“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Our anniversary was today and as always we end up celebrating our anniversary and Valentine’s day together! Talking about today, it was a real bummer! Husband dear who is always super super busy at his work surprised me earlier this week saying that he was going to take the day off today so we could both plan on doing something special. Since the kids would be at school, I was thinking – romantic lunch and a movie etc etc. But alas it was not to be! The weather God decided to shower us with snow…the schools were closed and that pretty much sums up our anniversary celebrations! Ugh!
Anyways, I am not to be discouraged by the vagaries of nature. So I was still in high spirits and baked this delicious Paleo and AIP cake. I had been thinking about what cake to make this year. With me embarking on a mission to heal myself naturally, these past three years have been a challenge when it comes to desserts and cakes. It is interesting to see what cakes I have baked over the past three years for our anniversary cum V day celebrations! You see I first went vegan for a while so I baked a dairy free and egg free chocolate cake. Then I went refined sugar free too and AIP and so I made a Berry pannacotta last year. Later last year as I was able to successfully introduce cashew nuts, I made this Berry Cheese cake and Mango Cheese Cake which everyone in my family loved.
This year I again thought of making a chocolate ‘cheese cake’ initially and then changed my mind as I wanted to have a ‘real cake’ and not a frozen cake. Well I love the cashew ‘cheese cake’ don’t get me wrong. I was just in the mood for something else. Then I remembered that last year I had tried an AIP Valentine’s cake recipe from the autoimmunewellness site that had come out really good. That recipe had used apple puree and this time I decided to try using mashed bananas instead since I had ripe bananas lying around. I also decided to make a strawberry frosting …I had been day dreaming about this cake for about a week now. Strawberry frosting and decorated with strawberry slices and a chocolate drizzle on top! I don’t know what it is with us girls right ? That strawberries and chocolate seem to pop up in our minds when we think about anything romantic 🙂
Well, luckily for me my dear husband did not mind at all. And the cake tasted so delicious with the banana coconut flavor paired with a strawberry chocolate frosting on top! Just yum! Gosh, I ate 2 pieces of the cake – it was so good that i couldn’t help myself. After all it had been a while since I had a decent cake!
As for the rest of the day, we spent poring over old photo albums. 19 years seem to have passed by in a jiffy but the pictures say otherwise. So many precious moments are packed into these years. The kids teased each other about how they looked when they were younger. And my eyes grew misty thinking about my son about to start college this fall! So in the end the snow was God’s way for us to just chill and cherish. Hope you have a happy Valentine’s day and if you do make this cake, let me know in the comments how it turned out!
Sharing this delicious AIP cake at the Paleo AIP recipe Roundtable hosted by Phoenix Helix.
Valentine’s Day Special Cake || Strawberry Banana Cake (Paleo, AIP)
Notes
Palm shortening is of a hard texture if refrigerated. So to soften it quickly, I just take some quantity in a small bowl and heat in the microwave for about 10-20 secs.
You can replace palm shortening with coconut oil for the cake (I have tried it and it works fine). For the frosting and the sauce, the consistency might change if you use coconut oil instead of shortening and you may need to use less or more of it.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- 1/2 cup palm shortening, softened
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2/3 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons gelatin
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice plus 2 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup water
For the strawberry frosting:
- 3/4 cup strawberries sliced (about 8 small)
- 1 tbsp coconut cream
- 2 tbsp palm shortening, softened
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Pinch salt
For chocolate sauce/drizzle:
- 2 tbsp coconut cream
- 2 tbsp palm shortening, softened
- 1 tbsp carob or cocoa powder (use carob for AIP)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- pinch salt
Instructions
- For the cake:
- Pre heat oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C).
- Take a 8 inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Keep aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mashed bananas, the palm shortening (softened) and the maple syrup. Mix using an electric mixer. Then add the coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.
- In a small bowl, add the gelatin powder. To that sprinkle the lemon juice on top and the 2 tbsp water. Using a fork, wet the gelatin well. Then in a small cooking pot, heat the 1//2 cup water till boiling. When it starts to boil, add the wet gelatin mixture to this and stir continuously on low heat until all the gelatin is melted. Turn heat off and add this gelatin mixture to the cake batter. Again mix using an electric mixer until well blended.
- Pour the cake mixture (mixture will be much thicker than regular cake batter) onto the parchment lined pan,
- Bake the cake at 350 deg f (180 deg C) for about 50-60 mins until the top turns brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool for at least 1 hour before frosting.
For the strawberry frosting:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix using an electric mixer till creamy Refrigerate for 30 mins
For the chocolate sauce:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix using an electric mixer till creamy.
- After the cake has cooled, apply frosting on top and drizzle chocolate sauce on top. Decorate with sliced strawberries,
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- ½ cup palm shortening, softened or coconut oil
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅔ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons gelatin
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice plus 2 tablespoon water
- ½ cup water
- ¾ cup strawberries sliced (about 8 small)
- 1 tbsp coconut cream
- 2 tbsp palm shortening, softened
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Pinch salt
- 2 tbsp coconut cream
- 2 tbsp palm shortening, softened
- 1 tbsp carob or cocoa powder (use carob for AIP)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- pinch salt
- For the cake:
- Pre heat oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C).
- Take a 8 inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Keep aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mashed bananas, the palm shortening (softened) and the maple syrup. Mix using an electric mixer. Then add the coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.
- In a small bowl, add the gelatin powder. To that sprinkle the lemon juice on top and the 2 tbsp water. Using a fork, wet the gelatin well. Then in a small cooking pot, heat the 1//2 cup water till boiling. When it starts to boil, add the wet gelatin mixture to this and stir continuously on low heat until all the gelatin is melted. Turn heat off and add this gelatin mixture to the cake batter. Again mix using an electric mixer until well blended.
- Pour the cake mixture (mixture will be much thicker than regular cake batter) onto the parchment lined pan,
- Bake the cake at 350 deg f (180 deg C) for about 50-60 mins until the top turns brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool for at least 1 hour before frosting.
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix using an electric mixer till creamy Refrigerate for 30 mins
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix using an electric mixer till creamy.
- After the cake has cooled, apply frosting on top and drizzle chocolate sauce on top. Decorate with sliced strawberries,
You can replace palm shortening with coconut oil or ghee (if not on AIP)
You come up with the most amazing Paleo recipes, Indu. Happy Valentine’s Day.
ha ha thank you Aruna! Necessity is the mother of invention 🙂 And I have always loved to make desserts. I think I enjoy the act of creating them more than eating them itself!