistency is too runny, chill for 10-15 minutes then whip. 

Be sure the cake is well cooled before you ice it.

Top with fresh berries if desired and serve.

I think my parents were pretty impressed with how the cake turned out. Which is good, because I know they have had a hard time adjusting to my cleaner eating habits, and I think they have been doubtful in the past that clean desserts can really be as tasty as their processed counterparts. 

This cake really was delicious though! So fudgey, smooth, rich and chocolaty! 

Check out the post linked at the top or click here to see the recipe for the Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

I hope this recipe proves useful to someone out there, and I hope you enjoy eating it as much as I did!

Thanks so much for reading!

~Julie :}

*Julie Surprise is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Julie Surprise: Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Yesterday marked the anniversary of my youngest daughter's second birthday. (WHAT???)
Every time we had mentioned to her that she would be having a birthday in the days leading up to it, she would always respond with, "Yeah! Cake!" Then, the night before when I told her I needed to go to bed so I could make her a cake the next day she started begging for chocolate.
Luckily, that had already been my plan. Thanks to the generosity of my awesome neighbors, I had fresh garden produce, including raspberries and zucchini from my friend Kelly. (One needs something fibrous if one is going to make a cake without flour.)
I also ended up borrowing some cocoa powder from my friend Jenni a few doors down because, wouldn't you know? I totally forgot we were all out until I started making the cake!
I just felt that I ought to mention these circumstances so that we could give credit were credit is due.
Thanks so much ladies! This cake couldn't have happened without you!

Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of Unsweetened Shredded Coconut 
• 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter (Or Almond Butter etc.)
• 2 cups of Coconut Palm Sugar
• 8 Eggs (Separated)
• 1 Huge Zucchini, (seeded, shredded, drain then blended smooth).
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 4 Tbsp of Coconut Oil or Butter
• 3/4 cup of Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries (opt.)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In your food processor, pulverize coconut until almost a butter. Add this and the rest of the ingredients except the egg whites to your food processor or a stand mixer and mix everything together. 
2. Finally, in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold into the rest of the batter. Some streaks may remain. 
3. Grease three 9"  pie pans with butter and line with circles of parchment paper. Evenly divide the batter between them. 
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Carefully remove cakes to a cooling rack until cool. (You may want to refrigerate it, or put it into the freezer to speed up the process and help it firm up.)
6. Frost with chocolate buttercream icing and top with fresh raspberries if desired.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups of Coconut Palm Sugar (Ground to a fine powder)*
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 1/4 cups of Coconut Oil and/or Butter
• 1/4 cup of Cocoa Powder (Or more for a darker chocolate.)
• A dash of salt (if your butter is unsalted)

Instructions

1. Whisk together sugar and cocoa until well blended. Then add to wet ingredients and whip until fluffy.
2. If the consistency is too runny, chill for 10-15 minutes then whip again. 
3. Be sure the cake is well cooled before you ice it.

* I usually grind my coconut sugar in my mini food processor to reduce it's gritty texture in certain recipes like frosting. Because of this, 1 cup of sugar may reduce down to a bit less than 1 cup, so you might want to add a bit more than a cup. Also, a lot of people who use coconut sugar find it to be slightly less sweet than cane sugar so they may wish to increase the amount regardless. I would recommend using up to two cups if you want the icing very sweet, but do not go beyond that.  We tried two cups and it was extremely rich. Luckily the milder sweetness of the dark chocolate cake helped counterbalance that and the fresh raspberries added a refreshing contrast of tartness. 

The Birthday Girl really loved the cake! She kept asking for more and more. I have to admit it was pretty amazing, even if I do say so myself. 

This cake is super moist, (almost like a fudgey pudding) even after draining the zucchini as much as I had patience for. I could have drained it longer, but I wanted  to get the cake finished before bedtime. :)
Anyway, it really doesn't need frosting, and as I noted above the frosting was super rich. It was almost too much, so I would recommend reducing the sugar a bit if you use the icing, or maybe at least add some cream cheese. (We would have done that if we'd had any.)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this delectable recipe! I'd love to hear about what you thought if you try it, and seeing pictures would be great! I was so happy this recipe looked almost as pretty as it tasted because my last flourless cake was a bit less than photogenic and I really wanted a pretty cake to film for one of my upcoming music videos. Stay tuned and you might just see this cake in action!

~Julie :}