Coconut Cake Recipe

I saw this recipe a while back for a paleo coconut cake and have been waiting for chance to actually make it.  I had a few friends come over for dinner the other night, and decided that was about as good of an opportunity as any.  Looking over the ingredient list, I was a bit leery about how cake-like it could taste, but it was surprisingly good, so here’s to finding your new paleo birthday cake substitute.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut  milk
• 1/3 cup of avocado, grapeseed, or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 2 cage free eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups desiccated (shredded) coconut
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
2. Mix all wet ingredients (coconut milk, oil, honey, eggs, and extracts) in a medium sized mixing bowl well.
3. Add the dry ingredients (desiccated coconut, almond meal, coconut flour, baking soda) to the bowl, and continue to mix.
4. Grease an 8″ x 8″ baking dish lightly with oil.  I used grapeseed oil, as it doesn’t have too strong of a flavor to it.  Spread the cake mix evenly in the dish, and place into the oven.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  The cake is done when the top is a nice golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

I garnished this dish with Cointreau soaked strawberries (eh, okay, so maybe the Cointreau isn’t exactly paleo) and a coconut milk cream sauce.  For the sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients well with a spoon or fork in a small bowl.

You can pour the sauce over the coconut cake and strawberries, and even add some coconut milk ice cream with this dish.

Well.  It’s technically paleo.