Why, yes, it IS Paleo. No big deal or anything…
I should be studying chem right now but I got really excited about this cake. Like…poop my pants excited. Ew. But for real, you guys, this is my proudest moment in the two and a half years of taking pictures of the stuff I make and sharing them with the interwebs. There’s a little elbow grease involved, but it’s so worth it.
After these became a reality last week, I knew I could take it a step further…and clearly since no one will shut up about Twinkies going away and then coming back and going away and coming back…again…the choice was clear. PS did you know Twinkies don’t actually last forever? Nope. They have a shelf life of 24 days. Fun fact. Thanks, Wikipedia!
OK, so this recipe is actually just a spruced up vanilla cake. It’s the frosting that makes it special, since there is a special something about the fluffy white stuff inside our favorite snack cakes. And as you know, frosting is kind of a Paleo black hole…it’s tough to pull off without pounds of powdered sugar…so I had to do a little digging. There’s a ton of easy non-Paleo recipes for Twinkie Cake, and again all they are are yellow cakes with a marshmallow-y vanilla whipped frosting. Marshmallows, you say? Yep, I made those once. And, so, my friends, I figured I’d make them again, toss a stick of butter into the mix, and hope for the best.
And yes, it WAS the best.
INGREDIENTS
*for the cake*
- 1 c Coconut Flour
- 1 t Baking Soda
- 1 t Gluten Free Baking Powder
- 2 t Salt
- 10 Eggs
- 4 Egg Whites
- 1 c Cashew Butter
- 1 c Honey
- 1 t Vanilla Extract
- 1 t Almond Extract
*for the frosting*
- 1 c Honey
- 4 T Gelatin (unflavored, organic)
- 1 c Water
- 1 c Pastured Butter (coconut oil would also work but will be a little more coconut-y in flavor)
- 2 t Vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS
*for the cake*
- Combine all your dry ingredients.
- Beat the eggs and egg whites with the cashew butter, honey and flavor extracts.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.
- Beat with an electric mixer on HIGH for 2 minutes (this step is key to a good, fluffy texture).
- Grease and line 2, 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper (this makes removal SO much easier)
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until the cakes are lightly browned and pass the toothpick test.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the edges and invert onto a cooling rack, discarding the parchment.
- Frost and fill with Twinkie frosting.
*for the frosting*
- First off, if you don’t have a stand mixer, get one. If that’s not an option, get a partner who is willing to hold an electric mixer while you pour the boiling honey into the gelatin.
- Place the gelatin in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Pour 1/2 c water on top and whisk to combine, then set aside.
- Pour the honey and remaining 1/2 c water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn or boil over.
- Turn on your mixer to medium-high in the bowl with the gelatin.
- SLOWLY pour a steady stream of hot honey, making sure the stream of liquid hits the side of the bowl first so it doesn’t curdle the gelatin.
- Have patience…keep pouring until all everything is combined. Then leave the mixer on for 15 minutes. Yep. 15 whole minutes. I covered my mixer with a towel so it wouldn’t splatter.
- Add the vanilla and butter and keep whipping everything until it’s well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
- Frost your cake and enjoy!
- If you’d like a photo tutorial of the marshmallow-making process, go here.
I am allergic to cashews, is there a substitute nut that does not include cashews, pine nuts or pistachios?
Sure! Coconut manna or just almond butter would work. But just keep in mind the flavor will be slightly more coconut or almond-y!
almonds, pecans…
This looks amazing. I need to stock my cupboard so I can make this soon!
This looks so good and I can not wait to try this.
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Looks good! How long does it keep in the fridge?
The ‘marshmallow fluff’ part of the frosting came off without a hitch. I whipped it until it was cool enough to add the softened (room temperature) butter. After I added the butter however, the whole thing collapsed and became stringy. It was nearly impossible to spread onto the cake, and was very rubbery once it set.
Not sure what went wrong? How long do you recommend boiling the honey mixture- should it be at a specific temperature? I also wondered if it would help to reduce the amount of gelatin a bit. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!
If I make this the night before I am ready to serve should I refrigerate it overnight? Maybe ice it the day I’m going to serve it?
I’ve made the icing recipe twice and it whenever i go to add the butter, the whole bowl of icing seems to deflate. Then when I went to ice the cake it went from creamy to stiff like cutout jello and I couldn’t spread it. what am I doing wrong??
I made this cake last week for my birthday. It was ok, I may make the cake again but more for a breakfast coconut bread. It is quite dense, a bit dry and VERY coconutty.
I do wish you had elaborated a bit with the frosting. I was hoping for a marshmallowy frosting but it was quite runny when it finished mixing so I put in the fridge for less than 5 minutes. What came out was a big solid marshmallow! Ha ha! I blame this on my inexperience with gelatin because it probably would have been just fine had I just poured it over the cake. It would have encased it in a big marshmallow which is kind of neat. It is in no way a “frosting” though. Although it has been many years since I’ve had a twinkie I have to assume they come in a coconut variety and that is what you were aiming for here. Overall, not bad and lots of potential for some fun with that frosting. Thanks for sharing!