AIP Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling
This AIP “Chocolate” Cake with Strawberry Filling is made with carob and has all the good chocolate feeling while still being AIP compliant. It combines earthy chocolate flavors with sweet coconut cream and strawberry filling. It definitely hits the spot!
Ingredients
AIP Chocolate Cake
- ⅔ Cup Carob powder
- ½ Cup Cassava flour
- ½ Cup Coconut flour
- ½ Cup Tapioca flour
- 1 ½ Teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Coconut oil
- 2 Tablespoon Palm shortening
- ½ Cup Coconut sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Maple
- ½ Cup Pumpkin puree
- 1 Cup Coconut milk
- 2 Teaspoons Apple cider vinegar
Strawberry Filling
- ¾ Cup Fresh or frozen strawberries
- 2 Tablespoons Maple
- 1 Teaspoon Arrowroot flour
- ¼ Cup water
Coconut Whipped Cream
- ½ Cup Coconut cream
- 1 Tablespoon Maple
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- First preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit, and prepare two 8 inch baking rounds or one 9 inch baking round by oiling them and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, start by combining all the dry ingredients together. Mix the cassava flour, coconut flour, arrowroot flour, carob powder, soda, and salt. Mix together until well incorporated.
- In a smaller bowl work on mixing the coconut oil and palm shortening together. Once the coconut oil and palm oil are mixed, add the coconut sugar and maple syrup. Combine the ingredients well and then mix in the Pumpkin Puree.
- Slowly add the coconut milk, stirring the whole time to combine with the other ingredients. It is best to work with room temperature ingredients to avoid the ingredients separation. If this happens, don’t worry about it! It will still mix together well with the dry ingredients.
- Take the wet ingredients and pour about half into the dry ingredients and stir. Add the apple cider vinegar and the other half and stir again. The batter tends to be thick and almost dough-like. Finally pour batter into prepared baking rounds.
- Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes. The cake will be done when it is firm to the touch, since it is a chocolate cake, be careful not to burn it!
Strawberry Filling
- Take ¾ cup diced fresh or frozen strawberries. Make sure to measure after they are cut. Add the strawberries to a small saucepan with the maple syrup and about ¼ cup of water to cover the bottom of the saucepan.
- Leave the strawberries on medium heat for 8-9 minutes, stirring occasionally. The strawberries will cook down and start to resemble jam.
- Once the fruit is cooked take 1 tablespoon of water and dissolve the arrowroot into the water before adding it to the strawberries. The mixture should start to thicken right away. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Coconut Whipped Cream
- Make sure to start with chilled coconut milk or coconut cream. Measure ½ cup of coconut cream and add to a bowl with the maple and pinch of salt.
- Use a mixer, or whisk to whip until the clumps are gone and soft peaks start to form. If you want your cream sweeter, you can definitely add more maple. Store your whipped cream in the refrigerator until the cake is ready. Let the cake cool completely before adding the coconut whipped topping so it doesn’t melt.
Cake Assembly
- Let your cake cool completely before assembling! Assemble the cake with the strawberry filling and coconut cream on the top. Garnish with extra berries and serve. Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
If you don’t have carob powder, you can definitely use cocoa powder in place of the carob. It’s an easy 1-to-1 swap in the recipe. If you use cocoa powder, you will want to add more coconut sugar to the cake. I would increase the coconut sugar by 2-3 tablespoons.
When you make the coconut whipped cream, make sure to use canned coconut milk. You can either buy a can of coconut cream, or you can simply scoop the cream off the top of a regular can of coconut milk. For best results, make sure to refrigerate your coconut milk or cream before trying to make it into whipped topping.
If you don’t have 8 inch pans to bake the cake in, but still want the layered effect, you can bake it in one 9 inch pan. Once the cake is completely cool, simply cut the 9 inch cake in half like you would a hamburger bun.