As an obvious cakeaholic I couldn’t say no when the lovely people at Thrively offered me one of their superfood baking mixes to try. After seeing other bloggers creations using their amazing free-from cake mixes I was so excited to try one for myself! Their baking mixes are gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar with a vegan option if you don’t want to use eggs. It’s so good to see free-from baking mixes on the market now as not everyone wants to or has time to create a cake from scratch.
In this recipe I used the chocolate & maca mix as a base for this healthier but indulgent chocolate layer cake. I added cacao nibs to the sponge for extra texture then used chia berry jam and an incredibly moorish peanut ‘cream’ frosting to decorate. I was never a fan of regular baking mixes before I had to make changes to my diet as I found them too far too sweet and heavy but I highly recommend this cake mix as it is quite the opposite!
This recipe would make sure a good birthday cake for any chocolate and peanut butter lover, I know it’s at the top of the baking list for mine this year!
INGREDIENTS
1x 360g pack of Thrively Chocolate & Maca Superfood Baking Mix
40g cacao nibs
4 large eggs
80g melted coconut oil
200ml unsweetened almond milk
For the jam:
200g frozen berries (I used a mix of strawberries & raspberries)
60ml cold water
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp maple syrup
For the frosting:
1x 250ml carton of coconut cream, chilled overnight (or the top layer of canned full-fat coconut milk)
70g smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp maca powder
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 170oc then lightly grease (with coconut oil) and line 2 sandwich tins with greaseproof paper
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, eggs and almond milk using an electric whisk until combined
- Add the Thrively baking mix and cacao nibs then whisk again you are left with a smooth cake batter
- Divide the cake batter between the 2 sandwich tins then bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch
- Leave the cakes to cool in the sandwich tins for 20 minutes then remove them from the tins and place them on a cooling rack to finish cooling
- While the cakes are in the oven you can prepare the chia jam filling
- Add the frozen berries and cold water to a small pan on a medium heat, stir continuously for 10 minutes until some of the water has evaporated and the berries have broken down
- Remove the pan from the heat then stir in the maple syrup and chia seeds
- Place the chia jam in a bowl to cool then store it in the fridge until you are ready to use it
- When the cakes are cooled and ready to decorate, prepare the peanut butter frosting
- Whisk the coconut cream in a large bowl with an electric whisk for 3-4 minutes, until it has thickened and increased in volume
- Add the maple syrup, maca and peanut butter to the coconut cream and whisk for a further 2 minutes
- Spread the cooled chia jam on one of the cake layers, then top it with ½ of the peanut butter frosting
- Place the second cake on top and press down gently
- Spread the rest of the peanut frosting on top of the cake and decorate with anything of your choice! (I used chopped strawberries, 1 tbsp cacao nibs and ½ tbsp edible dried petals)
