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Paleo Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting {gluten-free, dairy-free}
This Paleo Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting requires no strange or hard to find flours or starches, its simple to make, rich, decadent and most people would never believe it’s totally gluten-free and grain-free!
I feel like it’s alarming and shocking whenever I share a dessert recipe here on Tasty Yummies. I do it so infrequently. In the nearly 5 years I have had this blog, you have probably heard me say more than a dozen times, that I have never really cared much about baking and I don’t get super excited about sweets. But, this month (January 2017) marks the 10 year anniversary of me going gluten-free, so this is certainly something to celebrate and what better way than a super epic Grain-free Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting. With nearly 5 years of gluten-free recipes here on Tasty Yummies, it’s time we have a good special occasion cake up in here!
I know to some of you, celebrating the complete removal of some of your favorite foods from your diet, forever – wouldn’t likely be something you would get excited enough to bake a cake for, but for me it is! Before my diagnosis, I spent so many years with silly health issues, an unhappy gut, unexplained migraines and many sicknesses. Discovering my gluten intolerance is something I am forever grateful for and I never regret seeking out the answers that led me to such a huge lifestyle change, nor do I ever wish that it hadn’t happened to me. It truly has been a blessing disguised as a curse. It has made me a stronger person and has led me to look at things in a much different way. Without that discovery and that huge life change, I wouldn’t be who I am today, this site wouldn’t exist and I don’t think my love for cooking would have evolved in the way that it has.
Without knowing where my severe gluten intolerance stemmed from, I simply ate 100% gluten-free upon discovering how gravely it affected me after that month-long cleanse, at the end of January, 10 years ago this week. By the time a doctor finally tested me for celiac disease, I had already been gluten-free for 5 years and it of course came up negative. So for me, an exact reason or diagnosis was never as important as simply knowing my body couldn’t tolerate it and therefore avoiding it at all costs and never looking back, for 10 whole years (and counting)! {You can read more about my journey to living 100% gluten-free, here. Written Aug. 2013}
The irony of this big anniversary for me is that I am currently in the middle of a whole new health exploration, if you can call it that. This past summer I was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, a kidney disease. This kidney disease was presenting, what I thought, were little to no symptoms and I only discovered that I had it, by a routine life insurance physical in the spring of 2013. After being declined life insurance due to high levels of protein in my urine, as well as blood, I had to get myself health insurance so I could begin the journey to discovering what was causing it. After over a year, many tests and several doctors, finally a kidney biopsy this past summer confirmed that I had an autoimmune kidney disease called IgA Nephropathy.
In speaking with several doctors and doing some research, I have learned that it is very common for there to be a crossover with celiac patients and IgA patients. So, I suppose it is even more possible than I once thought, that I do actually have celiac disease.
After finding a nephrologist and getting a second opinion from another, I started by protecting my kidneys in the short term and I began taking several pharmaceutical drugs as prescribed. These drugs immediately set off a slew of new symptoms and seemed to tip the scales of balance in my body in epic ways. Two weeks ago I had my first appointment with my new naturopath, to not only treat my kidney disease but to also help me heal some other health related issues I’ve been dealing with over the past few months. Unhappy digestion, strange skin rashes and acne, low B12, allergies & sinus issues, etc. At our first appointment we discussed the probability that I am likely dealing with leaky gut and candida and we started with a small amount of supplements and herbs to start healing my gut and balancing things out a bit, so we can begin to get to the root of what might be causing all of these issues.
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Tasty Yummies’ Two Year Blogiversary and a Giveaway!
Thank you so so much everyone for participating in the Tasty Yummies 2-year Blogiversary Giveaway and thank you again from the bottom of my heart for all of your lovely comments!! Random.org gave me the random #11 for the winner. Congrats to our winner Alex – who will be getting the Tasty Yummies / Hero Design happiness care package of goodies!! Thanks again everyone!
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Today is the two year blogiversary of Tasty Yummies and I can hardly believe it. When I started this blog two years ago, I never thought it could turn into what it has become today. I started writing two years ago just after I lost 30lbs by changing the way I was eating. So many people were asking me what I was eating, how I had time to cook, etc. – so I thought I would start writing up my recipes to share them with people who were interested. I honestly didn’t think anyone would read all of this, let alone be cooking using my recipes or be inspired to change the way they themselves are eating. It still blows my mind every day when I log in here to read the comments and look at the stats. In the last year the amount of people that visit Tasty Yummies seems to go up every week and I am so incredibly humbled by this.
In the last two years so many aspects of my life have changed, but one of the many things that will never change for me is my love for creating in the kitchen and all of the delicious, healthy and clean foods that you can cook and bake, when you just get into the kitchen and start playing. I have so much gratitude for all of the wonderful people, like you, that come to this site, click around, comment and even print out my recipes and try them, you continually inspire me to create more. Just last week I received an email from someone who recently found out she can no longer have gluten, she felt lost and confused and didn’t even know where to begin with her new lifestyle. She wrote me to tell me that she had found my web site and had already tried a few of my recipes and she was instantly put at ease and excited for her new journey. The overwhelming sense of pride that consumes me reading those types of emails and comments give me the energy to make cookies at 10:00 at night or spend an entire weekend trying to figure out a waffle recipe that I know can be done. It makes me happy to know that even if just one of my recipes on here allows someone to see how easy cooking and eating gluten-free and clean can be, then it is all worth it to me.
Tasty Yummies was always meant to be a hobby for me, something I did in between all of the other aspects of my life. Many of you already know this, but my husband and I own our own business, Hero Design Studio, where we specialize in custom design and illustration as well as hand silkscreen printed goods and wares. We are so fortunate to not only do what we love, but to do it with each other. Since we closed our boutique of nearly 5-years ago, just over a year ago and moved our studio home to really be able to focus on our work, I have had even more freedom to create in the kitchen, since it now means just a short walk downstairs. Being that all aspects of my life are more intertwined than ever, I am obviously influenced in many ways from all of my loves. Whether it be design, cooking, yoga, etc – they have all come together in a way, that allows every single day to be a happy one!
In honor of Tasty Yummies’ two year blogiversary – I wanna share my happiness with you guys. I am giving away a little Tasty Yummies / Hero Design Studio package of goodies. These are just a few things where my love of cooking and creating in the kitchen and the happiness it gives me, has crept in and met up with my love of design, illustration and printmaking! I am giving away all of the items you see below. All are designed and hand silkscreen printed by myself and my husband, Mark.
And thank you again, from the bottom of my heart to all of you that take time out of your very busy lives to read this blog, to try my recipes, to comment, to share my site with others, etc. It truly means the world to me. Namaste.
8×10 2-color Kitchen Tools Art Print
16 x 20 5-color Hand Printed Silkscreen Poster – “Make Every Day A Happy Day”
Kitchen Measurement Conversion Apron (kitchen conversions are printed upside down so you can read them when you are wearing it)
The winner will receive: 1 – 8 x 10 Kitchen Measurement Conversion Print (in the color of your choice), 1 – 8 x 10 Kitchen Tools Print, 1 – 16 x 20 Make Every Day A Happy Day Art Print and 1 – Kitchen Measurement Conversion Apron. This package is valued at over $75.
How to enter:
You can enter up to 5 different ways:
Comment below: Tell me what makes you happy!
Subscribe to the Tasty Yummies RSS feed in your RSS reader or by email
Facebook Like Tasty Yummies
Follow me on Pinterest
Tweet it and while you’re there follow me – @herobeth – You could say something like: Celebrate Tasty Yummies’ 2 year blogiversary by winning a collection of Hero Prints valued at over $75 from @herobeth http://wp.me/p23r4t-y5Please leave a *separate comment* below for each entry!
This giveaway is open to everyone.
The giveaway will be open until the end of the day Wednesday, May 2.
Winner will be selected at random and announced on Thursday, May 3. 1 winner will be selected and notified through email and this post.
