Naturally Sweetened Chocolate Cake with Whip Cream Frosting

I made this birthday cake for my friend's daughter. My poor friend is on bed rest and can't do anything but lay on her side. She asked me to make a birthday cake for her daughters birthday, as a surprise. I was honored to make it. My friend eats only whole grains, and natural sweeteners. So this cake of course was made with natural sweeteners, and whole grains. The cake itself was very rich, and had an intense dark chocolate flavor. To lighten it up I added marshmallow frosting in between the layers, and topped it all with a chocolate whip cream frosting. What baked good doesn't improve with a little frosting? Making frosting without refined sugar can be kind of a trick to get the right consistency. Luckily I found two frosting recipes that fit the bill. The marshmallow frosting is from elana's pantry, and the whip cream frosting is from 101 cookbooks.

Looking back I think the cake would be a little bit better as a sheet cake, under baking it slightly so it is still moist. I think I slightly over did the baking trying to make sure that it was done all the way through. Also the whip cream frosting tends to separate when you add the dark chocolate so make it right before you are going to serve it, or add cocoa powder, instead of dark chocolate so that it won't separate. My friend also thought maybe you could mix all of the ingredients for the frosting, chill all of them, and then try whipping it, so that it wouldn't separate, who knows it's worth a try.

Below is the chocolate cake recipe from 101 cookbooks with my adaptations:

Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 cups whole grain flour ( I used kamut)

3/4 C cocoa powder (make sure this is quality because the taste affects the cake)

1 T baking powder

3/4 tsp sea salt (fine grain)

1/2 C barely melted coconut oil

1 C agave (or maple syrup)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 C coconut milk, room temp.

1 dark chocolate bar finely chopped, (mine was 3.5 oz), she uses 8 oz.-(that is a lot of chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans. Sift the flour, ,cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk together the coconut oil and agave or maple syrup. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and coconut milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir to just combine, DON"T overstir. Fold in the chopped chocolate, gently. Pour into the baking pans and bake for 30-40 minutes. Take out when a tooth pick comes out clean. If doing a sheet cake slightly underbake it and pull it out when a tooth pick inserted still has a few crumbs that stick to it. Let cake cool COMPLETELY before frosting it or trying to get it out of the pans.

Frost the in between the layers with marshmallow frosting (recipe below), and cover the whole thing with chocolate whip cream frosting, top with fresh berries.

Marshmallow Frosting

2 egg whites

1/2 C agave

Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks with a hand mixer on high speed. Once the egg whites have formed stiff peaks, pour in the agave in a slow drizzle while beating. The frosting keeps for 48 hours in the fridge, but it will separate, in that case beat it again until it comes back together.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

(taken from 101 cookbooks)

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks

To make the frosting melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, or in a bowl placed over a pan of boiling water. In a medium bowl beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup. Then add the melted chocolate. Stir until silky smooth - any flecks of butter should be melted. Pour the chocolate mixture over the whipped cream and fold the chocolate into the cream. Keep going until the chocolate is well incorporated. Use an offset spatula to frost the completely cooled cake. If the cake is at all warm, the frosting will weep and melt. It still tastes good, but isn't what you're after.

Makes one 8x8 or 9x9 cake.