You’d never know this rich, moist German Chocolate Cake is a healthy remake that is paleo friendly and gluten, grain, oil, butter and refined sugar free!
The German girl who had NEVER had German chocolate cake.
*Raises hand in the air* YEP, that was ME.
There are things that I am about to say to you that I might regret. Because they might cause you to re-evaluate all of your beliefs about me, and wonder if you can trust recipes that are created by someone with such questionable taste-buds.
I didn’t.like.chocolate.cake.
THERE. OHMYGOSH. I said it.
It feels good to get that big secret off my chest. I had this feeling that there was SOMETHING getting in-between us becoming the ultimate of ultimate internet besties, and THAT WAS IT. Don’t totally freak out though. As you might have guessed with the funfetti baked oatmeal cupcakes and funfetti breakfast quinoa, well, I <3 <3 <3 funfetti cake. Like, so much.
Just not chocolate.
If you’re keep score, I’m at negative points right now because of the whole “German girl who hadn’t had German chocolate cake” AND the “chocolate cake doesn’t go into my face” shenanigans.
B-U-T.
Then – BLIP BLIP BLIP – (that’s the sound of the interwebz doing its thang) an email popped into my inbox!
It was requesting a healthy re-make of German Chocolate Cake for a “reader recipe re-do.” Remember the paleo lemon bars and cauliflower rice philly cheese steak? I want YOU to email me all your most favorite, UNHEALTHY EATS, and I will TRY (no guarantees peeps. Kitchen wizardry only goes so far) to make them oozing with health and nutrition. And deliciousness. OBVI, that is a requirement.
Looming over my head was a challenge beyond ALL challenges. A challenge gone BEAST MODE, if you will. I had to re-make something that:
- I had never had in my life ever.
- I probably wouldn’t even LIKE.
DAIRY FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE CHAMPION GOALS. I had them. Cake conquer-age was in my future. I could feel it. The air was THICK with it.
Exciting. Suspenseful.
I had to ask around Mr. Google to see exactly what was the “German” part of the chocolate cake, and why it couldn’t just be plain old chocolate cake. My conclusions came to the necessity of a thick, creamy-dreamy coconut frosting that is mixed-and-mingled with crunchy chunks of roasty-toasty, perfectly nutty pecans. No butter-creamy frosting need apply.
Scratch that. No BUTTER OR OIL even need apply guys. Because this German chocolate cake, like the paleo chocolate avocado cake with coconut flour, has got NONE OF THAT.
By this time, you’ve sort of realized my VERYVERY obvious love for avocado-ing all the desserts, mostly in the form of gluten free chocolate chip cookies or healthy chocolate chip cookies and paleo gluten free chocolate cake. Which means, you’re probably on the right brain-train when you’re putting 2+2 together and guessing that avocado is the base of our German chocolate cake.
On a scale of 1 to 10, this chocolate cake is about a HOLY-FLYING-MONKEYS MOIST AND TENDER CAKE ALERT.
Which is about a 13, if you’re logical person brain needs a real number.
Like, I took a bite and braced my taste buds for the rejection dance that they were about to do….and it DID NOT HAPPEN. It was only the magical happy dance of a recipe WIN.
E-S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y when that rich coconut-creamy frosting with its crunchy bursts of pecans was slathered allll over the top and between each layer. Would it be wrong to tell you to make a double batch of the frosting and reserve the leftovers for a spoon+you date in the VERY near future?
I’m just telling you, it’s a good idea.
But, if you’re not feeling the frosting, and want MOOOOORE chocolate, you could also try using this paleo chocolate frosting from Texanerin!
Now, just in case you’re still wondering about the believe-ability of a recipe re-creation from yours truly, who had never eaten such a cake in her life, I sent this cake up to Canada for my german Grandma and my aunt/baker EXTRAORDIANRE to make SURE that it had that REAL DEAL taste.
That cake-testers that be told me to tell you that gluten free German chocolate greatness can be yours.
REACH OUT AND GRAB IT.
Honestly: just face-plant right into it.
You can eat it faster that way.
For step-by-step instruction of this recipe, watch my video tutorial below:
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Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 Cups Avocado mashed (360g)
- 3/4 Cup Honey
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla extract
- 6 Large eggs separated
- 4 Oz Dark chocolate roughly chopped
- 3/4 Cup Coconut flour sifted (66g) * READ NOTES
- 3/4 Cup Tapioca flour 90g
- 2 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp Sea salt
For the frosting:
- 1/2 Cup Pecans finely chopped + additional for garnish, if desired
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/2 Cup Light coconut milk
- 2 Egg yolks
- 1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp Coconut sugar
- 3 Tbsp Coconut cream **
- 3 Tbsp Honey
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp Sea salt
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom of two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper, generously rubbing coconut oil up the sides of them. Set aside.
- Place the mashed avocado into a small food processor, mine is 3 cups, and blend it until it's really creamy and smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.*** Transfer into a large bowl.
- Add the honey, vanilla and egg yolks into the bowl, making sure to place the egg whites into a large, separate bowl. Beat the mixture until creamy and well mixed.
- Place the dark chocolate into a small, microwave-safe bowl and microwave on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate is smooth and melted. Add the chocolate into the avocado mixture and beat until well incorporated.
- In a seperate small bowl, stir together the coconut flour, tapioca flour, baking soda and salt.Stir it into the avocado mixture until mostly mixed in. Then, beat it with the hand mixer until totally mixed.
- Wash and dry your beaters REALLY well and then beat the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff peaks, which takes about 4 minutes.
- Gently place the whipped egg whites into the bowl with the cake batter and GENTLY fold them into the batter until no white streaks remain.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature in the pans, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spread the chopped pecans and coconut flakes on two separate, small baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden brown and toasted. The coconut only takes 3-4 minutes, so watch it closely. The pecans take about 8-10 mins.
- Once the nuts are toasted, place the coconut milk and egg yolks in a medium pot and whisk them together. Set the temperature to medium heat and add in the coconut sugar, coconut cream, honey, vanilla and salt. Whisk constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, and is JUST about to boil about 6-7 minutes.)
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the toasted coconut and pecans. You should have about 1 1/3 cups of frosting. Place into the refrigerator for 20 minutes to let it thicken.
To frost:
- Once the mixture has thickened, place one of the cooled cakes layer, bottom-side up, onto a cake pan and pour half of the frosting on top. Spread it out just on top of the cake evenly with an offset spatula. This cake does not get frosting on the sides.
- Place the second layer, bottom-side up, on top of the frosting and spread the remaining frosting over top of it. Garnish with pecans if desired.
- Refrigerate overnight to let the frosting harden slightly.
- Slice and DEVOUR!
Tips & Notes:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
FOR THIS RECIPE, I RECOMMEND:
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: SMARTPOINTS: 17 POINTS+: 11. OLD POINTS: 9
(calm down. It’s cake 🙂 Just enjoy )
IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAG @FOODFAITHFIT AND #FOODFAITHFITNESS ON INSTAGRAM! I LOVE SEEING YOUR RECIPE RECREATIONS! 
Want more paleo chocolate desserts?
Deep Dish Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Paleo Chocolate Lava Cakes with Almond Butter
Paleo chocolate cake from around the web:
Chocolate and Beetroot Layer Cake – Gather & Feast
Almond Flour Chocolate Cake – Healthy Recipes
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I JUST made this recipe for my mom’s birthday! While it took me awhile personally, the results are incredible! She has enjoyed it so much and the texture and taste is impressive!! Thank you so much!!
That’s great to hear Sarah, I am SO glad you both enjoyed it!