Remember the recipe I promised for this chocolate cake???? Well I'm sharing it today! I think it’s safe to say that chocolate cake is a major staple for special occasions, don’t you think?

And if you’re going to make a chocolate cake you might as well go big or go home because a lightly chocolate cake just isn’t gonna cut it. You’ve gotta make it really dark, extra extra dark. Of course, that’s just my opinion and this is coming from someone who would happily eat 85-90% dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

So my baby niece is going to be turning 1 soon and my sister and I have already been planning her party since she turned 1 month old. It’s going to be a unicorn party with everything matching that theme. You know, because we’ve gotta get with the times and the unicorn is definitely having it’s moment right now. Besides, we wouldn’t want to start the girl off on the wrong trend. This is definitely where you insert a “first world problem” hashtag.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking ahead to that and wanting to come up with some really delicious cake options for my sister to choose from. Obviously, I’ve made many cakes in the past but I’m going for some healthier options. I couldn’t think of anywhere better to start than with a chocolate cake so here we are.

This cake is for all the dreamers of decadent, dark, delicious chocolate. Another goal I had in making this was to try not to make the ingredients anything hard to find. Everything you’ll need to make this cake is something you should already have if you do a lot of gluten free and vegan baking.

The frosting is also quick and easy to make and provides that beautiful finishing touch that no cake can be without. If you want to be extra fancy, some fresh flowers are never a bad idea.

Dark Chocolate Vegan Birthday Cake (GF)

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Yield: 1 cake (about 16 servings)

Make your next special occasion complete with a stunning dark chocolate cake that everyone will love. This recipe is made without eggs, dairy, or gluten.

Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut oil, softened
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coconut cream
1 cup almond milk
3/4 cup cacao powder
1 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend
Frosting:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 cup natural almond butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup coconut cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups organic powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and grease 2, 9-inch (or 8 inch) round cake pan with oil and line with circles of parchment. Dust them lightly with flour and shake out the excess. Whisk together coconut oil and sugar until creamed then add the coconut cream and almond milk. Add salt, baking powder, vanilla, and cacao and stir until smooth. Stir in the flour until batter is smooth.
Divide batter among the prepared pans and place in oven. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean (ovens may vary so if it's not quite done give it a bit longer). Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes then loosen edges with knife and remove cakes from the pans by inverting them over large plates. Once you've taken them all out, cover them with plastic wrap to seal then place in the freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes before you can frost the cake.
Frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment beat the coconut oil, almond butter and one cup of powdered sugar on low until combined, repeat with the remaining 2 cups then add the remaining ingredients slowly (cacao powder, salt, vanilla). Beat on high until light and fluffy for about a minute.
Assemble:
Remove cakes from freezer and if needed, trim to level with a serrated edge knife. Spread a generous amount of the frosting on one of the layers.Repeat last step for the next layer of cake, then spread frosting around the outside of the cake in a smooth coating. If desired, top the cake with flowers.
Best to store this in a cake dome or some type of air tight covering.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

And, by the way, to all the minnows out there, my intro post did a huge $0.21. The key to success on Steemit is to be consistent and persistent. Click on the link below for some great tutorials on how you can also succeed on the steem blockchain:

Master Toolkit: Steemit Resource Guide Illustrated by @sndbox

Also, a huge shoutout to @rigaronib for designing my logo!

If you're looking for more recipes check out some of my other recent posts!

1. Cranberry Lemon No-Bake Granola Bars
2. Loaded Everything Pizza
3. Sea Colored Sugar Cookies + I hit 75000 Steempower
4. Cozy breakfast

Also, I've been starting to vlog in case you missed it.

1. Montana Travels Glacier National Park
2. Vlog #4 Grocery Shopping with Gringalicious at Trader Joe's
3. Hiking to Snow Creek Falls + I Hit 17k Followers!
4. Vlog #3: Looking for a New Gym + Meet My Baby