Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

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Grain-free, Vegan + Paleo options 💛

Happy Friday, Friends!🎉
My very first birthday cake, or I should say the very first cake I have memory of, was a beautiful and traditional chocolate frosted 2 layer yellow cake. More than likely, of the Duncan Hines variety. It was so delicious looking, that I smashed my 4 year old hand right though it!

And I would have smashed this one too, except that my age has unfortunately brought with it civilized behavior—which is totally overrated, by the way. All kidding aside, this traditional yellow cake will bring you right back to your youth with it’s moist texture + buttery vanilla flavor along with an irresistible rich + velvety chocolate frosting. An absolutely delicious classic!😋

Tips for today:
-The Paleo recipe as well as the Vegan recipes are at the end of the post, just keep scrolling down.
-We used this 8×8 baking dish for the cake pictured.
-Make sure to let your cake cool first before removing it from the pan.
–Color Kitchen makes gluten-free, dye-free sprinkles.
-You can use a drop of yellow food coloring in the cake batter for a true yellow. Color Kitchen has a dye-free variety.


Enjoy the recipe + Happy Baking!😊

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Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: about an hour
  • Yield: 10 slices 1x
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Description

*This is our traditional Grain-Free Yellow Cake, scroll down for paleo and vegan versions or click here for our low-carb yellow cupcakes.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 1/2 cups almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 cup tapioca starch
  • 2/3 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you have less of a sweettooth)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (Hain brand is grain-free)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup milk or plain almond milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • FOR THE FROSTING:
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped (or morsels)
  • 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (Wholesome! brand is grain-free)
  • 3/4 cup melted butter (or Earth Balance Spread)
  • 3 tablespoons room temperature milk (or almond milk)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Instructions

  1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, potato starch, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
  3. Add milk, egg, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and blend with hand mixer (or beat by hand) until batter is smooth.
  4. Pour batter into parchment paper lined 8×8 baking dish. (Alternatively, you can make cupcakes or a 2 layer cake). Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, last 10 minutes covered tightly with foil. (Cupcakes and layer pans take just 20-25 minutes uncovered). Cake will be firm yet springy when cooled completely.
  5. Remove cake pan from oven and place pan on wire cooling rack. Let the cake or cupcakes cool completely in their baking dish. For the layers, let them cool 15 minute before carefully flipping them over onto cooling rack or plate.
  6. While cake is cooling, start on your frosting. Melt semisweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Slowly stir melted butter into chocolate until smooth. Then slowly add milk and vanilla, again stirring until smooth. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Then pour your chocolate mixture over powdered sugar mix and blend with hand mixer on high speed until fluffy and smooth. For a stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar, for a creamier frosting, add additional milk.
  7. Frost cake as desired, cut and serve! Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 35 min

Keywords: grainfree, glutenfree, dairyfree, yellowcake, chocolatefrosting, birthdaycake

 

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Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (paleo version)

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: about an hour
  • Yield: 8-10 slices 1x
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Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 + 1/4 cups almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 tapioca starch
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (Hain brand is grain-free)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk
  • 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)
  • 3 tablespoons melted ghee (or butter or Earth Balance Coconut Spread)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • FOR THE FROSTING:
  • 2 1/2 ounces Baker’s Chocolate, Unsweetened (10 squares)
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp Soy Free Earth Balance Spread, softened (or ghee or Coconut Spread)
  • 1/4 cup egg white powder (Hoosier Hill Farms or any plain Egg White Protein powder will do).
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, tapioca starch, baking soda and baking powder.
  3. Add almond milk, egg and extra yolk, melted butter, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar to your flour mixture. Combine until batter is smooth. Use batter immediately
  4. Pour batter into parchment paper lined 8×8 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, covered tightly with foil for the last ten minutes. (For cupcakes, bake just 20- 25 minutes uncovered). Cake will be firm yet springy when cooled completely.
  5. Remove cake pan from oven and place pan on wire cooling rack. Let the cake or cupcakes cool completely in their baking dish.
  6. While the cake is cooling, go ahead and start on the frosting. Melt the Baker’s Chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Then slowly stir honey into your melted chocolate. Mix in vanilla extract, set aside. In a medium/large bowl, sift together egg white powder, cocoa powder and salt.
  7. Add your softened butter and melted chocolate mixture to your dry ingredients. Using a hand mixer, blend until smooth. Place frosting in the freezer for 15 minutes and the chocolate will harden, setting the icing. Remove from freezer and blend the icing on high speed one last time until fluffy, it will stay firm at this point. (If you desire an even creamier icing, you can blend in 1 tbsp of full fat coconut milk right before frosting your cake).
  8. Spread frosting over cake, cut and serve! Store any leftovers in an airtight container. (Double the frosting recipe if you prefer a little extra to work with). Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 35

Keywords: grainfree, paleo, glutenfree, dairyfree, yellowcake, chocolate, birthdaycake

 

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Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (vegan version)

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: about an hour
  • Yield: 8-10 slices 1x
Print Recipe

Description

*Making these as cupcakes is a great option if you’re short on time–a pretty swirl of frosting on top and they are birthday ready! Make sure to let them cool completely before removing them from the cupcake tin.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 + 1/4 cups almond flour
  • 3/4 cup tapioca starch 
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp almond milk or coconut milk
  • 1/3 cup apple sauce
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey if preferred)
  • 1/4 cup melted Earth Balance Spread
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • FOR THE FROSTING:
  • 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (or chunks)
  • 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (Wholesome! brand is grain-free)
  • 3/4 cup melted Earth Balance Spread
  • 3 tablespoons room temperature almond milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Instructions

  1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together almond flour, tapioca starch, baking soda and baking powder.
  3. Add almond milk, apple sauce, melted butter, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar to your flour mixture. Combine until batter is smooth.
  4. Pour batter into parchment paper lined 8×8 baking dish. (Alternatively, you can make cupcakes). Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes (cupcakes 25 minutes). Cake will be firm yet springy when done.
  5. Remove cake pan from oven and place pan on wire cooling rack. Let the cake or cupcakes cool completely in their baking dish.
  6. While cake is cooling, start on your frosting. Melt Enjoy Life chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 30 second intervals until melted and smooth (stirring each time). Slowly add your 3/4 cup melted Earth Balance, stirring in a little at a time until smooth. Now add the almond milk and vanilla in the same manner, mixing the whole time until smooth. Set aside for a moment. In a large bowl whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Pour chocolate/butter mixture over powdered sugar mix and start to blend with hand mixer. Blend on high speed until fluffy and smooth. For a stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar, for a creamier frosting, add additional almond milk.
  7. Frost cake as desired, cut and serve! Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 35 min

Keywords: grainfree, vegan, glutenfree, dairyfree, yellowcake, chocolate, birthdaycake

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12 Comments

  1. I can’t tell you have badly I would love a piece of this cake right now! The texture looks incredibly perfect. The color speaks volumes about how delicious it tastes. And of course the chocolate frosting on top completes it all! You have outdone yourself with this one and I can’t wait for my family to try it 🙂

    Reply

    1. Oh you are the sweetest Noelle, thank you!! 😀 I wish I could send the whole cake over!! I was really excited that this turned out, I had missed that yellow cake flavor so much!! I hope you guys love the recipe!

      Reply

    1. How kind you are dear Kim! Thank you so much! And come on over, I’ll put on a pot of tea but you have to bring your Irish Cream Chocolate Brownies with you!! 😀

      Reply

  3. This is probably a silly question but it’s late and my histamine intolerance has been in overdrive lately, so I’m itchy and super fatigued. For a layer cake I would need to double this recipe, correct? I’m baking a 5-layer 6″ round unicorn witch cake for my daughter’s 6th birthday this coming week.

    Reply

    1. That’s not a silly question at all! I would definitely recommend doubling the recipe. The batter rises well in the oven, so each layer can be pretty thin to start with. And what a great idea for a Halloween Birthday Cake! 😀

      Reply

  4. Thank you for such a quick reply! I’m looking forward to trying this. She and I made the funfetti cupcakes this morning to take to her class Monday and they look and smell fantastic. We’ll be piping short monster fur on half and mummy bandages on the other. The teacher requested as little sugar as possible so we’ll go for the magic shell for my older daughter’s birthday in December.

    Reply

    1. Oh how fun! 😀 I bet everyone will love the monster and mummy cupcakes!! I love baking the funfetti cupcakes too, they really do smell so yummy right out of the oven. I hope your daughter will love the magic shell version for her birthday and hope you guys love the yellow cake as well!!

      Reply

  5. I made the paleo version and the consistency was spongy-rubbery. There was no crumb to it. I wondered if adding 1 or 2 eggs would have improved the crumb?

    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Jill, thank you for your comment and I am so sorry, but there was a misprint on the paleo version of this recipe that must have occurred when changing our recipe card format. We are very careful to avoid these kinds of errors, I hope you’ll accept our apology. We’ve gone in and updated the paleo version of this recipe so that it is correct. You’ll find that there are a few changes and I can assure you this will be much better as well as delicious!! Thank you for bearing with us and we hope you’ll try it again if you have the chance and would like to.

      Reply

  6. Really excited to try the vegan version this weekend! It’s a friends birthday and he really wanted a classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Will definitely send an updated comment, once we’ve made it. 🙂

    Reply

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