Double Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Honey Frosting and Fresh Raspberries

Over the last few years, on my birthday, I've had fun making a cake that I've been dreaming about in my head for a while. And this cake is not much different from any of my dreamed-up creations. I realized that I really wanted to come up with a personal chocolate cake recipe that I loved, wasn't full of sugar, dairy or other additives and perhaps out of pride, didn't want it to come from a mix. This cake is just that. I have been experimenting lately and then made this wondrous creation for my birthday this week. I was very pleased with it's moist texture, ability to hold up, and the taste was... a deep, rich and romantical chocolate. Delish!

You could call it a Devil's Food Cake or just a plain chocolate cake recipe. It has all the basics to a great chocolate cake, lots of rich velvety chocolate and it won't leave you wishing for more flavor or have you missing the good ol' gluten days.

I was able to make this cake without refined sugars, dairy, nuts and of course gluten, but I have not found a way to make it without eggs without giving up some moisture and texture. You of course could sub the eggs for a chia/flax egg or even an egg replacement mix, but you loose the fluffiness quite a bit. Still, a very nice cake, and totally worth making it you are a strong vegan. I'm not completely against eating fresh farm eggs, and will have them here and there, so this cake was totally worth the upgrade to me to add them in.

I have also experimented with a yellow cake mix, or a "yogurt" cake, or "sour cream" layer cake. I hope to share this version of a cake soon as well. I was debating between what cake to make for my actual birthday and in the end decided to go with the rich deep chocolate because when I have this baby in a few weeks I may be giving up chocolate for a few months to help with the nursing babe and transitioning. So bring on the chocolate baby. I'm going to get my fill this birthday and hope it might induce some labor pains? I dunno about that, but it sure did hit the spot and make my birthday special.

Double Chocolate Layer Cake with Fresh Raspberries Recipe
{gluten, dairy, nut, and refined sugar free}

1 cup of millet flour
1 cup of white rice flour
1 cup of finely ground coconut palm sugar (I grind 1 cup in a magic bullet to make it very fine)
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
2 ts. of baking powder
1 ts. of baking soda
1 ts. of sea salt
1 ts. of xanthan gum


1 cup of dairy-free chocolate chips
1/2 heaping cup of dates
1 cup of boiling water

1 TB of pure vanilla
2 whisked farm fresh eggs + 2 egg yokes
1/2 cup of melted liquid coconut oil
3/4 cup of non-dairy milk (I use So Delicious coconut milk)
1 TB or juice from 1 fresh lemon mixed with milk

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Then in a glass blender or high powered blender add the chocolate chips, dates and boiling water and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Then blend the mixture and make a pudding like substance, add that to the dry mix along with the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix well together and make sure there are no clumps. Bubbles are ok though... and then split the batter and pour it into two 9 inch cake tins (I oil my pans with coconut oil to make sure the cake is free from sticking).

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Use a toothpick to check to make sure the middle of the cakes are baked and there is no gooey bater coming up. Let cool for at least 1 hour before moving and trying to layer on your cake plate or stand.

When I layer a cake, I put the top of the cake on the bottom of the cake plate. Then put a later of frosting, and then flip the next cake on it's top so that the bottom of the cake is actually on top to add a flat top to the cake. You can do this however you most feel comfortable.  I layer the cake with frosting in the middle, add fresh raspberries to the middle of the cake and the top however you want to decorate or arrange. I like using fresh berries, but you could also just add some berry preserves the the middle of the cake as well. Whatever sounds delicious to you and yours. 

Here is my very simple Chocolate Honey Frosting Recipe

1 cup of room temperature vegan butter (I use Earth Balance Soy-Free) Or you can use half vegan butter and half coconut butter or oil if you prefer the taste. You can also use real grass-fed butter if you prefer as well

1/3-1/2 cup of local raw honey

1/3-1/2 cup of raw cocoa powder

sprinkle of pure vanilla (optional)

dash of sea salt (optional)

Whisk all of the above ingredients in a small bowl and then spread over the cake, or add to a Wilton frosting pipping bag with added decorating tip of you prefer to get fancy with the frosting. I used the closed star tip with the frosting of this cake. 

You can double or half this frosting pretty easily. In fact I usually eye-ball the measurements and whisk it up, try it and then decided if I want to add more of anything...

So here's to another year of life....cheers to life, love and being so blessed as I am with an amazing and loving family, friends and so many loved ones and gifts. I thank God for another year of adventure and new experiences, and look forward to what the next few weeks and months will bring!

Thanks for sharing in my birthday treat! 

I hope you try it out for a treat, special occasion or a birthday soon!

Much love as always!