Paleo Birthday Cake
Easy gluten-free cake made with sweet potatoes. This paleo birthday cake is a rich chocolate blackout cake topped with a creamy sunbutter frosting, made with sweet potatoes.
This cake will knock the socks off your guests. Healthy and non-healthy eaters alike love this cake! It’s easy to make in a pinch in the food processor. Enjoy!
This is the food processor I use in this recipe, find it here.
And this is the black cocoa powder I use to bake this recipe, find it here.
The cake pans I am using in this recipe are 6″ spring rom cake pans. I get mine from Amazon.
Easy gluten-free cake made with sweet potatoes. This paleo birthday cake is a rich chocolate blackout cake topped with a creamy sunbutter frosting, made with sweet potatoes. This cake will knock the socks off your guests. Healthy and non-healthy eaters alike love this cake! It's easy to make in a pinch in the food processor. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups sweet potato minced
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup black cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
Frosting
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- 1 cup soft medjool dates pitted
- 1/2 cup avocado
- 1/2 cup sunflower butter or other nut butter for non-nut-free option
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- pinch of salt to taste
| Info |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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Rate this recipe!
Rate this recipe!
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Ingredients
Cake
Frosting
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of two 6" spring form cake pans with rounds of parchment paper.
- In a food processor mince sweet potato. Then in a blender combine all ingredients for cake until smooth.
- Divide batter in-between the two cake pans. Bake on 350F for 45 minutes, then chill in freezer or fridge while you make frosting.
- For frosting, steam sweet potato cubes, then drain water, and mash, then combine with rest of frosting ingredients until smooth (about 5 minutes). Frost cake and top with sprinkles or other decoration.
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Nutrition Facts
Paleo Birthday Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 436
Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 20g
31%
Saturated Fat 11g
55%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat 3g
Cholesterol 31mg
10%
Sodium 338mg
14%
Potassium 1198mg
34%
Total Carbohydrates 67g
22%
Dietary Fiber 12g
48%
Sugars 43g
Protein 9g
18%
Vitamin A
126%
Vitamin C
8%
Calcium
23%
Iron
42%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Oh my gosh this looks so incredible! Do you think it would work with flax eggs too?
Thank you Anita, I don’t think flax eggs would work out as well. It would probably turn out really gummy and wet unfortunately.
Are the sweet potatoes cooked or raw before mincing?
They are raw before mincing.
Hi Kaylie, this might be obvious, but is your sweet potato cooked or raw ?
Hi Jessica, the raw sweet potato is for the cake and the cooked sweet potato is for the frosting.
Is there any way to effectively cut out more sugar from this recipe that wouldnt ruin or alter the recipe? Would ommitting the maple syrup work? or have the amount of medjool dates?
Hi Diana, I think you probably could, but it would change the flavor and texture… I don’t know how well it would turn out.
I’ve never used sunflower butter and can’t find it locally. What is the best substitute? Will regular grass fed butter work?
Hi Amanda, you can use any other nut butter, like cashew, almond, or even peanut butter for a pb flavor. 🙂
Hi Kaylie, this looks gorgeous! Would I be able to substitute the maple syrup and coconut sugar for swerve? Or either one of the two for swerve?
Hi Tanya, I have never heard of swerve, so I cannot say.
What espresso powder do you use? And it looks like you used 2 different sweet potatoes for the cake and frosting. Which sweet potatoes did you use?
Hi Joyce, I used the espresso powder I had on hand- I don’t remember what it was. And for the sweet potatoes, I used yams (the orange ones) and sweet potatoes (the white ones).
Making this with my daughter for the first time. Our icing has little tiny lumps from the dates. Is there a way to avoid this? Maybe my dates weren’t fresh enough? Can’t wait to eat this! It looks amazing in the picture.
Hi Heather, depending on the type of dates and where you buy them, they will either be softer or harder. I use the dates from trader joes, which are really soft and easy to blend!
Love this cake recipe! I made it for my daughter’s first birthday and was so pleased with how pretty and yummy it turned out! I bought purple sweet potatoes and am attempting to make a raspberry version of this cake. Any tips?
I have an egg allergy, is there a substitute that would work?
Hi Karla, I haven’t tried this recipe without eggs, I don’t think it would really turn out the same without them- they are pretty essential for holding the recipe together. Sorry!
Can’t wait to make this!
Is espresso powder necessary?
Hi Melissa, it adds flavor, but it’s not necessary. 🙂
How does this frosting Hold up as compared to the other one you typically make with melted chocolate, coconut milk and coconut oil? I LOVE your cakes, and I’m taking a batch of cupcakes to a potluck, but I’m afraid the coconut oil frosting will be too hard straight out of the fridge and will melt/fall after sitting out for a bit
Hi Candis, this frosting won’t really melt, so it’s a great option!
Hi, attempting to make this for my dads birthday to see if he notices 😉 do you think the layers can be made the night before and refrigerated or frozen? Thanks!
Hi Christina, yes that should totally work!
Hi there. Just leaving a review for others to note what I did wrong. I didn’t pay attention to, or didn’t even think of the potato for the cake to be raw. I wondered why ‘minced’ was the choice of word, but I just went with it. I usually read through the recipe and then the comments to see if anyone had issues, or substitutions they used, but, I did not on this recipe. I would have noticed other commenters asking if it was raw or cooked sweet potato for the cake, if I had. With that said, since it was too late when I realized it, I went with it and added an extra tablespoon of coconut flour to possibly help with moisture content. The substitutions I made because of what I had…. regular cocoa (not dutch,) no espresso powder, and 1/4 c. of raw sugar instead of 1/2 c. of coconut sugar.
First, I have to say that if cooked sweet potato is used, and you taste it before putting the batter into a cake pan, you might just sit down and pretty much inhale the whole bowl of what I am calling pudding. As a matter of fact, I will make this recipe with the cooked potato, minus the baking soda, and eat it as pudding. It’s really delicious. I’ll also try it without the eggs to see if the consistency changes, I use organic / free range eggs and do not mind eating them raw in a mix, but some people don’t. Also, if it works well without the eggs, it’s something someone that can’t eat eggs can have.
I cooked this cake batter in four small loaf pans, I felt in larger pans the centers would be too wet when done. Due to the potato mistake, I started testing for doneness from 30 minutes on and they cooked for almost an hour. The interior was still sticking to a toothpick a little but the edges were starting to overcook. I left them in the pans for about 10 minutes before taking them out and putting them on the rack. Although they had not risen a lot, as they cooled, they flattened a bit. Once cooled they did end up really moist inside with a crunchy outside edge. Best to use a fork with as they broke apart in the hand, but they were still good and the flavors changed for the better once cooled, although they were good warm, too. I am not patient and always dig into a new recipe once out of the pan. The conclusion is that they were like a moist, slightly fudgy brownie more than a cake.
Next time, I’ll make the recipe as intended. I didn’t make the frosting but will try it next time, also.
I had a question, can I make this with regular plain flour? And regular butter? If so what are the measurement substitutes ?
Hi TJ, I haven’t tried it that was, but you could probably sub with 4x the amount of normal flour in place of coconut flour and 1/2 cup butter. 🙂 That should work just great!
Should the frosting be made the day of the party? My daughter and I want to make this cake for her birthday. Is there tips on what we can do the day before, but still keep it fresh and moist?
Nope, you can make it before! I’ve eaten this the second day and it’s great!
This website has delicious food and desserts I highly recommend the brownie cookies absurd ! I love paleo gluten free eats
Can I use 2 nine in cake pans? Would I have to double the recipe?
Hi Jennifer, yes you can do that, but I would suggest doubling the recipe. 🙂
This looks delicious. I’m planning to make this for my birthday this weekend. All I have is 8in pans. Do I need to double the recipe to get 2 layers?
Hi Jennifer, if you use 8″ cake pans, they will be much thinner layers, but it should still work (the cooking time will be less, but I’m not sure on the time exactly).
Hello Kaylie,
First of all thanks for the great flourless cake recipe. It turns out to be moist delicious cake. My family and I love it.
Sweet potato is hard to find, when it’s found, it’s too expensive in my country. So I’m wondering that, if you can help me, can i use raw regular potato, carrot, pumpkin or anything you recommend instead of sweet potato?