Just in time for spring, a coconut cake! This recipe has been through at least five revisions, and every one of them was delicious. But this one is the best. After trying several times with packaged cashew flour—which works fine if you don’t have whole cashews on hand—I decided to grind up some nuts and see what would happen. (Because half the fun of cooking is experimentation, right?)

Well, the fresh cashews were a winner! They add freshness, buttery flavor and texture to the cake without making it taste nutty.

This is a very moist cake, almost like a pudding cake. It slices well, though, and holds its shape on the plate.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cashews (Either raw or roasted work well. Alternatively, you can use 2/3 cup cashew flour.)
• 1/3 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbs. coconut sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk (I like Native Forest Organic, Simple Unsweetened because it does not contain gums or other thickeners)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs. vanilla
• 1 cup canned peaches in juice, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place cashews in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse in 10-second intervals until cashews are ground. You want them to be the consistency of corn meal.
3. Combine ground cashews, arrowroot starch, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and coconut sugar in a large bowl. Mix well with a whisk.
4. Measure coconut milk into a glass measuring cup. Coconut milk is very temperature-sensitive, so you may need to heat it slightly in the microwave to soften the fat. Add egg and vanilla to the coconut milk and whisk until smooth.
5. Stir wet ingredients into dry.
6. Stir in chopped peaches and 1/4 cup of the flaked coconut. (The batter will be thin and may cause you to think this is never going to work! Trust me, it will work. The cake ends up incredibly tender and moist due to all of the liquid, but the egg and nuts absorb a lot of the moisture and act as binding agents during baking.)
7. Pour batter into greased 9×9 pan or a 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup coconut on top.
8. Bake for 23-27 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.
9. Allow to cool completely before cutting, as it is very moist and tender.

Enjoy! I love having this cake topped with a spoonful of vanilla yogurt for breakfast. It’s not too sweet and it truly is healthy, so I don’t feel guilty eating it as a meal. 🙂

Nutrition Information (based on 12 servings):

Calories: 117

Protein: 2.4 g

Fat: 6.9 g

Carbohydrate: 12 g

Fiber: 1 g

Sugar: 6 g