Paleo Strawberry Cake with a Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

For some reason, nothing feels more like the ending of spring and the welcoming of summer to me then a dacadent strawberry cake! So go pick some strawberries (I wish! It was to the grocery store for me!) and get yo booty cookin!

** I advise reading through this entire recipe before starting the cake making process for this one!

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

3 TBS coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp lemon juice

6 TBS palm shortening or unsalted butter

1 cup of pure maple syrup

5 eggs seperated into yolks and whites

2 cups of petite diced strawberries (fresh not frozen)

2 tsp of vanilla

Let's Get Cooking!

Begin by lining the bottoms of two 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Then grease the parchment covered bottoms of the pans and the sides with palm shortening or butter. Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 (Note : becasue the egg whites are whipped seperately in this recipe, the oven needs to be preheated so when the cakes are done they can go into the oven immediately to prevent the batter from falling).

Next, seperate the 5 eggs. In a large, clean glass bowl place the whites and the yolks in another bowl. (Note: whites need to be in a completely clean bowl that is preferably not plastic in order to be able to be whipped into stiff peaks! Plastic bowls do not allow egg whites to well). Add ALL other ingredients to the yolk bowl excpet for the egg whites and mix fully until all lumps are removed. Mix your egg whites with an electric mixer until they triple in size and form stiff peaks. Then add the egg white mixture into the batter mixture and mix fully until it is evenly mixed and all the chunks are removed (I just use the electric mixer to get this done!). Pour into two 9 inch round cake pans and bake on 350 for 15 min or until the cakes are slightly browned on the top and a fork comes out clean (not doughy) when you poke the cakes in the middle).

Allow the cakes to cool to room temperature before icing.

Icing Ingredients:

4 egg whites

1 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup or 1 cup pure maple syrup + 1/4 cup of coconut sugar

1 1/2 cups of palm shortening or unsalted butter

2 cups of freeze dried strawberries

1-2 tsp of vanilla

Make that Icing!

Fill the bottom of a small saucepan with about 1 inch of water. Place a glass bowl over the water so that the water is not quite touching the bottom of the glass bowl. Place the saucepan with the bowl on top of it on the eye and turn it to medium to high heat. In the glass bowl, place the egg whites and maple syrup (or maple syrup + coconut sugar). Whisk the mixture in the bowl intermittently to keep it from sticking until it reaches 170 degrees (I use a candy or even a meat thermometer to check the temp!) Once it reaches 170 degress, turn the eye off and remove the hot glass bowl form atop the saucepan.

Pour the egg white and syrup mixture into a larger clean glass bowl (or stainless steel bowl but preferably not plastic - egg whites don't whip as well in plastic bowls!) Mix on HIGH with an electric mixer until the mixture triples in size, cools to room temperature, and forms stiff peaks. Then, add in the palm shortening or butter. At first, it will resemble cottage cheese. Continue to mix it for 5 minutes. If it does not turn to a buttercream consistency, remove one cup of the mixture and microwave it for 10 seconds. Stir it back into the mixture and mix on high for 1-2 minutes. If it still has not reached a buttercream consistency, continue doing the above until it turns to a buttercream. You can also add in 1 TBS of arrowroot flour to help the mixture to thicken to a nice buttercream!

In a food processor, mix the strawberries into a fine pink powder. Add the powdered strawberries and vanilla into the buttercream and mix fully. Ice your cake and waahhhhlahh! Enjoy!

Bon appetite! - Analisa