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Earlier this year my daughter asked me if I could “write” Happy Birthday on top of her homemade cake, and I practically laughed out loud at the thought of what that would look like. So cake-decorating skills or not…absolutely anyone can make this “tie dye” cake turn out beautifully. And don’t be afraid to switch up the colors. I used peaches and raspberries in the pictured version, but if you want it to be more “boyish” blueberries would add some great color as well.
Before we switched to “real food” I used to make birthday cakes out of a box topped with frosting from a tub mixed with food coloring from little squeeze bottles. I’ve always loved to bake, but I never used to make cakes from scratch because I didn’t have a good “go-to” recipe and I also didn’t know any better! Now that we’ve cut all highly processed food from our diets I prefer a cake made from scratch with only a few simple ingredients when it comes time for those special celebrations. No matter how much we say junk food is okay in moderation I almost never want the highly processed, factory-made, artificial version anymore. So as I mentioned in my previous whole-wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe, this cake “breaks the real food rules” a little, but I would much rather you make this for your next celebration instead of relying on Betty Crocker (or worse – your grocery store bakery)! Feel free to check out the ingredient list for those options if you don’t believe me that this is a much better choice. :)
Whole-Wheat Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour (organic pastry or white winter wheat recommended)
- 1 cup all purpose flour ((or cake flour) organic recommended, or can sub whole-wheat flour)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I recommend Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ cups sugar (organic recommended)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 eggs (organic recommended)
- 2/3 cup coconut oil (or melted butter (1:1))
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- butter (for greasing pans)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans or other sized baking dish.
- In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients including flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Make a well (hole) in the middle of the dry ingredients and drop in the water, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix by hand with whisk until well blended.
- Distribute batter evenly into the two cake 9-inch pans and bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes clean. Let cool before adding frosting.
Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Nutrition Facts
Whipped Cream Frosting and Berry Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream (organic recommended)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (organic recommended, to taste)
- 1 ½ recipe berry sauce (with water, reduced in half (subbing either frozen or fresh organic fruit for desired topping color for e.g. raspberries = bright red, peach or mango = orange, blueberries = blue, cherries = dark red). See link below.)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip cream and sugar together using an electric mixer.
- Meanwhile prepare berry sauce(s) with desired fruit for topping. Let sauce(s) cool.
- Turn out one of the cooled cake rounds onto serving platter. Cover the top (that used to be the bottom) with whipped cream frosting. Lay second round cake layer directly on top of first frosted cake layer. Now cover the entire exposed cake with frosting including sides.
- Put berry sauce into a squeeze bottle or alternatively you can try to drizzle sauce onto cake with a spoon. I used a “ketchup-style” squeeze bottle with the tip cut off to make the opening at the top a little wider.
- Make colored circles on top of cake using berry sauce (pictured).
- Using toothpicks start in the center of the cake and drag through the sauce to the edge. Repeat until desired look is achieved.
- For best results serve within a few hours. Keep leftovers refrigerated.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Related Posts: Whole-Wheat Chocolate Cookies
Happy Birthday MOM!…Instead of doing the tie-dye design I whipped a medly of frozen berries into the whipped icing. My son, who is the world’s pickiest eater had a big smile on his face when he sampled it..so far so good! I hope you enjoy mummy!
made this tonight to celebrate my daughter’s baptism. everyone LOVED it! thank you for sharing!
I just made this cake. My 5 year old loved helping. We haven’t even put the frosting on and he says it’s very “tasty”. I love your website. I am trying new stuff everyday. Love it!,,,, thank you so much!!!!!!
Pam
When you use coconut oil, do you have to liquefy it first (how?) or do you put it in as a solid?
Yes, it should be a liquid…check out this post for more info: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/02/07/how-to-cook-with-coconut-oil/
I love chocolate cake, but I love vanilla even more! Do you have a recipe for vanilla cake instead of chocolate?
Not at this time…but I will take note!
2 TABLEspoons of vanilla for the cake?!?!
Yep!
If mixing the berry sauce with the whip cream isn’t recommended, do you have any other ideas for making the whip cream red or pink? I am LOVING your site…very inspiring!
I bought these natural food dyes from Whole Foods (also available on amazon) that made my whipped cream pink: http://www.amazon.com/India-Tree-Natural-Decorating-Packages/dp/B001EQ5BXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328669649&sr=8-1
You could also try pomegranate or beet juice.
Just made this and the recipe is definitely getting saved in my cook book! Tastes very yummy and fluffy. Didn’t have time to make frosting but whipped up some of your chocolate sauce and drizzled it on the top and it was a hit!
I made this cake today for my birthday. I’ve been wanting to try the recipe so this seemed like the perfect occasion. I really loved it. I didn’t use the berry sauce (just didn’t have the time for that final step) but look forward to trying it sometime. Instead I just decorated it with fresh blueberries on top of the whipped cream. It’s a delicious recipe for someone looking for a sweet treat that tastes natural and wholesome. It was decadent, but in a way you don’t feel bad about eating. I’m so grateful for your website, Lisa.
My whipped cream frosting didn’t do quiet right. it was very runny and i had a ton leftover. is there a certain way to make the heavy whipping cream thicken up? mine was running everywhere. it still tasted ok just wouldnt stay on the sides and build up between the cake layers.
thanks for your help!!
ok i see the above person had the same problem. i dont guess i whipped it long enough!! i have enough leftover to try again :)
Yes, you just keep whipping till it turns into whipped cream. Don’t stop until you get there (and don’t over whip it either!)
Do you think you could mix the red berry sauce with the whipped icing to make it pink? Not sure if it would affect the cream. My daughter’s 4 year “princess and knight” birthday party is coming up and she LOVES pink. Thanks!
I tried, and the two didn’t mix together nicely. Maybe if you strain the seeds out first you’d have better luck. Let me know how it ends up turning out!
You could try using a few drops of beet juice – we use it in pancakes to make them pink with no taste of beets!
I am confused as why would you call this real food
with all the sugar in this recipe? Sugar is not food.
I agree sugar is not “real food” which is why the post (above the recipe) says this “So as I mentioned in my previous whole-wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe, this cake “breaks the real food rules†a little, but I would much rather you make this for your next celebration instead of relying on Betty Crocker (or worse – your grocery store bakery)!”
I made this cake for my son’s 1st birthday this weekend! I forgot to put in the oil, but it still turned out great! Then I remade it with the oil, and it was still good. I linked you in my blog post about the party: http://staywiththekidsmom.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html
Spelt is a lighter kind of whole wheat. I find it perfect for cakes,cookies,etc….
We had my son’s first birthday party today. For any of my older daughter’s parties, or my husband’s or any other occasion, I have always used a box mix. I would make a 9×13 pan of cake and maybe a third of it would get eaten. Today, I made your recipe here. There was barely a speck of cake left in the pan when the last guest left!! WOW, was it ever delicious! Thank you so much for sharing :)
The cake just came out of the oven and it looks and smells delicious! My one concern is that I am making the icing and it is so liquidy. Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Keep whipping the cream…it might take several minutes, but it will turned into whipped cream! Also, make sure the cake is cool before you frost it.
Success! Thanks for your quick response and your awesome blog! We have been using your recipes for a month now, and LOVE them all! I can’t wait to try the cake!!
This was delicious! Not overly sweet; just perfect. I put the extra syrup out for guests to use too and it was delicious when soaked into the cake!
Great recipe. I can’t wait to try it. One question: I often substitute applesauce for oil when using a cake mix. Will this substitution work in this recipe, or is the fat from the oil necessary to make the cake successful?
Please let me know as well. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it personally, but I know that trick has worked in some of my other recipes (from comments people have left) so would be worth a shot!
It is really important for me to have the whole family be able to eat cake on one of our birthdays-it was really depressing the year that my husband didn’t join in the cake eating after he stopped eating sugar and other sweeteners that are not the whole food including raw honey. It sounds silly,I know, but birthdays are a big deal to me.
I have created a cake recipe that doesn’t use processed sugar (just whole chopped fruit)since my husband doesn’t eat sweeteners that are not whole foods. It reminds me of the cakes in Germany that are dryer than typical US ones, but it is really good and made from whole foods. I’m still working out the details of the recipe to make it better, but I was so excited when my cake fit my bill of no sugar and fairly easy.
We also make cakes out of only fruit by slicing fruit in fun ways and building them up to look like a tiered cake-actually they are some of the tastiest cakes I’ve ever eaten!
I have loved reading about all of these recipes- and am eager to try them! But I am curious… I noticed on several occasions you used coconut oil. Is there a reason you use it instead of other oils? I believe that it has somewhere near 5 or 6 times the saturated fat that canola or olive oil has. So I was wondering if there is some reason it would be preferred over a much more heart-healthy oil?
I’m curious as well. Thanks!
Here is a post for more info on oils: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/14/mini-pledge-week-10-no-refined-oils/
And I have not tried applesauce in this recipe, but it might work!
My husband is wheat-sensitive, so I simply substitute brown rice flour for wheat flour in most recipes. It can cause some issues, but it mostly works. As for sugar substitution, the most creatively I’ve ever done this was to blend an equal or slightly greater portion of dark sweet cherries and substitute it for sugar in a recipe (I did this with brownies). I had to lower the liquid requirements, but it mostly came out ok. It is a trial-and-error thing. I especially like the colorful fruit drizzle in this recipe; not only adds color but a tangy taste!
Home made cakes taste so much better, since they are made with LOVE xx
I’m a bit confused about the sugar and flour. I’m on the 10-day pledge…and I think we’re not to use white flour–or any type of sugar. Are there substitutions for these with this cake?
keep the good job!
What a great idea to use whole wheat flour in a cake recipe..sounds so nice and rich. And LOVE the frosting and coloful additions on the top. Thank you for the idea with the toothpicks..makes it so pretty!
I made a tie dye cake from scratch for my daughters’ BDays (I have 2 daughters that are born a week apart). I used your icing recipe. It was amazing! There was no cake left that night. That was a first! I have tried several of your recipes and I have to say they are all amazing and very simple to make! Thank you!!!!!
I’m am loving your blog! Any suggestions for school lunches that are real food and don’t contain dairy or nuts? We have several kids at my child’s school with dairy/nut allergies. I don’t want to send my kid to school with something that could send another child to the ER.
Hi there…check out this link for school lunch ideas! https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/category/children-adapting/school-lunches/
Recipe review: The cake came out delicious! Very comforting and delicate! You will not be disapointed.
It did come out VERY sweet, so perhaps reduce the sugar content. Or perhaps since I’ve laid off sugar for so long anything tastes extra sweet to me, or, the brand of cocunut oil I use (Spectrum) is known to be too sweet tasting. Anyway, for those that don’t like your desserts too sweet, perhaps reduce the sugar content just a tad.
Great job Lisa!
A half batch makes 9 cupcakes. They are in the oven right now….wish me luck!!
That looks great. My son has a birthday coming, so I’m going to try this recipe. All food rules are usually off for birthdays, but after 4 years of a birthday boy who gets super hyper in the beginning of the day and then crashes hard at the end, I think I owe it to him to change traditions and keep our food rules (mostly) intact on B-Day.
Looks really yum! Definately going to give this recipe a try :)
This is great! My hubby’s birthday is Wednesday, and my younger son’s birthday is at the end of the month. We LOVE making birthday cakes, and have gotten pretty elaborate over the years (think Cake Boss-style). The kids absolutely love making things out of fondant and modeling chocolate, but I was cringing at the thought as I’m trying to reduce (and eventually eliminate) the white sugar in the house. I’m super excited about the recipe, and especially the whipped cream frosting…this will definitely help reduce the sugar count!!
I make the recipe on the back of the hershey cocoa can. However, I substitute 3 egg whites for the eggs, applesauce for the oil and agave for the sugar and white whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour. Oh and I use unsweetened almond milk. Very moist!
Thanks for the tip about the Hershey’s cocoa can, Anne! I’m baking it as we speak, and it smells divine!
Also, any other ideas on frosting?
I’m looking for a whole wheat cake with no sugar. I would prefer agave, applesauce and egg whites. It sounds fabulous. How much applesauce and agave?
Awesome! I don’t like to use the boxed mixes, but I’ve never found a from-scratch recipe that I liked. I’ll definitely try this one out.
Okay, all things in moderation right? I’m generally staying away from gluten, but this looks so delicious I can’t resist!!!!!
Sub the flour for “Jules Gluten free flour” it has one for one sub for wheat flour…julesglutenfree.com
do you think theis recipe would do well as cupcakes like the box mixes do? just less baking time maybe?
It should work perfectly for cupcakes. I’d check them after 12 mins.
Yes it would definitely work!
This really looks beautiful!! My boys are turning 2 and 4 next week. I think I will print out the recipe and do a test run this weekend. I told my hubs that I am cooking for 15 kids and 20 adults!
No pressure!!!
Perfect timing! My oldest’s birthday is next week. Thank you!
I’ve never been huge on frosting. It’s not something we’re all that familiar with where I grew up.
In fact here is a funny story. I made a chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday the first year I was here.
“Oh you made a brownie for my birthday, thanks”.
“It’s not a brownie, it’s a chocolate cake.”
“But it doesn’t have frosting!”.
…
A little decorating tip I learned from my mom. Works with or without frosting: cut letter or shapes on paper. Put the paper over the cake (you can use it for a negative or positive effect).
Put the finely powdered sugar (confectionar?) in a mesh strainer and shake it over the cake. Then carefully remove the paper shapes to see the result.
I did this with a heart shape for a carrot cake. I had made a cardamom frosting so I mixed a little sugar with cinnamon to do the design.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/282662_10150244372039492_743974491_7770542_5486363_n.jpg
Love that idea for cake decorating!
I am so trying this! It is lovely and although my kids love for me to make their birthday cakes, I cringe at the food coloring! I’ll happily make my own icing and cake, but always struggled with how to make them colorful. Plus, my daughter is into tye dye right now, so perfect!!!