Chocolate Cake filled with Peanut Butter frosting, with a ganache drip, topped with peanut butter truffles. Vegan, paleo, gluten-free, refined sugar free.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Paleo, vegan
Keyword cake, paleo, vegan
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Servings 12people
Calories 400kcal
Author Camila Hurst
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
2tablespoonsflax seeds
5tablespoonswarm water
2cupsalmond flour
1/3cuparrowroot flour
1 1/2cupcoconut sugar
1/2teaspoonbaking powder
1/4teaspoonbaking soda
1/4teaspoonfine sea salt
1/2cupunsweetened cocoa powder
1/4cupalmond milkor any other nut milk
1/3cupavocado oil
1/4cupapple sauce
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Peanut Buter Frosting
3/4cupraw cashews soaked in water overnight*
2tablespoons-1/4 cup maple syrup**
1/3cupcoconut cream
3tablespoonspeanut butter
1tablespoonfresh lemon juice
1tablespooncoconut buttersoftened
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Vegan Ganache
1/3cupcoconut cream3 oz, 85 grams
1/2cupchocolate chips3.1 oz, 90 grams
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Line 4 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease them by brushing the pans with avocado oil. Set aside.
Mix flax seeds with warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes to get thick, while you prepare the other ingredients.
Sift together the almond flour, coconut sugar, arrowroot flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a bowl. Set aside.
Mix milk, avocado oil, apple sauce, vanilla, and flax egg in a bowl. Add dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until combined.
Divide batter into the 4 pans.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans in the oven to ensure even baking.
Touch the cake with your finger, if it springs back it’s done. If it forms a dimple, means your cake needs to be baked longer. Keep checking so you don’t let it overbake.
Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Turn cakes onto a cooling rack. Let them cool completely, wrap and refrigerate them. It will make a difference to frost them while they are cold, because they will be sturdier, since this is a very moist and scrumptious cake.
Peanut Butter Frosting
Drain cashews, place in the food processor together with maple syrup, coconut cream, peanut butter, lemon juice, coconut butter, and vanilla extract.
Process until creamy and smooth.
Transfer mixture to a bowl and cover. Place it in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight, to solidify.
Vegan Ganache
Heat the coconut cream until it almost reaches a boil.
Pour over chocolate chips. Wait a couple of minutes.
Stir mixture with a spatula gently, until all chocolate has melted.
If chocolate doesn’t melt, and you still see lumps, you want to place your ganache bowl in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate has melted entirely.
Set aside to cool to room temperature.
To assemble
Place a slice of cake on a cake plate, or cake board.
Spread some of the frosting in the middle. Place another cake on top.
Keep doing this to all layers.
Cover the cake with the frosting. Use a spatula or bench scraper to smooth the surface of the cake.
Let it chill in the fridge until cold.
Now it’s time to pour the ganache on top. You want the ganache to be at the perfect consistency, it can’t be too runny, and it can’t be too stiff. If your ganache is too runny, place it in the fridge for a few minutes and stir, repeating this until you achieve the desired consistency.
Alternatively, if ganache is too stiff or hardened, you want to place it in the microwave for 3 second intervals, stirring in between, until you achieve the desired consistency.
Test by dropping a small droplet on the side of the cake and watch how the drip flows, if it’s reaching the bottom of the cake too fast, it means it might be too runny, and if it doesn’t run down the cake, means it might be too stiff.
You want the drip to stop in the middle of the cake, that’s when you know your ganache is at the perfect consistency.
Let cake chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours before slicing.
Decorate with the peanut butter truffles.
Storage
This cake will store nicely in the fridge or freezer.
Simply make sure to package it really well if you plan on freezing it, and only do it up to 1 month.
It will keep nicely in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
*You can soak the cashews in room temperature water overnight, or you can soak the cashews in hot water for at least 4 hours.**Adjust amount of maple syrup according to taste and how sweet you want the frosting to be. Have in mind that the amount of maple syrup might influence the consistency of the frosting and make it thinner.