Coconut Flour Chocolate Layer Cake with Whipped Chocolate Buttercream
A rich, tender, grain-free chocolate layer cake made with coconut flour, pure cacao, honey, and pasture-raised eggs, frosted with a fluffy whipped chocolate buttercream. A true celebration cake, refined-sugar-free.
Yield: One 9-inch two-layer cake, serves 10–12 · Active: 30 min · Total: 1 hr 30 min, plus cooling · Year-round · Best eaten: afternoon
Love cupcakes? See my Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes.
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
8 oz cacao paste (100% cacao), chopped and melted
½ cup raw honey or maple syrup
8 pasture-raised eggs, at room temperature
½ cup plain whole-milk goat's milk yogurt (or raw cream mixed with 2–3 tbsp yogurt), at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Grass-fed butter, for the pans
Whipped chocolate buttercream
1 lb grass-fed unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp–¼ cup raw honey or maple syrup, to taste
4 oz cacao paste, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 pasture-raised eggs, at room temperature
Method
Prep. Heat the oven to 350°F, with a rack in the middle. Butter two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.
Mix the wet ingredients. Let the melted chocolate cool slightly, then whisk in the honey, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla until smooth. (Room-temperature eggs and yogurt keep the chocolate from seizing.)
Combine and rest. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until smooth, then let the batter rest 10 minutes, since coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid.
Bake. Divide the batter between the pans and bake 20–25 minutes, until a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn the cakes out onto a rack to cool completely.
Make the buttercream. Beat the softened butter in a stand mixer for 2–3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the honey, then the cooled melted chocolate and vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Whip 2–3 minutes more, until light and fluffy.
Assemble. Set one cake layer on a cake stand, and spread about a third of the frosting over it. Top with the second layer, then frost the top and sides with the rest.
Storage: Refrigerated up to 4 days; let slices sit 20 minutes at room temperature before serving. The unfrosted layers freeze well, wrapped, for up to 2 months.
A note on honey: Baked honey is no longer raw, but the honey in the buttercream stays raw. Honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months.
Nourishment Notes
Coconut flour — very high in fiber (about 40% by weight), which helps slow the absorption of the cake's natural sugars. It needs lots of eggs (usually 6–8 per cup) for a tender crumb.
Pasture-raised eggs — complete protein, choline, lutein, and vitamins A, D, E, and K2. They hold the whole cake together.
Cacao paste — magnesium, iron, flavanols, and theobromine, carried into the body by the butter's fat.
Goat's milk yogurt — protein, calcium, and a gentle tang that keeps the crumb moist.
Grass-fed butter — vitamins A and K2, CLA, and butyrate.
Raw honey and maple syrup — unrefined sweeteners with trace minerals.
As a circadian treat, this cake is best enjoyed in the afternoon, since cacao contains theobromine and a little caffeine.
For your cycle: The cacao's magnesium makes this a comforting treat in the luteal phase, when chocolate cravings often peak.
Sourcing
Coconut flour — organic and finely ground
Cacao paste — organic, and ideally tested for heavy metals, like Terrasoul or Navitas
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm or Alexandre Family Farm
Goat's milk yogurt — Sierra Nevada goat's milk yogurt, or raw yogurt from a farmer you know and trust
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows, like Vermont Creamery
Raw honey and maple syrup — organic, local, unfiltered raw honey; organic Grade A dark maple syrup, like Coombs Family Farms
Vanilla — organic pure vanilla extract
Baking soda — aluminum-free
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall