AIP Black Forest Cake

Directions

• Grease a 9”cake pan WELL with palm shortening  .  Dust the pan with carob powder.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a food processor, process plantains, coconut milk, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla until very, very smooth.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (cassava flour, arrowroot flour, coconut flour, gelatin, salt, baking soda, carob powder and cream of tartar).
• Add the plantain mixture to the dry ingredients.  Stir well, making sure to dig all the way to the bottom of the bowl to get all the dry ingredients incorporated.
• Pour the “batter” into the cake pan, and spread evenly.  (This will not look like normal cake batter.  It will be quite thick.  Baking on the AIP is very different…)
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  When the cake is done, let it cool. Meanwhile, do this: 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
• Make the topping.  Make certain that there are no pits in your halved cherries.  Place only half of the cherries in a saucepan with 1/3 cup of water and the maple syrup. Heat over medium heat.  While it’s heating, mash up the cherries with a spoon to release the cherry juice.
• Once the liquid is a lovely, dark red, strain out the cherry pulp with a slotted spoon, and set aside for another use.  (I put them in my protein shake.  😋)
• Move quickly on this step!  In a container with a tight lid, place the 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour and 1 tablespoon of water.  Shake vigorously to make a slurry.  Turn the heat under the liquid up to medium high.  When it begins to bubble, take it off the heat, and stir in the slurry.  It will thicken immediately.  Add the other half of the cherries, and incorporate it all.
• Back to the cake.  Loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Maybe loosen it a bit (carefully!) from the bottom, around the edges.  Now, take a plate or a cake stand, and turn it upside down onto your cake pan.  Holding the cake pan and serving plate firmly together, invert the whole thing.  Very gently and carefully, lift off the cake pan.  Tadaaaaa!  Now you have a cake on a serving dish, bottom side up, which gives you a nice, sharp edge.
• Spoon the cherry mixture on top of the cake, and distribute evenly. If you want to get all fancy about it, arrange the cherries into a design with CLEAN hands.
• Serve!  A reminder: the cake will be less sugary than you are used to!  We are trying to heal, and we can’t do that with lots of sugar!
• Share this recipe with a friend who thinks that the AIP cannot be fun, or decadent.  🤤
• Now that you are relieved to have finished this lovely dessert, you may feel a need for recipes that are much, much quicker to make…say, 30 minutes… 😂  Go get your copy of 30-Minute Meals on the Paleo AIP .