So you may notice things looking a little different around here today. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working with Noor from BlogMePretty for the last few weeks to update the look and feel of the blog and its finally here. And to celebrate, I baked a cake.
This is the first cake to feature on this site. This is largely because I’m hot really a huge cake fan. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind cakes. Sure, they have their good points – they are sweet and filled with cream and often chocolate – and anything filled with chocolate cant really be that bad, right? But if I’m going to go down the chocolate route, then I’m more likely to pick a bar or a cookie or a truffle. Its nothing personal, its just the way its always been. When I was younger, my favorite type of cake was icecream cake. I know – not technically a cake. One birthday I even had a cake made entirely out of chocolate. Yes, also not a real cake.
But this cake is different. For a start, its not chocolate based, so it doesn’t have to compete for my affection with any other chocolatey goods. Instead, its quite light and moist and sweet – but not too sweet. The soft, spongey coconut center is perfectly complimented by the tart rhubarb topping. And the rhubarb itself is a plus in my book – its my new favorite vegetable-masquerading-as-a-fruit. If for some reason you don’t like rhubarb (and if so, I still think you should try it here and then see if you still dont like it), you could easily replace it with peaches, berries or apple, or omit the fruit completely and the coconut flavour be the star of this cake. And, finally, rather than being packed full of processed and refined flours and sugars this cake is instead grain free and full of healthy fats, with no refined sugar in sight. This cake ticks all the metaphorical boxes and has surged to the top of my lists of cakes (real cakes – trust me, nothing can compete with a “cake” made entirely of chocolate!)
Grain-free coconut and rhubarb cake
Notes: The first time I made this cake I used the 2 Tbsp of maple syrup, however I omitted it the second time and thought it was fine, though I generally dont like my sweets too sweet. You could also use flour instead of the almond meal, though make sure you use a GF certified flour if you are intending to keep the cake gluten free.
2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup coconut sugar
3 eggs
1 cup almond milk
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup of almond meal
2 Tbsp maple syrup, optional
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 small bunch rhubarb, finely sliced (about 1.5 cups sliced)
2 Tbsp coconut sugar
Preheat oven to 180C || 355F (170C || 340 F fan-forced)
Grease and line a 9″ springform pan.
Add coconut to a food processor and process until finely ground, resembling almond meal. Add the remaining dry ingredients and pulse once or twice to combine.
Add the wet ingredients and process a few seconds until all ingredients are combined.
Pour into a prepared cake tin and sprinkle the chopped rhubarb evenly on top, and then the 2 Tbsp’s of coconut sugar.
Bake for 45 minutes, checking after 40 minutes – the edges should be brown and starting to come away from the side, and a skewer inserted should come out mostly clean.
love the new design, looks great!
also, yummo, as always.
Thanks Soph xx
I really really really like the new layout. So pretty!
And this cake looks absolutely delicious. I love cakes with fruit in them. And preferably not too sweet. Thanks for the lovely recipe!
I do love me some good cake, but I cannot stand them when they are overly sweet, so I think this one would be perfect for me! It looks delicious, and the texture seems lovely. So moist!
Also, the new layout is looking beautiful. What a pretty makeover! <3
I just found your blog. It’s gorgeous – I really like your blog design and cooking style. ;-) Rhubarb is a favorite of mine to bake with because of the tangy balance it provides to sweets. I often make a rhubarb and mango clafoutis. This looks wonderful and I will definitely be giving it a try!
Thanks for dropping by Katie! I popped over to check out your blog and found your rhubarb and mango clafoutis recipe – yum! I’ll definitely be trying that one out :)
I hope you can try the clafoutis! I love that set custard texture. ;-) But I just made this rhubarb cake last night and it was wonderful. Love how the rhubarb mellows when cooked and the cake is so light. I only needed 1/2 cup milk (maybe the difference in altitude, humidity, etc??), but it turned out great. And I think the finer the coconut is ground, the better. Thanks Dearna!
Oh, Im so glad you made it and liked it :) Im not sure about the milk, I’ll have to take note next time I make it, perhaps t has to do with the type of milk too. I have the clafoutis on my “to cook” list, cant wait to try it!
This is gorgeous, what a stunning, nourishing cake! My father in law loves rhubarb so I am pretty sure I’d be in his good books for months if I made this! Love everything about it. I’m a bit obsessed with coconut sugar at the moment so I’m always thrilled to find more recipes that use it! Did you serve it with yoghurt? Or coconut cream? Looks delicious xx
Rhubarb is so good! I’ve been stewing it and having it for breakfast too – yum :) I served the cake with greek yoghurt, but you could use either. x
What is a suitable alternative for coconut sugar? I want to make a sugar free cake :)
Hi May, you could use any sweetener in its place – raw honey and maple syrup are other natural sweeteners which are healthier than the overly processed white table sugar. You could perhaps also try a little mashed banana, date puree or stewed apple though I havent tried this myself. Let me know how you go :)
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes! I baked this cake yesterday and we ate it warm, with your caramelised banana ice cream on top …. I tasted like heaven!
I did’nt have coconut oil so I used butter and I also used a little bit of vanila.
Delicious!
Oh my! There is a mistake and I can’t correct it……You should read : IT tasted like heaven! lolll If possible could this be corrected please?
Hi Asaliha! Yay, I’m so glad that you made the cake and liked it – so delicious served warm :) And I can’t actually see the mistake, I think it may have been cut off somehow? Not quite sure how that happened lol… Thank you for your lovely comments all the same x
So happy I found you. And so happy I have rhubarb from my garden in my freezer. Making this!
Thank you so much Serena! Im very happy to have you here :) You’ll have to let me know how you like the cake :)
Would like to make this cake, does anyone know if coconut flour could be substituted for the ground coconut flakes, and if so, how much coconut flour. thanks!
Hi Jennifer, I havent tried this, however coconut flour is dried, whereas the flakes have quite a bit of moisture and therefore the consistency would not be the same. Let me know it goes if you try it :)
how much rhubarb does a small bunch finely sliced measure?
looks like baked in a spring pan, can a nine” round pan be used?
thanks, Carmel Maloney
Hi Carmel, a small bunch of rhubarb would be roughly 1.5 cups chopped. And yes a 9″ cake pan should be fine, I will update the recipe for this :)