I don’t know about you guys, but this summer has been insanely busy for my family. In fact, this whole year has been crazy (hence the lack of blog posting, sorry!). But what really made me realize how quickly time has flown by is the fact that Luke is turning ONE next week. How did that happen???
In preparation for Luke’s first birthday party, I decided to develop a healthful chocolate cake for him to smash and enjoy by himself. For Abby I made a Strawberry Smash Cake, which was a huge hit. But I gotta say, this chocolate cake is a home run. I’ve even served the test runs to company! The cake is moist and flavorful, and the avocado frosting is rich and super chocolatey. You’d never guess that this chocolate smash cake is good for you!
What really makes this chocolate smash cake a treat is the frosting. It’s made with three simple ingredients — ripe avocado, cacao (or cocoa) powder, and pure maple syrup — combined in a blender or food processor. The result is a nutritious chocolate pudding that frosts beautifully. Try not to spoon the extra frosting into your mouth, I dare you!
The chocolate cake itself is very small, just two layers of 3-inch round cake. You can always double or triple the recipe to make cupcakes or a larger cake!
The cake is oil free, contains no refined sugar, and can be nut free. And it can be made up to three days in advance as long as it’s kept in the fridge!
I topped my cake with shredded coconut and spread coconut butter between the cake layers. You could also use peanut butter in the center, or your favorite jam!
Don’t take my word for how surprisingly good this chocolate smash cake is. Just check out Luke’s reaction!
- ⅓ cup + 1 Tbs. nondairy milk
- ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup spelt flour
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 2½ Tbs. cacao or cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2½ Tbs. applesauce OR runny almond butter*
- ----------------
- 1 ripe avocado
- 3 Tbs. cacao or cocoa powder
- 3½ - 4 Tbs. pure maple syrup
- -----------------
- Optional cake center: coconut butter, peanut butter, jam
- Optional topping: shredded coconut, powdered peanut butter, chocolate chips, fruit, etc.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease two 3-in. round cake pans with coconut oil. Dust with flour to prevent sticking.
- Combine nondairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle at least 5 min. (this makes "buttermilk").
- Stir together dry ingredients (spelt flour, coconut sugar, cacao, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in a medium mixing bowl.
- Combine the "buttermilk," vanilla extract, and applesauce/almond butter until smooth, and pour the wet mixture into the dry. Stir until you have a uniform batter, then fill the pans about ⅔ full. You will have a little extra batter, so feel free to make a couple of cupcakes too.
- Bake 18-20 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow cakes to cool in the pans about 15 mins, then flip them over and allow them to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. Blend the avocado, cacao powder, and maple syrup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Taste and add more cacao or maple syrup if needed (avocado sizes vary, so some adjustment may be necessary).
- When the cake is completely cool, place one cake layer on serving platter/plate and top with desired center (coconut butter, PB, jam, etc.) or chocolate avocado frosting. Top with the next cake layer, then spread frosting on the rest of the cake. Add optional topping of choice for decoration, or simply serve as is!
This cake can be made up to 3 days in advance if kept in the fridge.
If you make this cake, please tag me on Instagram so I can see your creation!
UPDATE: Luke loved his chocolate smash cake!
Here are some photos from his first birthday party.
♥ ♥ ♥
Also try my Strawberry Smash Cake!
Can this be baked in a 6″ tin? If so, roughly how long should I bake it?
I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure that would work! I’d set it for about 25 mins then check it and add time as needed. Remove when a toothpick comes out clean.
This is great! Tastes good and it is healthy.
How much buttermilk would be used if I just used buttermilk?
I would maintain the amount of liquid used, so you should measure 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon of buttermilk. If the batter is too thick, add another teaspoon or so. Good luck!
Would this work with a gluten free 1 for 1 flour?
I would think so, but I haven’t tried it. Let me know if you try it!
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious cake recipe. I changed the recipe to further decrease total carbohydrates by making half the amount of dough and by using pure monk fruit powder (bought online from Julian Bakery), Splenda, a mix of almond flour and flax seed flour. My daughter and parent in laws loved eating this cake. When I used almond flour without flax seed flour the cake remained too wet and fragile despite cooking longer. I used Fairlife whole cow milk, which has less carbs than other brands of whole cow milk. Due to using organic unprocessed cocoa powder, which tastes more bitter than cocoa powder processed by alkalinization, I had to add more than the expected amount of sweeteners. Total carbs per whole 4 inch one layer cake with icing is about 21-29 carbs, depending on how much icing is used. A snack up to once a day has to be 25 carbs or less to be healthy enough for a child or an adult diabetic to eat.
The cake part of the recipe was good, I used the applesauce option But the icing never tasted right, so I ended up throwing it out and dusting with powdered sugar instead