Crunchy Birthday Cakes
This month, I have decided to focus on a lighter-hearted topic- cake.
Whenever a family member’s birthday is nearing, I set myself a challenge; to find a cake recipe that they will love- the prefect balance of health-conscious and delicious. When I became a mother, finding “crunchy” cake recipes for times of celebration became even more important to me.
As an avid home cook, I have trialled many, many recipes. Some were mediocre, some were outright disappointing, and a select few were what I would describe as crunchy perfection.
In this article, I will share my top ten favourite health-conscious cake recipes. All the recipes below are free of:
- refined sugars (*with my modifications)
- artificial sweeteners
- seed oils
- wheat flour* (*with my modifications)
- artificial flavourings
- artificial colours
- alcohol
Many are low in gluten or can be made gluten free. Many are paleo, there are vegan options, and all the recipes are highly modifiable to cater for various preferences and dietary needs.
My hope is that this article might save others the time and money involved in trialling multiple recipes, and also prove that crunchy cakes can be created. Irrespective of how natural a cake may be, my philosophy is that cake is still cake and best enjoyed as a celebratory treat to honour special occasions.
Dare I say it, some of these recipes might even be magical enough to win over the silkiest of crunchy sceptics. Cake that bridges boundaries? Who can resist that!
My Top Ten Crunchy Cakes
- The Lime and Passionfruit “Cheesecake” from Luka McCabe’s “Toddler to Table”- reimagined
d/f, g/f, rfs, v, paleo
“But what’s wrong with a regular Cheesecake?” is often the question innocently asked when paleo-style cheesecakes are suggested. Nothing is “wrong” with it in theory, but given that most traditional cheesecakes are made with store-bought (highly processed, reduced fat, preservative infused) cream cheese, refined sugar, crushed biscuits (think seed-oil, refined wheat flour and sugar) and condensed milk, a raw paleo style cheesecake can offer a healthier alternative for those seeking a more mindful, gut- nourishing option.
In Toddler to Table, Luka McCabe credits this recipe to a friend. It is nothing short of brilliant in terms of flavour, texture, ease of preparation and dietary friendliness. Cashew and coconut based, modestly sweetened with maple syrup and infused with delightfully tangy lime and passionfruit, it is a unique mix of both refreshing and indulgent.
In the image above, I doubled the filling quantity to create two layers, swapped the passionfruit for raspberry (whole raspberries gently stirred through the batter- not pureed) and swapped the lime for lemon, as I happened to have these ingredients in my kitchen. I have continued to use this flavour combination every time I’ve made it, as my family and I love it so much. I also reduced the number of dates in the base to create a more biscuit-ey base texture than the original soft/chewy version.
Unfortunately, since the recipe doesn’t seem to be published anywhere online, I am unable to share the recipe without breaching copyright. This cheesecake recipe is one of many wonderfully delicious and healthy recipes in the Toddler to Table cookbook and both Toddler to Table and Boob to Food (the book’s older sibling) are well worth purchasing new or second-hand; or even borrowing from a friend.
2. Recipe Tin Eats Hazelnut Olive Oil Cake
g/f, rfs, paleo
This hazelnut olive oil cake almost made it to first place in my list, demoted to second place purely because olive oil in cakes is an unfamiliar flavour to many, and might yield some mixed reactions at a dinner party.
Although the Lime and Passionfruit Cheesecake is a more likely crowd pleaser, the Hazelnut Olive oil cake is beautiful for the more adventurous palette. It’s one of my all-time favourite cakes.
Satisfyingly moist, and made with minimal ingredients, it is soft and mildly sweet when made by substituting the processed sugar for coconut sugar; ideal for parents concerned about protecting little palettes from excessively sweet tastes.
For those open to olive oil undertones in their sweets, I cannot recommend this cake highly enough. Inexplicably, I find it has a subtle “chocolat-ey” flavour, despite containing no cocoa products.
3. The GAPS Coconut Flour Cake and GAPS friendly frosting recipe(s) from the recipes section of this Nourishing Traditions book
g/f, rfs, paleo
The GAPS Coconut Flour Cake is impressively crunchy, and delicious, but sits at third place due to the frosting- the frosting didn’t hit the spot for me. Admittedly, when I made this cake, I only had a “vintage” low-speed blender, so blending the cashews into a creamy paste wasn’t completely achievable (you can see the gritty texture in the image above). However with fresh cream (dairy, coconut or oat) instead of the GAPS frosting, I think this could be a real show-stopper.
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4. Dessert Done Light Healthy Strawberry Cake (made with oat flour)
rfs, wheat-free
I love this strawberry oat cake for it’s delicate airiness and natural strawberry flavour. Instead of the “strawberry extract” (usually made with artificial additives), I chose to add ground freeze-dried strawberries to intensify the strawberry flavour. I found that this worked very well. The cake in the image above is iced with oat-based whipping cream, which I lightly sweetened with maple syrup. The recipe makes a single standard sized cake, however I chose to bake three miniature cakes, in order to create the triple layer effect shown above.
5. Souvlaki for the Soul’s Melopita (honey ricotta cheesecake)
g/f, rfs, paleo
For any lovers of more traditional cheesecake, I suggest giving this Melopita recipe a try. Made with ricotta (not the processed cream cheese so commonly used in cheesecake recipes) and sweetened only with honey, This baked beauty is decadent and moreish. Rather than the glaze included in the recipe, I created my own glaze using honey, cream and lime juice, which I gently simmered to achieve a gooey caramel texture. For a lower sugar option, this cake would be just as enjoyable without any glaze, perhaps garnished with fresh mint, berries or passionfruit.
6. Sugar Free Londoner Keto Peanut Butter Cheesecake
g/f, rfs, paleo
oMr Granola and I made this cake together on the day of our engagement, so it was a required addition to this list for sentimental value. Since originally finding this recipe, I have become aware of concerns relating to fungus that is often found in peanut products (apparently it grows near peanuts and can make its way into peanut products). If I remade this cake now, I’d probably use a combination of almond butter and cashew butter instead of peanut.
Please note, although Sugar Free Londoner has some wonderful recipes, I personally don’t advocate for the use of artificial sweeteners, so always substitute any “sweetener” for coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, or a combination thereof.
7. Sugar Free Londoner Keto Strawberry Cheesecake
g/f, rfs, paleo
This strawberry cheesecake is a sure crowd pleaser, with its summery sweet strawberry flavour.
As above, I don’t advocate for the use of artificial sweeteners and always substitute any “sweetener” for coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, or a combination thereof.
8. Recipe Tin Eats French Apple Cake
rfs, wheat-free
Recipe Tin Eats offer recipes that are often very easily “crunchifiable”. My family and I love this French Apple Cake recipe. I substitute the refined sugar for coconut sugar, the wheat flour for wholemeal spelt flour, white spelt flour and almond meal (1:1:1) ratio, and add Professional Whey ground organic vanilla bean powder (half a teaspoon is plenty) and a pinch of cinnamon. The result is a surprisingly indulgent; I like to slightly underbake it, so that a tiny portion of the centre remains a browny-like texture. I bake this cake for 45 minutes, and find that this still “underbakes” it (as intended) so if you want a drier crumb, you may need to allow 50–55 minutes, depending on your oven.
9. Recipe Tin Eats Lemon Coconut Cake
g/f, rfs, paleo
Made with a combination of almond meal and dessicated coconut, this cake is grain-free, gluten free comfort food. As with other recipes in my list, I substitute the refined sugar for coconut sugar, and find this works well every time.
10. Kleine Spinatesser Healthy Chocolate Cake for Kids
d/f, rfs, wheat-free
This cake is the only one in the list I have not personally tried. The recommendation comes from my European cousin, a fellow crunchy mother. The cake is made with spelt flour, coconut oil and applesauce, and is sweetened with dates. It includes a recipe for a sweet potato based frosting. The recipe is easily translatable into English using Google Translate or a similar translation tool.
Additional crunchy baking tips
As noted above, I love the Organic dried vanilla bean powder available from Professional Whey. It is whole organically grown vanilla beans, dried and ground into a powder, and it makes everything taste divine. Although it may seem expensive, a single packet should last a very long time- I only add one third to a half teaspoon to an entire cake. It is also delicious in a morning smoothie.
I prefer to substitute any flavourings with ground freeze-dried fruits (as described in the Strawberry cake paragraph above). Many essences or extracts are not entirely natural, and using whole ground fruit adds a delicate flavour to most recipes.
In recipes that call for nuts, such as bliss balls or raw cheesecake bases, I like to dry roast them in a pan before adding to my recipe. Dry roasting releases the natural oils of the nuts and introduces an additonal flavour dimension that raw nuts lack. If a recipe for a raw paleo cheesecake calls for nuts in it’s batter, do not dry roast them; only raw nuts will create the creamy cheesecake-like texture reminiscent of a traditional cheesecake.
If you’re attending a children’s (or adult’) party and looking for a crunchy sweet treat to bring, try the Chindii Cookies recipe from Pete Evans’ Healthy Food for Healthy Kids. I made these cookies whenever I’m craving a sweet treat, and love that they are paleo friendly. I couldn’t find this recipe published online, but believe it may be on social media (I don’t use social media so was unable to check). As with Luka McCabe’s Cookbooks, Healthy Food for Healthy Kids by Pete Evans is well worth purchasing.
If you found this article helpful, or have a request that I cover a specific crunchy topic of interest to you, reach out and let me know.
Happy Baking, from my crunchy family to yours.
