Before the week ends and you go off hopping with the bunnies and hunting for eggs, I gotta share what I made this week for my Dad’s birthday…
It’s been a while since I had pound cake – you know the kind that’s so heavy that it literally feels like it weighs a couple of pounds per slice, the kind you get at the most fabulous weddings, and the old fashioned kind your grandmother used to make… So I decided to do the google and search for a good recipe to use. All the ones I found used lots of white flour, eggs, and white toxic sugar in extraordinary amounts, like 10 eggs and 3 and half cups of sugar in one recipe. You know I wasn’t having any of that. Through some modifications and some experimentation, I did it…I made a pound cake with no white flour, no eggs and no toxic white sugar. Yep, that’s right. And it tasted damn good too. So damn good that I wish I had a piece right now! But it’s all gone into the bellies of my lovely family. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as they did…
- For Cake:
- 3 tbsp of ground flaxseed + 9 tbsp of warm water
- 2 and ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 and ⅓ cup of coconut oil or butter
- ¾ cup coconut palm sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup of almond or coconut milk
- For Frosting:
- 3 tbsp coconut oil or butter
- 4 ounces good quality dark chocolate chopped
- 1 cup of powdered sugar (I normally don’t use powerded sugar in my baking so I made my own powdered sugar by grinding coconut palm sugar in my coffee grinder and adding 1 tbsp of arrowroot powder, it still dissolves nicely in the icing without lumps)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and thoroughly grease a loaf pan
- Combine flaxseed and water, mix well in a large bowl, and set aside for 5 mins
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl
- In the bowl with flaxseed, add sugar, other wet ingredients and mix well
- Slowly incorporate flour mixture (about a half a cup at a time) into liquid mixture
- Pour batter into the greased loaf pan
- Bake for 60 mins, it will be done when a toothpick comes out clean
- Remove from oven and let cool at least 45 minutes (this is important)
- While cake is cooling, melt chocolate and coconut oil on top of the stove using a double boiler
- Once chocolate has melted, remove from heat and add powdered sugar. Whisk mixture well, adding a few tablespoons of water at a time to thin out the icing to desired consistency
- Recipe makes a generous amount of icing, enjoy it all and don’t forget to lick the bowl clean!
To decorate the cake, I used dried pineapple rings. I took a sharp knife and cut out pieces to spell “DAD”…Later we topped the cake with candles… This is a nice alternative to using artificial colors to decorate your cake and a quicker more interesting way to say something on your cake without having to make additional icing.
Have a Great Weekend and Happy Easter!
Food Babe
Thanks so much for the recipe! Looks awesome!
You are welcome!
We enjoyed the cake with no guilt feelings! Thanks for baking the delicious cake for all of us!
Love
Mom
Anytime Mom… can’t wait to bake something for Easter this weekend…
Aaaah this looks great! Love your creativity!
Thanks Amber – Let me know if you end up trying it!
WOW. That thing looks INCREDIBLE. I swear I must have had traditional pound cake once a week growing up, my grandma made it every single sunday! I will have to make one of these for her! 🙂
Let me know what your grandma thinks!
I followed you here from 100 Days of Real Food. I loved your post and I printed the birthday cake. We have not bought birthday cake for a few years. I because I don’t like them and 2 I have a 12 year old daughter that loves to cook and bake. Thanks again.
Hi Debbie – Welcome! Thanks for sharing your experience and hooray for having a daughter that likes to cook. Believe or not, I wasn’t allowed near the stove when I was little… you could say my parents were a little too cautious with me 🙂
This looks wonderful! And tasty!
Thanks Jill… it truly is!
Followed the link from your guest post on 100days (which btw was fabulous) and am so glad I did! This does indeed look amazing! I can’t wait to try it but have a few questions. The flax seed is a substitute for eggs I assume. Would eggs do just as well? And have you tried using milk instead of coconut or almond milk? Thanks again! 🙂
Welcome Angie!…You can use eggs and regular milk. I really like to use flaxseed whenever possible in my baking because I feel like it adds more fiber and nutrition to the cake. Happy baking!
Wow, this looks great! I’m definitely storing this recipe for my daughter’s next birthday. Her birthday dessert requests aren’t typical (2nd birthday was carrot cake, 3rd was vanilla ice cream only, and 4th was a German apple cake). This definitely seems like something she would like!
How cute! I can’t ever remember asking for a specific cake when I was little…
looks delicious! we went to Halcyon and loved it. Bf got the pork chop, and I got the sweet potato hash w/ collard greens topped with a turkey egg. Have you tried Harvest Moon or Barrington’s?
Love that sweet potato dish! Yum! Did you by any chance get the winter green salad with popcorn? Yes – I’ve been to both. I love Barrington’s and Good Food on Montford….you are making me hungry just thinking about them.
no, but i saw that winter green salad on the menu and thought about getting it — maybe next time. we ordered a platter with bbq black eyed pea hummus that was good instead. i will make him take me to montford or barrington’s next time 🙂 ps- are you going to stay loyal to Earthfare when WF opens up down the street? i love WF, but I feel kind of sorry for Earthfare since they were in Southpark first…I feel like their business might be hurt 🙁
Very good question! I definitely want to support Earth Fare as much as I can.
It looks delicious, but now I’m curious, was there a particular reason not to use eggs?
Two reasons – My mom doesn’t eat eggs and I really wanted to see if I could get a texture and fluffiness with the flax. It worked great! Good question Liz!
If using eggs how many would I use to replace the flaxseed?
3 eggs
Hello!!
This looks yummy! I was wondering if almond flour could be substituted in for the whole wheat flour?
Thank you!! 🙂
I don’t know… but I want to try it. I love almond flour. If you try it first, let me know!
I just made this pound cake, and substituted the almond meal from Trader Joes for 1 cup of the flour. It tastest great and is staying together pretty well!
I found you from your guest post on 100DaysofRealFood. I am trying to find a birthday cake for my daughter’s birthday next weekend. She wants a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We are vegan and it has been very hard to find one. I followed the link and found this cake. To my surprise, this cake is vegan because there are no eggs and I would use coconut oil instead of butter. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This might be a stupid question, but does this cake taste like coconut? I have some picky people who don’t like coconut (ok, ok, it’s ME!). Wondering if I could use raw sugar instead (turbinado) or is that a “not-a-good-option-disguised-to-be-one”? I hate those tricks and I’m trying to learn slowly but surely! Thanks for the recipe!
Not at all – of course you could use organic butter if you are worried. The palm sugar tastes just like regular old brown sugar.
Can you buy palm sugar at EF or WF in bulk?
Ok, I just realized the person above my post (the April 13th one) is named Dena, too. That is not me. This is my first (technically 2nd now) post. What a weird coincidence. Usually, when I hear or see the name DENA, it is ME. Not too common. haha.
A new tradition for special occasions (although egg whites are involved) might be Pavlova, topped with favorite fruits.
I have a comment about your “decadent pound cake”. It is well-known that coconut oil raises LDL cholesterol!! It may raise HDL a bit, but the benefits are outweighed by the fact that it can significantly raise LDL. Since those of us who are older may have to battle this issue, I fail to see how using coconut oil rather than a canola or vegetable oil will help. Therefore, since both my husband and myself have high cholesterol, I will pass on the coconut oil!!
Canola oil and vegetable oil are very highly processed and will raise cholesterol much faster than coconut oil ever could. Coconut is AMAZING for your health. Your concerns about coconut oil are a common myth and have been disproven. Coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid that your body processes much different than other types of saturated fats. Here are two articles that sum up the findings for you to understand better. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/coconut-oil-benefits_b_821453.html and http://www.naturalnews.com/002692.html If you want to eliminate all the oil in the cake you could use a mixture of apple sauce and bananas – but I don’t think it would be as tasty! Good Luck Debbie.
Canola oil is derived from the very dangerous and toxic rapeseed oil, which contains a lot of erucic acid. Canola (Can- for Canada, -ola for oil) is an invention from some Canadian government labs to find a more lucrative output to their rapeseed cultures. The seeds have been modified, both through selection and genetic engineering, to have lower levels of erucic acid.
Erucic acid is know to cause heart illnesses and has caused human deaths. It was always considered unfit for human consumption until this “invention” of the canola oil. Canola oil still contains some erucic acid, even if in lower levels than rapeseed oil. Who knows what other toxic compounds it still contains. I personally avoid this oil like a poison, plus the fact that it is heavily refined with toxic chemicals.
Just google it and your will find that it also has other bad effects on human health.
I just made this cake for my own birthday (because I wanted to skip on the store bought cake that my family usually gets for me!) And I thought it was AMAZING!!! My parents, however, refused to admit that it tasted good and basically said “well its not as good as store bought cake; why do you torture yourself this way, you don’t need to lose weight” They don’t understand and can’t get on board with the idea that I want to eat healthy “real food”- how do you deal with people like this in your life? Do you tell them your point of view on the subject, or keep it to yourself? When people say things like this it makes me want to say “why are you torturing your body with all the processed food?!?” but I don’t want them to get defensive, I want to encourage them to do change their eating habits too.
Very nice! I admire how creative you are especially when you used dried pineapple rings to accentuate your decadent pound cake with chocolate frosting. In fact, you gave me an idea. I will make this recipe cake on my grandmother’s birthday and I will use your idea of using dried pineapple rings to create a birthday message above it. I’ll probably use coconut oil instead of butter because I assume the taste would be better when combined with coconut milk.
Yes – That would be nice!
Think I could just use coconut oil and powdered sugar for a white-based icing?
This is such a creative alternative to nutritionally-empty traditional cakes! I especially love the dark chocolate frosting recipe. I can’t wait to try this out in the future!
If I want to use regular eggs instead of the flaxseed, how many should I substitute? I am wanting to try this for my daughter’s birthday. I found a honey buttercream frosting that I was going to try and wondered if this would maybe work in 2 9″ cake pans??
Hi Alaina – see my reply to Irene below.
I notice you replace eggs with flax seed and water and works like the real thing. Could I do this in place of eggs in any recipe? I wanted to make this banana bread that calls for 6 eggs, not sure if I could replace and if I did how much I would use…
Hi! The general rule is 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons water for each egg.
Do you think you could add cocoa to the cake and have it be chocolate pound cake? My toddler has requested chocolate cake for his third birthday 🙂
That would totally work – just reduce the amount of flour…. for instance if you use 1/3 cup cocoa – use 1/3 less whole wheat flour.
Do you have a recipe for brownies made with organic wheat flour? we eat eggs so that isnt a big deal organic ones and pasture fed. He has a birthday coming up and I have a friend that is going to make them I would just like to give her a recipe and I am giving the ingredients to her to use. I hope to educate her that organic is a better option than using the processed gmo stuff out there..
WOW! DELICIOUS! I made this and brought it for brunch yesterday with my friends and everyone loved it. However, I didn’t use the chocolate frosting and instead topped it with coconut oil, coconut sugar and unsweetened coconut – popped it under the broiler for a couple minutes to get all toasty and it was to die for! 🙂
I’ll bet your Dad thinks he has the best daughter on Earth.
And he’s probably right !
Happy Birthday to your Dad.
Holy crap! That sure looks delicious, and don’t get me wrong, I’ve been following your way of eating for about a month now and feel soooo much better. However, just figuring up the calories in this recipe and it’s astronomical!! At 130 calories per Tablespoon, the coconut oil alone kinda knocks this one out of running for me. I understand that your plan is not for losing weight, but how can I justify this truly decadent consumption when trying to be conscientious with my calorie intake? I thank you, sincerely, for educating me about all of the issues you bring forward and for your tireless efforts to inform us all. You have made a difference.
Hi Jean, you are correct, this cake is not low cal but it is for a special occasion and it is made with great quality ingredients. It might not be for someone watching their calorie intake. Hope you will try some other delicious recipes on the website. Thanks for following and so glad you are feeling results!
I saw this recipe this evening and since I had all the ingredients at home decided to make it. Oh my goodness
!!! Sooo good….!! My husband had 3 pieces….. You are fantastic!!! Thank you for everything…..
Natasha – so glad you made it and loved it! (and hubby too) Thank you for your support!
Any suggestions for a substitution for flaxseed, I am allergic.
Hi Danielle, the flaxseed is being used as a substitution for eggs, so you can just use 3 eggs. The basic rule is 1 tablespoon flaxseed and 3 tablespoons water per egg. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out!
I have been following your seating style for several weeks, I have completely changed my attitude toward food and as a result I feel so much better. You have changed my life!! Thank you for your tireless efforts. I tell people one person can make a difference and share your Kraft story with everyone who will listen! I have some neurological issues and just purchased the book on your site, Excitability. (I think that is title, don’t have it next to me right now) I haven’t read it yet. Anyway, I have completely sworn off of sugar in all forms except organic maple syrup. I am afraid of sugar, what makes coconut palm sugar different?
Do you have an alternative to the whole wheat pastry flour for those who have gone grain free or who have difficulty with wheat? I wonder if spelt would work. It is a grain but more digestible than wheat. I love coconut sugar but it sure is pricey.Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Hi Sherry – you could definitely try spelt flour or even part spelt and part almond flour. We haven’t tried it that way so can’t say for sure. You have to experiment a little. If you want to try grain free recipes that have been tested, check out deliciouslyorganic.com for lots of choices.
http://deliciouslyorganic.net/apple-cake-paleo-grain-free/
I made this cake for my daughter’s 27th birthday at her request. We both follow Food Babe! It was delicious but I liked it better warm and scooped out so much of it that it became a tunnel of fudge cake when I frosted it. I felt the icing was too sweet so next time I will just add less sugar! My daughter sliced the rest and took it home to freeze. I think I will use this recipe to make muffins and I can’t wait to try the chocolate version from one of the posts.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I just made this, in fact it’s still sitting on the stove nice and warm, with a 1/4 of the loaf already gone 🙂 I love being able to indulge in a treat and 1. not feel horrible after eating it and 2. know I am not putting my health at risk. LOVE IT!!!
Awesome – wish I has some sitting on my stove right now…
Do you measure your flax seeds before or after grinding them? Thanks 🙂
Measure them after.
Hi! I am looking for a recipe to use in making my son’s 1st birthday smash cake. Obviously, I don’t want to use any white sugar or junky ingredients so I thought about testing out this recipe in my giant cupcake pan. Do you think I should use the recipe as is, or could I substitute some stevia or xylitol for some of the coconut palm sugar? I have looked (though not extensively) for your take on these sweeteners, but have not found anything. I have coconut palm sugar on hand, but I am just curious as to whether you think it is the best possible sweetener for a 1 year old’s birthday. Secondly, do you know how many cups of batter one recipe makes? Thank you!!
Use the coconut palm sugar – it is so good! Not sure how many cups- see how many cups are in a standard loaf pan – hope that helps! Happy Birthday little one!
Thank you!!
….One more question
I mill my own spelt and kamut flours. Do you think one of these or a mixture will work?
Can you substitute any gluten free flour in this recipe?
I made this and it was different. It was very dense and decadent but it does not have the same kind of sweetness as a regular cake. I was ok with how it tasted and the 2 year old loved it! However my husband and 6 year old son thought it tasted terrible – there exact words. Oh well I tried. I thought it was good and I felt good about eating it instead of garbage filled cake.
Can this be made without the gluten/wheat?
Maybe with nut flour?
Look at the comments above Em. Almond from TJs.
what could be used to replace the whole wheat flour without comprising any taste or texture of the pound cake, for a gluten free version?
Whole wheat flour ok? Don’t have pastry flour. Thx!
What about palm sugar? Is that a conflict product? I use level ground free trade organic raw cane. Grown organically by small-scale farmers in the Andes mountains of Colombia, this single stream sugar is unrefined and hand-processed. Farmers are paid fair prices for each harvest and income from processing stays in the local farming community. It’s not like sugar at all. I like it for baking. And my partner has given up white sugar thank goodness for this in coffee. With Palm being unsustainable I’m curious.
I have been using Teff flour as part of the flour content in my baking. It is an ancient grain, has a bit of sweetness to it, and I like the taste. I also have Spelt flour on hand. This recipe sounds real good, and I will make it soon.
Hi Vani,
Great recipe to have guilt free. I have a a question though — can you tell me what brand of whole wheat pastery flour do you buy? And what brand of flax seed? Any brands you include with the ingredients will help us better and save time:0
thanks
Manu
Thank you thank you thank you, Vani! I was really feeling a little helpless…going into those thoughts of healthy meaning feeling deprived of deliciousness at times… esp. when one feels like having something chocolatey sweet! Which I know isn’t true and this confirms it. Coming from you, I feel good about it. I really appreciate all that you do and have done Vani. Thank you for guiding us in making healthy choices in this confusing arena of food choices. You are an amazing inspiration. Wishing you the best always!
How can food babe recommend using regular flour which has bromide a hidden ingredient that is so terrible that it has been banned in several entire countries?
http://www.naturalnews.com/035542_potassium_bromate_baked_goods_cancer.html
I would love to try this recipe with barley flour instead of the whole wheat flour. I have been using barley flour for years in place of wheat flour in my baking. It tastes great, is better for you and has much less gluten than wheat flour and the texture is much closer to while flour than whole wheat flour. I have made chocolate cakes, nut breads and cookies with great results. I like the whole grain barley flour in the bulk bins at Whole Foods the best…Bob’s Red Mill barley flour is a bit coarser so not as good for baking.
Can you use regular whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour for this recipe?
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