A moist coconut-flour chocolate cake with vegan salted caramel sauce, raw cashew cannoli cream filling, all wrapped in a velvety and rich chocolate frosting.
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or 1⅔ cups cooked chickpeas
½ cup date water
¼ cup full fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon pure powdered stevia extract
big pinch of salt
1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup melted coconut oil
Pink Frosting
½ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
3 dates, soaked overnight
¼ cup date soaking water
¼ cup full fat coconut milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
pinch of pure powdered stevia extract
2" piece of roasted beet (very soft)
4 tablespoons arrowroot starch
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350¼F. Trim a sheet of parchment paper to fit in a half-sheet size (18"x13") rimmed baking sheet, and place in the bottom of the pan.
Beat the eggs, xylitol, stevia, and almond milk in a with an electric mixer on medium speed until light. Beat in coconut oil. Measure in the remaining ingredients. Start mixing on low speed for about 30 seconds, then stop to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Start the mixer on low again and gradually increase to high, beating for about 2 minutes, until no lumps remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread to fill the edges. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
Cannoli Filling
Drain the cashews and add to a food processor or high-speed blender along with the almond milk. Blend for 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients except for coconut oil. Blend for several minutes, until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the coconut oil. Transfer to a container, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Salted Caramel
Bring the coconut milk, coconut sugar, maple syrup and salt to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 3 minutes, stirring often. Turn off heat and stir in vanilla extract. Cool, then transfer to a small bowl or container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Chocolate Frosting
Place the dates in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel the skins from the chickpeas. (A tedious job, but essential to a smooth frosting!)
Drain the dates, reserving ½ cup water. Add the dates and water to the food processor or high-speed blender. Add the chickpeas and coconut milk, and blend for 3-4 minutes, until smooth, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla, stevia, salt, and espresso and blend again until incorporated. Add cocoa powder and process until smooth. Lastly, blend in the coconut oil.
Transfer to a medium-size bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Pink Frosting
Drain the cashews and dated and add to a food processor or high speed blender, along ¼ cup date soaking water and coconut milk. Blend for 3-4 minutes, until nearly smooth, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. (At this point I found it helpful to transfer to the mixture and use my high-speed stick blender, which does a better job of pureeing smaller amounts.) Add the vanilla, salt, and stevia, and beet, blending again until smooth. Blend in arrowroot, then coconut oil. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Assembly
When the cake is completely cool, place a large cutting board over the baking sheet and carefully flip over. Remove the baking sheet and peel off the parchment paper. Using a 6" round object as a guide (I used the base of a springform pan; a small saucer might work too) and a sharp knife, cut 4 circles from the cake. (Yes, you will have cake scraps - I'm sure you can think of a good use for them!)
Carefully transfer one cake layer to a cake board or serving platter. Cut several strips of waxed paper or parchment paper and place under the edges of the cake.
Brush the cake with a layer of caramel, then spread with a layer of cannoli cream and drizzle on more caramel. Repeat with two additional layers of cake, caramel, and cannoli filling. Top with the fourth layer, and brush with caramel (you may have extra caramel and cannoli filling, too.)
Remove the chocolate frosting from the refrigerator. Beat for 20 seconds with an electric mixer. Use a spatula to spread a thin layer of frosting around the sides and over the top of the cake, being careful not to transfer any cake crumbs back to the frosting bowl. Place the cake and remaining frosting in the refrigerator for several hours, until the frosting has firmed up.
Beat the frosting again to make it fluffy, and spread the final frosting layer over the top and sides of the cake.
Transfer the pink frosting to a piping bag fitted with desired decorating tips, and ice as desired.