cocoa powder

02.05.19

Paleo Fudge (Nut-free)

Posted on by Kelli Avila , Views: 9590

This Paleo Fudge is a lightened-up chocolate-y treat that is good any time of day and takes less than 10 minutes to whip up! It’s made nut-free with healthy fats and antioxidant rich cocoa powder and is barely sweetened with only a touch of maple syrup. It’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and most important out-of-this-world-good! This will be your NEW favorite fudge recipe, promise.

Easy paleo fudgePaleo Fudge

February calls for chocolate, and this Paleo Fudge doesn’t disappoint! We have a few festive treats planned for you, and we kicked it off with the Strawberry and Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies from yesterday. Like that recipe, this one is also nut-free, which means it’s inclusive for those with nut allergies and you are able to send it to school with your kids. This Paleo Fudge is a treat you can feel good about eating, made with real food but most importantly insanely delicious.

Vegan Paleo Fudge

But this isn’t your average fudge recipe. First off, we call for cocoa powder. We love that it is rich in antioxidants and doesn’t have any added sugar or dairy, but more importantly it’s SO FUDGEY. Second, this one is nut-free. A lot of alternative fudge recipes call for almond butter, including this previous fudge on LCK, but this one uses sunflower butter (or alternatively tahini). Third, we add a bit of coconut flour to help firm up the fudge and give it the perfect texture. We discovered, and fell in love with that trick while testing for our PB & J Fat Bombs. And finally we love the added healthy fats thanks to the coconut oil. Having a piece of this fudge as a snack will definitely give you some energy that will last for a while!

While this fudge cannot stay for hours at room temperature, it will last for quite a while outside of the refrigerator and they don’t need to be stored in the freezer, and we like that!

Paleo fudge nut free

If you like this chocolate recipe, check out these others:

Paleo Fudge

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Prep Time 00:05 Cook Time 00:03 Total Time 00:08 (plus chilling time) Yields 12 pieces

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a medium pot, melt together coconut oil, maple syrup, salt and cocoa powder. Stir until it has all melted and combined.
  2. Add sunflower butter, coconut flour and vanilla extract and whisk together.
  3. Line a 7.5” by 5” container, or a similar size, with a parchment paper sling (for easy removal) and pour the chocolate mixture inside.
  4. Smooth the top and refrigerate until set at least 2 hours, but preferable 6 hours.
  5. Using the sling, remove the fudge mixture and slice to 12-16 pieces. Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 10 days.

Recipe Notes

  1. This recipe also works, and was tested with tahini (sesame seed paste). It has a slightly different taste to it, but still delicious so feel free to swap that in for equal portions if desired.
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There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you! However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use in my own home! Thank you for supporting Lexi's Clean Kitchen when you shop! See my privacy policy for more information about this, the information we save, and more!
09.07.18

The BEST Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Recipe

Posted on by Lexi , Views: 35183

This Gluten-Free Chocolate Layer Cake may just be the best chocolate cake we have ever eaten, gluten-free or not. It is super moist, with deep chocolate flavor, and truly easy to put together. The chocolate cake layers are dairy-free and paleo-friendly, and we can promise this gluten-free cake will be a hit for any occasion!

Gluten Free Chocolate CakeGluten-Free Chocolate Cake

We heard you! After we published the BEST Gluten-Free Layer Birthday Cake recipe a while back you’ve been asking us to make a chocolate version. We got to it right away and we are CRAZY HAPPY with the results. This truly is the best chocolate cake we’ve ever tasted! You won’t know it’s gluten-free (not that that matters around here) and it is so rich and moist!

Making this recipe wasn’t as easy as adding in chocolate to our vanilla layer cake. A chocolate cake is a whole different beast. We started with a base of almond and coconut flour, which we love. It lends itself to have just the right crumb and moisture level. And then we added in cocoa powder and adjusted the level of sweetener to balance the bitterness. We added some coffee in to boast the chocolate flavor, but feel free to swap it out with additional milk instead. It took us a few tries to get the right amount of fat, which we use avocado oil here, but once we did this cake was SO GOOD.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe Slice

The cake layers themselves are dairy-free. We choose to frost it with a chocolate buttercream, but if you don’t tolerate dairy you can certainly use a dairy-free chocolate ganache made with coconut milk and dairy-free chocolate to frost your cake.

As we said above, this cake does have nuts. If you’re looking for a nut-free and school-safe cake recipe, go for the two in my cookbook or this July 4th Classic Cake!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Overhead

Tips Tools Needed to Frost a Cake Like a Pro

It’s not essential to frost the cake like we did. But if you want to give it a whirl, getting these tools make it easier to get an even and smooth cake!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

If you like this celebration dessert, check out these other recipes:

Watch the video:


Gluten-Free Chocolate Layer Cake

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Prep Time 00:10 Cook Time 00:25 Total Time 00:35 Serves 6-10

Ingredients

For Cake Layers:

For Chocolate Buttercream:

Directions

For Cake Layers:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF and grease 3 6" layer pans (we used avocado spray) and line with parchment paper that fits directly inside. Skipping this step could result in a cake that sticks to the pan. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl add almond flour, cocoa, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
  3. In a large bowl whisk eggs. Add in coconut sugar, milk, coffee, avocado oil and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
  4. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and whisk to combine completely.
  5. Divide batter evenly between 3 cake pans and bake in pre-heated oven for 25  minutes, or until a toothpick inserted and removed is clean or any wet cake batter.
  6. Let cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing by running a thin knife or offset spatula around the side of the pan to loosen the cake and turning over pan on wire rack. Remove the parchment paper liner if still on the cake. Cool completely before frosting.

For Buttercream Frosting:

For Buttercream Frosting:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat the butter until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
  2. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and mix on low speed until well blended. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Add the vanilla and 1/4 cup of almond milk (or more if needed) and beat on medium speed until lightened in color.

To Assemble the Cake:

  1. Once cake is cooled place first layer on serving plate and frost with a buttercream layer to prevent the cake from moving once assembled.
  2. Add next layer of cake and repeat with layer of buttercream, smoothing over, and place last cake layer on top.
  3. Place cake in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, to let set up and to make frosting cake easier.
  4. Once cake has chilled, add about half of frosting to the top of the cake and using an offset spatula frost cake starting with the top and moving excess down the sides of the cake and smoothing as going.
  5. Decorate as desired with additional frosting, chocolate cups and sprinkles on the side.
  6. Cake will keep 3-5 days in refrigerator.

Recipe Notes

  1. You can omit the coffee and substitute in 1/4 cup almond milk or water. Coffee helps bring out the chocolate flavor, but is not essential.
  2. We have a heavy hand when we frost our cakes. If you think you'll want less frosting, swap the recipe with  3 sticks of butter, 1 cup cocoa powder, 4 cups powdered sugar and follow the recipe as stated. If you do end up with leftover frosting, you can freeze it for later use.
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There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you! However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use in my own home! Thank you for supporting Lexi's Clean Kitchen when you shop! See my privacy policy for more information about this, the information we save, and more!