Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake

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Happy Birthday to Me!

What better way to celebrate than with cake and presents?

Presents for you! Bob’s Red Mill sent me a few gluten-free flours mixes to try out (coconut flour,  hazelnut meal/flour, and teff flour), and to giveaway. Bob’s Red Mill is a great company, and I use many of their products for my baking.

Coconut flour has to be one of my favorite gluten-free, grain-free flours. Made from  the fiber of coconuts, it has a light sweetness without the carbs. This cake and my brownie recipe are my favorite ways to use it. Check out my coconut flour pinterest board for more ideas.

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Grain Free Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 1-layer cake, 9 servings (double or triple recipe for a layered cake)

Serving Size: 1 slice

Calories per serving: 165

Grain Free Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

~This cake is too good to be true. My whole family enjoyed it. Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, grain-free, and, of course, sugar-free! Inspired by my Grain-Free Fudge Brownie Recipe.

Ingredients

    Cake Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 dates
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup milk-substitute (I used unsweetened almond milk) whisked with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to create vegan buttermilk.
    • Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup dairy-free milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

Instructions

    Cake Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 375*.
  2. Blend the dates into a paste. Add wet ingredients and stir until well-combined.
  3. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients and stir until lumps are gone.
  4. Combine wet and dry until well combined. Mix very thoroughly to ensure there aren’t any date chunks. The dates are the natural sweetness in the recipe. Feel free to add more dates if needed to suite your sweet tooth. The 5 dates make a dark chocolate cake, more may be needed for more sweetness.
  5. Lightly grease a round 9" cake pan (I used coconut oil), and pour batter into dish. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
    6. Frosting Instructions:
  6. Blend peanut butter and milk until creamy and fluffy. You may add dates to the frosting as well if desired. Adjust liquid to suit your frosting thickness preference.
  7. Once cake is cooled, spread frosting on cake and top with Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, like this cake. Or mix a small amount of coconut oil with cocoa powder, and drizzle on top of cake (as shown in pictures).
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2012/03/03/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake-giveaway/

Health Benefits:
  • Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I wrote earlier about the health benefits of chocolate.
  • Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body has no opportunity to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz.!
  • Dates: A laxative food with a high-fiber content, so it can help those suffering from constipation. They are digested quite easily and are great for when you need quick energy. Also, regular consumption of dates has been found to help the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestines.
  • Peanuts: These legumes are full of protein with 7g per ounce. They also have a great monounsaturated fat content that helps your heart and brain. Peanut is a good source of Coenzyme Q10 which protects the heart during the period of lack of oxygen example high altitudes and clogged arteries. It also has a high antioxidant and high niacin content that helps in the recovery of cell damage and provides protection against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive problem.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. My favorite birthday memory was when I celebrated my birthday in Hawaii. My sister made me a beach cake that tasted AMAZING and we got up that morning and watched the sun rise on the beach. It was a really special birthday.

  4. my parents made me a vegan “ice cream” cake with fresh strawberries – amazing!

    katherinedibello (at) gmail (dot) com

  6. Happy Birthday!!!

    My favorite birthday memory is the surprise party my friend Ann threw for me when I turned 23. The year before I had a crappy birthday (just graduated college, working my first 9-5 job, no one at work celebrated, blah blah) so she got all my friends together and surprised me with a party the next year. <3 her for it!

  9. thanks for the great opportunity, i pinned this recipe before i even knew that was one of the ways to enter!! it looks so good!! …and of course i already follow you on pinterest!

  13. Happy Birthday! I’ve just started keeping up with your blog a couple of weeks ago as I’ve become interested in going sugar-free at some point. Plus, whether I do or not your recipes are just flat out delicious.

    I’ve just subscribed to you via email.

  16. My favorite birthday memory is going ‘camping’ with two friends w/ close birthdays, having it rain all weekend (in a cabin w/ a tin roof), and trading pokemon cards.

  19. My favorite birthday memory was getting a locket when I turned 8. I had been obsessed with A Little Princess and had gotten the dinky little locket that came with the VHS tape, but I wanted one that was actually nice and more like the one in the movie. My parents got me one for my birthday, and I still have it and wear it!

    • That is so sweet, Clair!! Lockets are some of my favorite jewelries now, too. My grandma gave each of her grandchildren a locket with their birthstones on it….I wear it all the time still!

  21. Happy Happy Birthday Alex!!! Hope you have a fabulous day 🙂 My favorite birthday memory was when I turned 20, my close friends through a beautiful outdoor surprise party for me on the island we were living on, with string lights in the trees, and a big music set up and tons of incredible food and friends, it was so perfect.

    • Thanks, Katie!

      And yes, that birthday does sound perfect. nothing better than surprises, music and lights!

  22. Happy birthday Alex! Enjoy your cake; it looks scrumptious!

    My favorite birthday memories are the low-key dinners with my friends and family. I don’t like to do anything big. I’d rather spend time with my loved ones and count my blessings!

  23. I can still remember the taste of the cake from my second birthday, and my grandparents were still alive so it makes it one of my fave memories.

  25. My favorite birthday was spent in Disneyland with my family! But I am really looking forward to my birthday this year, because it’s going to be my golden birthday!

  26. My favorite birthday memory was last year because i spent it with my parents, sister + grandparents and it was the year after i had an eating disorder and i was recovered, and i was just so grateful for being alive and being able to celebrate it with my family <3 plus, i ate very healthy, so it made me feel good!

  30. my favorite bday memory was when my friends and i stayed up until 3am playing mario kart and goofing off 😛
    that cake looks delicious!

  32. My favourite birthday memory?

    It was actually going out for my very first run after a foot injury. 🙂 it had ben several months and each time I tried running the pain returned, On my birthday however, I tried and was able to go to 2 miles. that was really one of the happiest days of my life !

  34. Wow. This sounds so great! I just pinned this onto my board. My favorite birthday was this past year because I was able to celebrate it with my family and really felt close to them. We just remembered past birthdays and celebrated with a new recipe that I made. I also got my drivers license! Happy birthday by the way!!

  35. My 18th birthday was one of my favorites! My great grandma and I share a birthday, 3/27, and she was turning 90! We had a HUGE family birthday party for both of our milestone birthdays! It was perfect!!

  36. Oh, I would love to try coconut flour! I can’t find it here. 🙁

    I had so many awesome birthdays when I was still in primary school, but one of my favourites would have to be when I invited most of my class, there was cake, pizza, we spent most of the time outside and a lot of them even slept over at my place. 🙂

  39. Last birthday, all of my best friends surprised me at dinner at this awesome vegetarian restaurant. It was so wonderful! 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!

  43. My favorite memory was when I received the gift of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. I was so excited!

  52. I am not entering the giveaway. Just dropping by to say Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day and your cake. 🙂

  53. My favorite birthday memory was when I was a little kid and my mom put together a pirates party complete with banana fights! Ha! So much fun. (Love the blog btw…)

  55. My favorite birthday memory is celebrating my “golden birthday” when I turned 14 years old. My family made it extra special, and I had a slumber party in a tent in my backyard. So fun!

  57. one of my best birthday’s was when i turned ten and my mom threw me a horse themed bday party for my friends and I. she even baked a horse shaped cake! haha also my past birthday was special since i got to have my first legal drink with my brother and dad!

  61. One of my favorite birthday memories was my 21st birthday. My parents got my 21 things and I celebrated with my (now) husband and a group of friends with a flaming tequila shot! Though I also remember that I had a beautiful princess shaped cake for my 6th or 7th birthday! Thanks for the give-away — I love coconut flour and the recipe. Perhaps I’ll make it for my 25th birthday next month!

  63. My favorite birthday memory was when I went up to my cabin with all of my friends. We slept over and just had a blast being together.

  66. My best memory is when my wife baked me the most incredible deep dark chocolate Devil’s Food Cake with a dark chocolate ganache!

  67. my favorite birthday memory was the rainbow fruit “birthday cake” that i had this past year-it was all fruit, all different colors, on skewers, it was beautiful, and it was shared with my most favorite people on earth. 🙂

  68. My favorite birthday memory is my 7th birthday. I remember having a pinata, chocolate cake, great company and awesome goodie bags for my guests! It is definitely the birthday that always comes to mind…how can you go wrong with chocolate cake and a pinata?!
    Great giveaway!!

  69. Subscribed! Very excited to get your posts by email, I’m always looking for great baking recipes and your recipes always look amazing!

  70. my favorite birthday memory was my 21st in vegas. i cant tell you the details because you know what they say about vegas…..

  71. Happy Birthday! My favorite memory was getting married 3 days after my 20th birthday! 🙂

  74. my favorite birthday memory was last year with my mom. we ate smoked salmon on bagel thins and our weight in watermelon while watching bad lifetime movies. it sounds random but was so much fun!

  85. My best birthday memory was of the first cake I can remember. It was a green dinosaur cake that I remember thinking was the greatest thing ever.

  86. My favorite birthday memory was when my friend’s threw me a surprise party and baked me a cake, which we later had a huge cake fight with haha. Messy, but fun!

  89. My favorite birthday memory is more of a tradition-each birthday my grandma would take me shopping, just her and me. We had a great day shopping & lunching!

  90. thanks for holding this giveaway and happy birthday!!! one of my all time favorite birthday memories is when my best friends kidnapped me the morning of my birthday at the crack of dawn to take me to watch the sunrise and eat s’mores on the beach followed by a day Disneyland. still is and will always be one of the best birthdays ever

    • Alain,

      That birthday sounds incredibly wonderful!! How lucky are you 😀

  92. MY favorite birthday memory was when I was 12 years old and I was walking home from school. My mother and my oldest brother were sitting on the couch upstairs and when they saw me, they starting smiling and wishing me happy birthday but my brother was acting funny, grinning like there was no tomorrow. Then my mother told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands and I did. Suddenly, i felt something big, heavy, and furry! I got excited and almost dropped it! As soon as I opened my eyes, it was a German Shepherd pup! I named him Charlie 🙂 I started crying too lol. I miss him… I had to give him away 3 years later :'(

  98. My favorite birthday memory was from when I turned 18, in Vancouver. I spent the day worrying (selfishly) about how I wouldnt have a good time. I was traveling at the time, living as a vagrant. I would sleep under bridges and play people songs for money. I spent the whole day with a friend busking up enough money for a big steak. We grabbed some friends and went and took camp away from the city for the nite. I cooked (burnt) the steak on our blazing fire, shared it with my amazing dog (Angus) and we sang songs till we passed out. I think the birthday was so good in the end because it wasnt about me, but more about togetherness. Like a party to appreciating what good things I had in my life and what awesome people i had to share it with. It was cool. :o)

  101. When I was 8 my uncle and cousin surprised me on my birthday by ambushing me with Nerf guns. We now have a (very mature) tradition of shooting each other with foam darts.

  103. Even though it’s very late – Happy Birthday – May this year be amazing for you and may all your birthday wishes come true!

    My favourite birthday memory: When I turned 23, my grandfather wrote a poem about me/for me. It was so beautiful.

  105. my last birthday was pretty memorable as i had the BEST DINNER ever cooked by my boyfriend 🙂

  108. My best birthday memory was my 6th birthday and my father gave me six red roses and two tickets to a Beach Boys concert! I was obviously bringing him! I will absolutely never forget it.

  109. I was sitting around a table with a birthday cake and 6 of my friends. We were blowing horns at my Dad taking a picture of me in front of my cake. It was simple: cake and icecream at your house!
    Who knew. It’s etched in my memory forever.

  111. My favorite birthday memory was going to disney world with my grandparents! They are so sweet!

  112. Last year on my birthday I ran a 5k run mud with my grad school friends dressed at ninja turtles then went out to a beautiful dinner with 20 of our friends, it was a great day!

  116. I subscribed…again since you switched servers.

    A birthday memory I have…not my favorite however, but it is what I remember on my birthday is when my grandma past away. She past away on my birthday 12 years ago now. Sad, but I will always remember her and she should be remembered. She did a lot for me. My daughter’s middle name is my grandma’s name Violet! So, not my favorite, but most memorable birthday memory.

  123. Thank you so much for this recipe! We’ve recently gone sugar & grain free in our household. The thought of sugar free birthday cakes was starting to terrify me. I made this for my husband’;s birthday today (we’re both love our dark chocolate) and he the kids were asking for more! the dates made it so moist and just sweet enough! Thanks!

    • Sarah,

      So glad you enjoyed it!!! Thanks so much for the sweet comment 😀

  126. Hey Alex,
    I love Love LOVE your website! I have recently become sugar free and so i love looking at your website for ideas and recipes. I have an allergy to nuts but i can eat cashews and coconuts. Would i be able to use cashew butter as the frosting or would it ruin the taste?
    thanks heaps!

    • Yes, you can definitely try cashew butter! Or even coconut butter to make a chocolate-coconut cake. Good luck!

  127. Hi Alex
    Am so glad to have found your website, and grateful to you for sharing your passion for tasty sugar-free food! I’m looking forward to trying some of your recipes, want to make myself a cake for my birthday on the 22nd.
    I can’t eat chocolate because it gives me migraines. Do you think this recipe would work with carob/ carob powder (I assume you can get it as a powder, I don’t know!)?
    x Lorna

    • Lorna,

      Happy Birthday! But yes, I believe it would work with carob. Let me know if you try it!

  128. This looks amazing!! I was wondering if there was any way to substitute something for the dates though? I suffer from fructose malabsorption syndrome and really wanted to make this. Any suggestions?

    • Alysha,

      You can try substituting any other type of sweetener like stevia if you can eat that. Hope you enjoy!

  129. I have fructose malabsorption too. I use stevia for the sweetener, and sunflower seed butter to replace the bulk of which ever sugar ingredient is called for (I find that my homemade sunbutter is the best substitute I have found so far. Almond butter works also but not quite as well). Substituting sunflower butter works pretty well for most things, but in cakes and other ‘lighter’ baked goods it can make it a bit more dense. Thus I add a tiny bit more raising agent, or in the case of 5 dates, you could use solely stevia in this recipe. To replace the moisture you could also try a couple of tablespoons of something similar to applesauce (I use pumpkin puree when the taste of the recipe can cover the pumpkin).
    Hope this helps some!

  131. favorite birthday memory would have to be celebrating my 18th birthday with my best friend and we got in a very large cake fight with our cakes! (that’s right, 3 three cakes!. one for me, one for her, and one for the two of us)

  132. Do you use a food processor to blend the dates? And do you soak the dates before blending them?

    • Sydney,

      Yes, I do. Or a magic bullet. Soaking is optional depending on how strong your processor is.

  133. You do realize that peanut butter and dates have sugar, right? Or do you use a peanut butter alternative, like PB2?

    • Megs,

      I use a natural peanut butter with no added sugar. Dates do have naturally occurring sugars.

    • Heather,

      Find a natural peanut butter that only contains peanuts and maybe salt. Smucker’s natural is a go-to supermarket brand, but health food stores usually carry other brands, too. Or you can simply make your own by blending peanuts until smooth!

  135. This is probably a silly question, do you mean dried dates? I want to try this recipe out, so please let me know! I recently found your website and love it – so thank you!

  136. I am so excited to find this my B-day is Saturday and I gave up sugar about a month ago and I was really sad that I could not have a cake! I can’t wait to make this.

  137. My experience of dropping sugar has been to move to the alternatives first. That then allowed me some space to look more closely at how and what I was eating so that my sugar intake these days is barely negligible from which I enjoy a far greater vitality.

  138. My favorite birthday as a child was actually when my mom was terribly sick on my birthday. I know that sounds horrible, and I thought the world was at an end because there was no cake hidden on top of the fridge. My dad bustled us kids off to grandma’s house where SURPRISE! He had made me a peanut butter and chocolate cake! It was the best surprise ever because my dad NEVER baked. Who knew he could. We were so happy -he really saved the day 🙂 My birthday is in 2 days and what a great memory your recipe brings up 😀

  139. Hi I am wondering if u can make this yummy cake without Dates and instead with stevia. I am on a total no sugar plan… Including dates
    Thanks for all your help with any suggestions

    • Hi Michelle,

      I haven’t tried stevia with this cake, but I have had success with using it in other desserts. If you try it out, let me know!

  141. This is the first website purporting to be sugar-free that really is–I’m so excited! Other websites I’ve found (supposedly sugar-free) had recipes including items that contained (or were themselves) sugar. I had given up, until today when I somehow typed the lucky keywords. I’m eager to try everything and sorry I missed the sugar-free challenge!

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