This Pumpkin Chocolate Cake with a dairy free frosting literally screams of fall. Its has a deep rich flavour of the chocolate and pumpkin spice – is extremely decadent and moist and something you’d want to make again and again. This one is set to become a family favourite. We promise.
Our secret ingredient is the humble espresso powder which pairs perfectly well with a dash of spices to take this dessert to a whole new level.
While we love pumpkin pies spice and everything nice we are not big fan of spices overpowering the dessert. We believe that one should add just enough spices to add a touch of flavour. However we completely understand that everyones individual choices differ add the spices as you fancy.
Seasonal Produce
The season of Pumpkins is upon us, and lets admit we love pumpkins here at The Paleo Palate Cafe. Eating seasonal produce is great for your body as is more nutrient dense and tastes better as it is generally harvested at its peak which means it retains its full nutritional profile. Moreover it is also good for the environment as it helps reduce carbon footprint and is comparatively cheaper as compared to produce available all year long.
Homemade Rocks
This cake is made from real chocolate and real pumpkin and is not pumpkin flavoured unlike most store bought desserts. And hence, we insist that you make your own fresh home made pureé. It is simple 3 step process which anyone can do. The cake is uses a blend of almond and coconut flour as its base. We use ghee as the main source of fat but if you want to keep this completely dairy free you can easily sub this for coconut oil.
Dairy Free Frosting
The Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate cake uses a combination of avocados & cocoa powder to keep this frosting dairy free. Life is incomplete without indulgence and this dairy free frosting will help you soak into your indulgence without tossing your dietary measure out of the window. Our secret to avoid the blackening of the avocados is a little pinch of cream of tartar. This also helps you increase the shelf life of the product all the way up to 7 days. The cake in itself without the frosting will last in the fridge for up to a month.
But the options for a dairy free frosting don’t end here just as yet. If you don’t have avocados on hand this blog post comes with not 1 but 2 types of dairy free frosting recipes. Talk about fall bonanza! Booyah!
So lets dive in then:
Pumpkin Chocolate Cake with dairy free frosting
Equipment
- Clean bowls
- Spatula
- Hand Blender
- 8" Baking Pans
- Off set spatula or knife to loosen the cakes
- Parchment Paper, Scissors
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups TPPC Baking Mix 420 gms (https://thepaleopalatecafe.com/product/gluten-free-baking-mix-paleo-keto/)
- ½ cup Organic Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsps Espresso Powder - 2 teaspoons
- 2 tsps Cinnamon
- ½ tsps Ginger
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- ¼ tsp Himalayan Sea Salt
- ½ tsp Cream of Tartar
- 2 tsps Baking Soda
Wet Ingredients
- ⅔ cups Organic Coconut Sugar
- 3 Eggs Pasteurized, Organic
- 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
- ½ cup Ghee / Coconut Oil / Avocado Oil
- 3 tbsps Chocolate Chips 55 grams
- 2 tsps Coconut Oil + extra for greasing
- 2 tbsps Coconut Milk
- 2 tsps Vanilla Extract
Dairy Free Frosting 1
- 2 Organic Avocados
- 1 tsp Tapioca / Arrowroot Starch
- ½ tsp Cream of tartar
- 5 tbsps Cocoa Powder
- ½ cup Maple Syrup or more if you want it sweeter
- 2 tbsps Coconut Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Garnish
- Strawberries or any berries as per choice
- Pecans or any nut as per choice
Dairy Free Frosting - 2
- 1 cup Coconut Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp Tapioca Starch
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 3 tbsps Chocolate Chips 55 grams
- ¼ tsp Himalayan Sea Salt
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a clean bowl except for the coconut sugar and baking soda i.e. Almond & Coconut Flour, Psyllium Husk, Cream of Tartar, Cocoa Powder and the spices
- Next combine the coconut sugar and eggs in another clean bowl and beat them together using a hand blender until well combined
- Next add in the pumpkin puree, ghee and vanilla
- Melt chocolate with 2 teaspoons of coconut oil at 15 second intervals in a microwave - and add the melted chocolate to the wet ingredients as well
- Blend all the wet ingredients together until well incorporated
- Next add the baking soda to the dry ingredients and mix well
- Now combine the wet ingredients with the dry
- Mix the batter with a light hand. Begin by moving your way across the sides of the bowl in a circular fashion and working your way to the middle until well combined. Make sure you dont overmix. The goal is to keep the batter light and fluffy
- Grease 2 round 8 inch baking pans with coconut oil & place a parchment paper on them, grease the parchment paper as well
- Divide the batter equally among the 2 pans and smoothen it out
- Bake for 45 mins
Dairy Free Frosting - 1
- For the frosting - Combine 2 avocados, 5 tbsps of cocoa, cream of tartar, 1/2 cup maple syrup, tapioca starch, cream of tartar and 2 tbsps of coconut milk in a blender pot and blend them together until you get a thick paste
- Separate it out in a glass container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. The more the better.
- After the cakes are baked let them cool down in the fridge for atleast 3 hours
- Loosen the cake with the help of an offset spatula - if you have greased your pans well the cake should easily give away - Just invert the pan on the palms of your hands and it should come out easily
- Place one cake on a cake stand or a plain plate if you don't have a cake stand
- Feel the surface for any unevenness and scrape it off using a knife
- Cover the top of cake with the frosting
- Place the other cake on top of the first one in such a way that the bottom of the cake is on top
- Cover the entire cake with frosting, smoothen out the edges and sides and decorate the cake as per your desire
- Garnish with fruits and nuts of choice - We used strawberries and pecan nuts
- Devour
Dairy Free Frosting - 2
- Place a pan on a stove
- Add the Coconut milk and tapioca starch at the same time and mix well using a whisk until everything is well combined and there are no lumps
- Then add in the Vanilla and Cocoa powder and keep whisking until well incorporated
- Next add in the chocolate chips and again whisk until combined
- Keep stirring the mixture until it comes to a first boil
- Remove from stove and let cool completely
- Once cooled, store in a glass container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours
- Use as frosting on the cake