Need Paleo Cake Ideas

sjohnny wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

sjohnny wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

Mizz_Mo wrote: »

This isn't exactly a cake - but it gets raves! http://food52.com/recipes/11478-fudgy-chocolate-tart

Good luck!

Wow. My kids just might riot if I made this recipe, and it turned out the way it looks on the webpage.

Birthdays coming up... I have a flourless chocolate cake recipe that uses an entire 12 oz bag of chocolate chips, a stick (or maybe 2? I need to look it up again) of butter, and I forget what else. That has been their favorite for awhile. But then, none of them is overweight. They inherited my spouse's metabolism. *sigh*

OTOH, I'm losing weight while eating so much wonderful, satisfying food, I'm having trouble getting all my calories in. So I'm really not feeling deprived at all.

(Did I say my whole family is paleo? They're not. Just myself, for health reasons. And it's working!)

Is butter now paleo? It didn't used to be.

You might have missed the part where I said I'm the only one in my family who eats paleo style. The cake would be for my kid's birthday. I don't have to eat it. Sadly, I have had to give up butter (along with other dairy) as it gives me horrible stomach cramps, probably due to the traces of milk protein (casein) it contains. My body has hated casein since I was a very small child, but it's gotten more sensitive as I've gotten older. I was able to eat full-fat dairy up until recently, but no more.

Then why can't they have a normal cake?

Because half my family is celiac, and the non-celiacs actually *prefer* the flourless chocolate cake. Have you ever had one of those things? It's like the best "Death by Chocolate" experiences one (who loves chocolate) can ever have. You can actually pay bundles of money for a slice in a fancy restaurant, but why do that when you can make it just as tasty and beautifully accented with made-from-scratch raspberry sauce, a sprinkling of fresh raspberries, and maybe a pretty design on top, made by laying a paper doily on top and sifting some powdered sugar over the top -- when you remove the doily it looks like sugar lace over the top of the cake.

Because half my family is celiac, I suppose we could do two separate cakes, but so-called "normal" cake made from a box of cake mix (believe me, I baked those for years) isn't even *close* to the deliciousness of the rich, creamy, decadent flourless chocolate cake my family loves.

And making two separate cakes is a hassle. I used to do that, until I hit on recipes that *everybody* liked and *everybody* who wanted cake could eat.

I suppose I could cater to the "normal" people in our family and just have cake that the *birthday* kid would be *unable* to eat. (!) That's what the naysayers in this thread seem to be saying. Does that make any sense at all?

I'd be a little sad that I can't eat it anymore, because of the butter, but I'd much rather not be sick on my kid's birthday from eating something I *know* is going to tie my stomach in knots. So I'll just sit at the table with everyone and enjoy my glass of wine. (And yes, some paleo proponents call wine "allowable". Paleo's not really about what cavemen supposedly ate, in case you didn't know. It's about eating health-promoting food. I can get away with some wine on occasion, without getting sick.)

It's really a pain when food that you've eaten all your life turns around and attacks you (can you believe, I was a vegetarian for some years, and it worked for me for awhile, but now I can't eat wheat or beans or cheese or rice, so... whatever), but I'm managing, and "paleo" has been a big help.

And p.s. They *can* have normal cake, whenever they want. If they see cake in the bakery section of the grocery store, or at a dedicated bakery shop, and they want it, they can buy it! Two of my non-celiac teens are doing just that this week, for the birthday of one of them. I'm giving them the money to pick out any "normal" bakery cheesecake they want on our shopping trip this week. My only request is that they don't eat it in front of the celiac people in our family who really miss that kind of food -- that would be unkind.

jaga13 wrote: »

Since when did cavemen eat cake? Tell them cake just isn't Paleo.

As I said above, "Paleo's not really about what cavemen supposedly ate, in case you didn't know. It's about eating health-promoting food."

For me, at present, health-promoting food is any food that doesn't make me violently ill.

(Edited to add: for myself, at present, that seems to be the long list of foods allowed on the paleo auto-immune protocol (AIP). So... call it "paleo." I am benefiting from others' research and experience. So far it's working for me -- a lot of my health problems are much improved. I'm figuring out which foods are the "bad guys" for me, too, and slowly adding foods back onto my personal list, the ones that don't cause me physical pain after eating them.)

Food allergies suck.

EvgeniZyntx wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

jaga13 wrote: »

Since when did cavemen eat cake? Tell them cake just isn't Paleo.

As I said above, "Paleo's not really about what cavemen supposedly ate, in case you didn't know. It's about eating health-promoting food."

For me, at present, health-promoting food is any food that doesn't make me violently ill.

Food allergies suck.

So paleo is really eat what you like and think is healthy. Good to know.
I'll put that next to the meat eating vegetarian definition.

This diet stuff is hard.

Not quite. Nice try, though. If you were actually trying, that is, and not just snarking.

jaga13 wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

jaga13 wrote: »

Since when did cavemen eat cake? Tell them cake just isn't Paleo.

As I said above, "Paleo's not really about what cavemen supposedly ate, in case you didn't know. It's about eating health-promoting food."

For me, at present, health-promoting food is any food that doesn't make me violently ill.

(Edited to add: for myself, at present, that seems to be the long list of foods allowed on the paleo auto-immune protocol (AIP). So... call it "paleo." I am benefiting from others' research and experience. So far it's working for me -- a lot of my health problems are much improved. I'm figuring out which foods are the "bad guys" for me, too, and slowly adding foods back onto my personal list, the ones that don't cause me physical pain after eating them.)

Food allergies suck.

Yeah, I get it. And cake probably isn't a health-promoting food!

Wouldn't *that* be nice... Can you imagine if cake and ice cream and brownies and pizza and potato chips *were* the only healthy foods in the world, and everything else was bad for you? I can't imagine getting tired of brownies or ice cream (much less pizza), but I guess if that was all I was able to eat, I would, eventually.

*Edited to add: and by "healthy" and "bad for you" I don't mean to ignite a discussion where some people are trying to call some foods unhealthy and others are saying there is no such thing as an unhealthy food, etc. etc. etc. I'm talking about one's personal reaction to consuming certain foods. For me, cake and ice cream, brownies and pizza, and potato chips *are* unhealthy because of my body's reaction to them. For others, YMMV.

coraljane64 wrote: »

People who advocate paleo like other hunter-gatherer type diets if you were to be true to the theory wouldn't eat cake. They're a lean grass fed meats, fresh fruit & veg type lifestyle.
If you're are a cake try some tried and proven gluten free cakes recipes

Not all who follow paleo are paleo advocates. Some (like me) just find it a handy list of foods that fits our food allergy profile. "Paleo" becomes a shorthand reference to a list of "safe" foods.

I follow paleo because my body has begun to react to things like dairy and grains (and legumes, sad to say. Sighing for the memory of peanut butter). I used to be able to eat rice, but have recently developed a sensitivity to it. Maybe the sensitivity was always there, but I wasn't able to discern it because my body was reacting more violently to things like wheat and dairy, and when I stopped those it was able to "talk" to me about things that affected it less, but still negatively.

Yeah, I'm true to the food list. Don't know so much about the theory. There are a lot of people following paleo (lots of them right here on MFP! though they keep their heads down in the main forum because to mention "paleo" is to get jumped on, abused, and ridiculed) who don't care a fig whether or not cave men might have eaten grass-fed dinosaur. They just know that eating this list of foods helps them to feel better in one of a number of ways: weight loss, relief from chronic pain, better sleep (all of which I can personally testify to). I will not go so far as to promise those results for anyone and everyone. But I can say with confidence that it worked for me, and since "diet" was the ONLY factor that changed, I don't know what else I might attribute it to. Not a scientific study by any stretch, but if it's all the same to you guys, I'm going to keep on going.

When I see the phrase "paleo cake" it is clear to me that the recipe is not merely gluten free, but grain free. Therefore, "tried and proven gluten free cake recipes" are poison to my body, if they contain rice flour.

It is quite possible that the wedding couple specified "paleo" for just such a contingency. It may be that one or both of them have severe food allergies, and yet they'd like to celebrate a traditional wedding as well as they can, making such substitutions as might be made.

Can you fault them for trying? Food allergies suck.

I'm sorry if hard-core paleo advocates have ruffled the feelings of people at MFP with their hard-coreness. But some of us are just trying to get along. The OP asked for paleo cake recipe suggestions, to try and make the best cake for her friends as she could manage. She didn't wave a red flag in people's faces by insisting that Paleo Is The One And Only Way To Go. No, she just asked for some help.

Is it too much to ask for help?

The only reason I'm posting this comment, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure the self-made "wits" will come out with their so-called humor in response to this (along with admonitions to "lighten up" and more opinionating on how stupid it is to follow paleo, even if it's working for me), is that I've gotten a few actually thoughtful responses in this thread. In truth, that surprised me. I'd pretty much lost faith in the intelligence and tolerance of the people frequenting the main boards at MFP. But sometimes people can surprise you.

homesweeths wrote: »

coraljane64 wrote: »

People who advocate paleo like other hunter-gatherer type diets if you were to be true to the theory wouldn't eat cake. They're a lean grass fed meats, fresh fruit & veg type lifestyle.
If you're are a cake try some tried and proven gluten free cakes recipes

Not all who follow paleo are paleo advocates. Some (like me) just find it a handy list of foods that fits our food allergy profile. "Paleo" becomes a shorthand reference to a list of "safe" foods.

I follow paleo because my body has begun to react to things like dairy and grains (and legumes, sad to say. Sighing for the memory of peanut butter). I used to be able to eat rice, but have recently developed a sensitivity to it. Maybe the sensitivity was always there, but I wasn't able to discern it because my body was reacting more violently to things like wheat and dairy, and when I stopped those it was able to "talk" to me about things that affected it less, but still negatively.

Yeah, I'm true to the food list. Don't know so much about the theory. There are a lot of people following paleo (lots of them right here on MFP! though they keep their heads down in the main forum because to mention "paleo" is to get jumped on, abused, and ridiculed) who don't care a fig whether or not cave men might have eaten grass-fed dinosaur. They just know that eating this list of foods helps them to feel better in one of a number of ways: weight loss, relief from chronic pain, better sleep (all of which I can personally testify to). I will not go so far as to promise those results for anyone and everyone. But I can say with confidence that it worked for me, and since "diet" was the ONLY factor that changed, I don't know what else I might attribute it to. Not a scientific study by any stretch, but if it's all the same to you guys, I'm going to keep on going.

When I see the phrase "paleo cake" it is clear to me that the recipe is not merely gluten free, but grain free. Therefore, "tried and proven gluten free cake recipes" are poison to my body, if they contain rice flour.

It is quite possible that the wedding couple specified "paleo" for just such a contingency. It may be that one or both of them have severe food allergies, and yet they'd like to celebrate a traditional wedding as well as they can, making such substitutions as might be made.

Can you fault them for trying? Food allergies suck.

I'm sorry if hard-core paleo advocates have ruffled the feelings of people at MFP with their hard-coreness. But some of us are just trying to get along. The OP asked for paleo cake recipe suggestions, to try and make the best cake for her friends as she could manage. She didn't wave a red flag in people's faces by insisting that Paleo Is The One And Only Way To Go. No, she just asked for some help.

Is it too much to ask for help?

The only reason I'm posting this comment, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure the self-made "wits" will come out with their so-called humor in response to this (along with admonitions to "lighten up" and more opinionating on how stupid it is to follow paleo, even if it's working for me), is that I've gotten a few actually thoughtful responses in this thread. In truth, that surprised me. I'd pretty much lost faith in the intelligence and tolerance of the people frequenting the main boards at MFP. But sometimes people can surprise you.

No one is saying someone shouldn't eat what they want to eat or what works for them for whatever reasons. And if you're able to feel better by eliminating certain things from your diet then that's what you should do.

But you're projecting your health issues onto this wedding party. When it looks like the OP has said that her friend is just doing paleo because it's the hip goofy thing to do right now just like when OP did her "vegan phase" - it wasn't because she was meatliac and eating any meat would tie her body up in knots it was just because it was a phase she went through (as many of us have done with different dietary ideas).

jaga13 wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

jaga13 wrote: »

Since when did cavemen eat cake? Tell them cake just isn't Paleo.

As I said above, "Paleo's not really about what cavemen supposedly ate, in case you didn't know. It's about eating health-promoting food."

For me, at present, health-promoting food is any food that doesn't make me violently ill.

(Edited to add: for myself, at present, that seems to be the long list of foods allowed on the paleo auto-immune protocol (AIP). So... call it "paleo." I am benefiting from others' research and experience. So far it's working for me -- a lot of my health problems are much improved. I'm figuring out which foods are the "bad guys" for me, too, and slowly adding foods back onto my personal list, the ones that don't cause me physical pain after eating them.)

Food allergies suck.

Yeah, I get it. And cake probably isn't a health-promoting food!

It is if it's paleo.

God there's so

UltimateRBF wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

UltimateRBF wrote: »

homesweeths wrote: »

UltimateRBF wrote: »

Assuming they aren't Paleo due to food allergies or whatever, just bake a normal cake but tell them it's Paleo.

This is a really dangerous thing to do. It reminds me of the guy who was head cook for a time at the historic site where we volunteer. He didn't believe in food allergies. He would put nuts in things, without telling anyone, because he liked the flavor/texture the nuts added to his recipes, and nuts were "historically accurate" ingredients.

He could have killed someone. When they found out, he wasn't allowed to cook for them anymore.

Yeah, a lot of paleo recipes are almond-based, but to present something with a specific label, and lie about it, well... it's irresponsible at the least. (Especially if someone were to see the label and eat the cake, someone with a life-threatening gluten allergy, who was able to eat almonds, just not wheat. Some unsuspecting wedding guest... collateral damage. I know people whose gluten sensitivity is life-threatening. They trust their friends, when we label something as safe for them to eat. Well, let's say they trust *some* of their friends, the ones who take their allergies seriously, and haven't made them ill when they've shared a meal.)

Uh, that's why I said "assuming they aren't Paleo because of food allergies or whatever" (the whatever part obviously being other food sensitivities). Did you actually read what I posted?

I did actually read what you posted. Isn't wedding cake usually shared with guests? Would the couple necessarily know about every guest's food allergy? If a regular cake were labeled "paleo" and wasn't, well, think of the consequences.

Also, people who are used to eating paleo style can get sick from what you'd call "normal" food, even if they didn't manifest allergies before. It's like the body is a fine-tuned machine that gets used to functioning on high octane fuel. It might have run on sludgy fuel before, and didn't know what feeling really healthy and energetic felt like, because running on bad fuel was "normal." (I didn't know how bad I was feeling until I started to feel good, for a personal testimony. I didn't know bad was bad -- it was my "normal"! I never want to go back.)

How awful to be miserable on your wedding night because a "friend" didn't have the integrity to honor your wishes, or at the very least turn down your request.

I am not a paleo nazi. I am not saying it is the only healthy way to eat, or even that it's healthy for everyone. I'm only saying that if *you* were *my* friend, and I had made such a request, and you gave me a wheat-based cake and called it paleo... well, as the old saying goes, with friends like these, who needs enemies?

So lighten up. The whole deal, how I understand it, is that a *friend* asked a *friend* to bake a special kind of cake (and hopefully make it tasty), and that *friend* is enough of a friend to want to do a good job, and not merely pretend to be a friend.

Sheesh.

I'm...not the one who needs to lighten up.

I've noticed no one can stick to the initial post. I always get a biased response.

Anyhow just do any gluten free cake with fresh fruit or somethin (: coconut flour and don't use dairy go with almond whip cream or if filling use coconut cream you can be as creative as you wish. I'm sure it will turn out spectacular.

Good advice, mianineteen87. Sounds like you have some experience.