Recipe Review: Elana’s Pantry Chocolate Cake with Coconut Flour

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Chocolate Cake from Elana's Pantry

The Birthday Cake

Visit this link to see my revised version: Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Faux Sour Cream Frosting

You might also want to check out this recipe: Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I tried several new recipes on my birthday and used some new products. I’m going to post each one in a series of posts.

First on the list, a recipe from Elana’s Pantry Chocolate Cake made with coconut flour [affiliate link]. I did not use the frosting she includes in that recipe because she calls for chocolate chips and while we can get these delicious semi-sweet chocolate chips from Enjoy Life which are gluten, dairy and soy free, they do contain evaporated cane syrup and are not GAPS legal.

This is the frosting I used and I added a couple of tablespoons of cocoa to make it chocolate: Refined Sugar Free Buttecream Frosting from Modern Alternative Mama. Dr. Natasha has approved cocoa powder [affiliate link] if you are no longer having digestive problems, and baking soda [affiliate link] is allowed when used for baking, according to the latest revision of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome book, so the rest of the ingredients are perfectly fine to have on full GAPS.

I followed Elana’s recipe except for the following:

Hers contains agave which is not GAPS legal so I substituted an equal amount of honey [affiliate link]
I did not have orange zest on hand, so I omitted it
Elana’s recipe called for two 9″ round pans, I used three 8″ pans
Used a different frosting
I subbed butter for the grapeseed oil (I’m sure you could also use ghee or coconut oil [affiliate link])

Review on the cake: Delicious. Moist. Nice chocolate flavor. Without a doubt, hands down THE BEST coconut flour cake I have EVER tasted thus far. The texture is very light in comparison to other coconut flour based baked goods. Definitely 5 stars.

In addition, I froze the remainder of the cake (which was almost all of it) so that I could see how it tastes after freezing. I had a piece straight from the freezer this morning, and it was delicious. I had a couple of reasons for freezing it. First of all, out of sight, out of mind. I do not need to be eating an entire cake. Although this cake is so dense and full of nutrients, and very rich tasting that one thin sliver is quite satisfying. My second reason is that I want to share my cake with my coworkers, and one coworker in particular who wants me to make a birthday cake for her upcoming birthday and I’d like for her to be able to taste test and see if she likes it enough for me to make this one for her.

I just love looking at the picture of this cake. 🙂

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Comments

15 responses to “Recipe Review: Elana’s Pantry Chocolate Cake with Coconut Flour”

May 26, 2012

Lisa

Thanks for the review. It is helpful to get an independent opinion, nothing worse than wasting a lot of expensive ingredients on a flop!

I’m assuming you subbed an equal amount of melted butter or ghee for the grapeseed oil?
May 27, 2012

Jolene

That cake looks so good! I’d be so proud if I’d made that 🙂 bet it was delish
May 27, 2012

Starlene

Lisa, you’re welcome. Yes, I subbed butter for the grapeseed oil… shoot, I thought I noted that. I will go in and add it. Thanks!
May 27, 2012

Starlene

Thanks, Jolene. 🙂 I was really pleased with how it came out. Still amateurish-looking in real life – of course taking photos I was able to get the best representation. lol. It was delicious. The neat thing about a nutrient dense cake like this is it is so rich that you are satisfied with a small slice. I would say this cake would serve at least 24 easily with a narrow slice. I still have more than 3/4 of it in the freezer. 🙂
May 27, 2012

Nicole, The Non-Toxic Nurse

Oh wow! This is going on my “to make” list for sure!
May 28, 2012

Magda

I never made this one but I did make the German chocolate cake. Yum!! I actually made only 1/2 the recipe and you’re right: it’s very, very filling!! I’m glad it freezes well – next time I make it, I’ll freeze some for later. Great idea!!
May 28, 2012

Starlene

🙂 Be sure to use the Buttercream Frosting, I posted a review on that today. https://gapsdietjourney.com/2012/05/recipe-review-modern-alternative-mamas-buttercream-frosting/
May 28, 2012

Starlene

I’ve been having a small slice every day. I am definitely taking it to work tomorrow though, to share with my coworkers. I put it in a cake saver which is not air tight overnight just to let it freeze, and then the next day I wrapped it in Costco plastic wrap but that probably isn’t a very good thing to do because there might be some toxins in the plastic wrap! I would definitely store it in the freezer in an airtight container though, once it is frozen. The Buttercream frosting (reviewed that one on the blog today: https://gapsdietjourney.com/2012/05/recipe-review-modern-alternative-mamas-buttercream-frosting/) freezes up very solidly.
October 28, 2012

Starlene

BTW, today I made this recipe again and substituted the butter for coconut oil. And made cupcakes instead of cake. This recipe made 12 regular cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes. It turned out great.
December 24, 2012

Sheri

This cake calls for agave nectar, which I believe is also illegal on Gaps. Any idea for a substitute as I’d love to make this cake!
December 24, 2012

Starlene

Hi Sheri! You are correct, I did substitute equal parts honey and as mentioned in my post I also substituted coconut oil for the grapeseed oil. 🙂 Also – I used a different frosting than Elana’s and the link to that recipe is included in the post, it is a delicious Buttercream Frosting. Happy Holidays!! Starlene
May 20, 2013

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January 16, 2014

Rachel Miller

I came across your website and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! :0)
I can’t eat this cake quite yet, because I am still in the GAPS intro. I would like to make it for my moms birthday in a couple of weeks. My question is how well did the icing work out for decorating? It looks like it worked really well. Do you think it would be thick enough to make icing flowers? Is there any way to thicken the icing? Thanks!
January 28, 2014

Nancy

Clicking on the link to the frosting that you used, it is for vanilla frosting. What were the steps that you took to make the chocolate frosting shown in the picture?
March 26, 2017

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