This past week I celebrated my thirty-third birthday. I kicked it off last weekend with my amazing husband, Ben, by spending the night at The Epicurean Hotel. We dined at Mise en Place in Tampa, walked a few miles on South Howard (SoHo) and finished the evening at my most favorite Patisserie, Chocolate Pi. We dined, we ate, we walked, and slept like babies in an unfamiliar but plush bed until… The alarm went off. The spell of parents night out was quickly diminishing into the humid morning air. We packed our things and headed downstairs to eat the most divine and decadent brunch of our lives at the hotel’s, Élevage restaurant. As we checked out, I desperately tried not to grip myself to the front desk and scream, “but I don’t want to go home!” Mentally I did, but I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I kept my hands in my pockets. When we got home, we were greeted by our two loud and lovable little boys. At that point, I was happy to be home, even with all the screaming, yelling, and chasing that quickly followed our return.

That afternoon, I began working on my birthday cake recipe. For the past five years or so, I have been making my own birthday cake. Only within the past two years have they been gluten free, and this year, I decided to make it grain free. What can I say? I like a challenge.

When I was thinking about what flavor I was going to do for my birthday, immediately I thought CHOCOLATE! But then, it struck me. Funfetti. I used to love that bright blue boxed cake mix. I have many vivid memories of making that cake with my sister, Michelle. When we were bored, or pretending like we had any business being in a kitchen, we would make this together. Adding the sprinkles at the end, was one of my favorite parts of the cake making process. When the timer would go off, my sister and I would quickly pull the cake out, check for doneness with a toothpick, and immediately start eating hot funfetti cake. No icing required. We usually ate it plain. 

Nowadays, I don’t buy boxed cake mixes and try to stay away from junk items and ingredients when I can, however, nothing beats a blast from the past. So I recreated one of my favorite cakes, with sprinkles.

I had been working on a cake recipe for awhile now. I have gone through many, many, many experimental trials that quickly went from the oven, to the trash can. I had been tweaking here and there, one small item at a time, and this time, I feel as though I was extremely satisfied with the result. It was moist and had a nice texture to it that resembled regular cake. Resembled, not totally replaced in texture. I used a combination of coconut flour and a starch. Adding the starch, helped the cake almost have the stretch and chew. When I have made cakes or cupcakes with only coconut flour, the texture was more eggy and dense. But not this cake, in my opinion.

Special notes/techniques:

• When measuring coconut flour, it is important to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and use the back end of a utensil to sweep the excess. Once measured properly, pour flour into a sieve to breakdown any lumps the flour may have.
• I separated most of the egg yolks from the whites and beat the whites with the baking soda until it reached a soft peak. This gave the cake batter more volume and lift.
• I used two 6 inch cake round pans to make this cake. You can easily trade the pans for a cupcake tray, which may yield 15-18 cupcakes, filled 2/3 of the way.
• I used organic cane sugar. You can use whichever sugar you like.
• Organic shortening was used to assist with texture. You can substitute butter or any preferred fat of choice.
• I like using canned unsweetened organic coconut milk, as it has fewer ingredients than refrigerated/other boxed milk substitutes. Because it tends to have a thicker consistency, I think it adds more moisture to the cake. Experiment using your preferred milk of choice.
• I personally do not feel that this cake has a coconut flavor to it, but I am used to the coconut flavor and rarely notice it. My husband does not like coconut and eats this without any issues.
• If you wish not to add sprinkles, you don’t have to. I did because I wanted to. Check sprinkles to ensure that it does not contain any ingredients that you may be sensitive to, like corn starch, etc. Alternative sprinkles exist. These. Click to learn more.
• Arrowroot starch and tapioca starch are interchangeable. I use arrowroot starch because tapioca starch bothers me. Use whichever you prefer. I really like Bob’s Red Mill and Authentic Foods, arrowroot starch.

 

I hope you find these tips helpful in making this cake.

If you plan on re-posting this recipe, please source it back to me. I work hard trying to create and develop recipes and do not mind sharing them, as long as credit is given where credit is due.

Thank you.

Special birthday photos:

These are some of my birthday memories as a kid. We didn’t have themed birthday parties and we didn’t do parties every year, but what we did have was family. When we did celebrate birthdays with parties, it was very special because I knew the cost. It wasn’t always easy to do things like that, and that sacrifice given by my parents could never be forgotten. Thank you mom and dad for always making birthdays special for Michelle and I. We love you.

 

 

Funfetti Cake (gluten, dairy, soy, grain, nut free)

Ingredients:

• 1 c. Coconut flour, sifted
• ¼ c. Arrowroot starch
• ¾ c. Cane sugar
• ½ tsp. seas salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 8 eggs, room temperature (6 separated)
• 2/3 organic palm shortening, melted
• ½ c. Organic unsweetened coconut milk, canned
• 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. rainbow Jimmies, optional

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or while you prepare cake batter.
2. Line two, 6 inch cake pans with parchment. Use refined coconut oil or shortening to grease the entire pan and to have the parchment adhere to the bottom.
3. Combine coconut flour, starch, cane sugar, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
4. In another bowl, add wet ingredients: milk, 2 whole eggs, 6 egg yolks, vanilla, melted palm shortening, mix and set aside.
5. Beat 6 egg whites in a mixer or using a hand mixer until you reach soft peaks. Then, add baking soda and mix until well incorporated but not too much. You want to remain in the soft peak stage.
6. Combine the wet ingredients, the dry ingredients, the sprinkles and mix.
7. Add about 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter and mix well.
8. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites.
9. Evenly divide the batter into the two 6 inch rounds.
10. Place rounds on a sheet tray and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning the sheet tray at the 20 minute mark. Bake until toothpick comes out clean.
11. Let cool for 30 minutes or until easy for you to handle. Using a cake spatula, edge around the cake pan gently to remove cooled cake.
12. Level, shape, and frost cake as desired.

Ganache recipe by Elana’s Pantry is what I used to top my cake with. I replaced the heavy cream with unsweetened coconut milk, canned. I also added espresso instead of vanilla to mask the coconut flavor. Every time I have served this ganache, no one has ever suspected a coconut flavor.