Last Saturday we celebrated my nephew Jayden’s 1st birthday. In his honor I decided to make him a special birthday cake using only raw and vegan ingredients. As challenging as it was, I was determined to succeed. For a week I collected ideas and tips from raw food cookbooks and online recipes. I wanted his cake to be one of a kind and I landed on Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Frosting and Strawberries filling in the middle.
The finished cake
For the chocolate layers I mixed up dates with almond flour, coconut oil, cacao powder and vanilla bean. For the white chocolate frosting I mixed soaked cashews with raw agave nectar, coconut oil, cacao butter, vanilla bean and sunflower lecithin. While the layers and frosting were relatively easy to whip up, what took the most effort was the assembly. It practically consumed the better part of a day to make the cake because each layer and frosting had to be frozen separately with 2 hour setting time in between.
Inside cake view
Once the cake was all set, the hardest part began – decorating. As a novice to cake decorating, I literally created my masterpiece as I went about each detail. A cake decorating set came really handy although washing of the chocolate from the feeding bag was a nightmare. I need to figure out another way for utilizing chocolate as decoration in the future.
Look who's turning 1!
Umm, excuse me but that's MY cake.
Somehow everything turned out much better than my expectations. Not only did the cake look adorably cute but it was very delicious. I’ve never had raw vegan cake in my life and this one truly impressed my senses. The rich, moist chocolate was well paired with the light, fluffy frosting while the strawberries added a refreshing note to the tongue. As you’ll see from the video compilation below, everyone seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Baby Jayden, being such a picky eater, had no problem taking bites of his cake. That made my day. If baby Jayden loved his raw vegan birthday cake then I’ve succeed. 
One thing is sure…in our family we no longer will be buying the traditional fattening, sugar-packed, artificially-colored and flavored cakes. Jayden’s birthday cake proved that “you can have your [raw] cake and eat it too…guilt-free.”
Happy 1st Birthday, Jayden!!!
Copyright © 2010 Zoe V. All Rights Reserved
Congrats on your first raw vegan cake! You worked so hard and it looks amazing! Anyway you can share the recipe with us?
By: Kelly on April 27, 2010
at 7:32 am
Hi Zoe!
This is RAWsome! My mouth is watering just looking at it! I definitely want your recipe so we can try this one at our house!
Thanks so much for sharing
Big Hugs,
~tracy
–
Tracy Partridge-Johnson
Editor & Administrator
Eighty Percent Raw
http://www.eightypercentraw.com
By: tracyjprez on April 27, 2010
at 7:39 am
fantastic job!! looks delicious and the kids are adorable as ever!! Happy Belated Birthday Jayden!! Congrats on your creation Zoe..
By: Kristi on April 27, 2010
at 8:16 am
Excellent Zoe…looks delicious! Where can we get a copy of the recipe? I’d love to try it out:-)
Faye
By: Faye Read on April 27, 2010
at 10:03 am
Looks great! I wish I wasn’t allergic to almonds!
By: Pure Mothers on April 27, 2010
at 3:21 pm
Wow, great job! Looks fantastic and I’m sure tastes fantastic too.
Congratulations!
By: Manuela on April 27, 2010
at 7:45 pm
Oh my gosh! I love this! Great job! I wish I had done something like this for my son’s 1st but just couldn’t dedicate the time
You inspire me though!
By: hihorosie on May 4, 2010
at 12:27 am
Please e-mail me a copy of your reciepe, my son will be turning 1 soon and i would like to make the same cake…
thanks
gina
By: gina on May 26, 2010
at 5:35 pm
where can you buy cacao powder? i have heard of it but never seen it….Isn’t it kindof early to give a 1 year old almond flour and coconut oil?
By: gina on May 26, 2010
at 5:38 pm
hi, can you send me this recipe?? my son’s 1st birthday is coming up next month and i am looking for a great raw recipe for his birthday cake and this looks great.
By: Liane on June 26, 2010
at 11:30 pm
The cake looks amazing!! Great job!! My daughter and my neice will be turning 1 next month and I would love to make this for them! Will you share the recipe? Thank you so much!
By: Kelly on August 4, 2010
at 10:03 pm
Hi! WOW how inspiring! My mom and dad laughed at me when I told them I’d be attempting a raw cake for my son’s 1st bday next month!! So the heat is on, I need to impress everyone in my family! Could you PLEASE oh pretty please email me the recipe?
By: Amy on August 15, 2010
at 11:04 am
I would love the recipe! I am getting ready to have my almost 4 year old’s birthday! I want to do something different than I did for my 1 year old’s birthday.
By: Shannon on September 6, 2010
at 4:58 am
I am planning my daughter’s 1st birthday and have been looking for a raw cake recipe. Can I get your recipe?
By: Renee on January 23, 2011
at 10:26 am
Renee, the recipe is still being worked on. The texture of the cake is very dense and heavy. I’m hoping to figure out to make it lighter. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful at the moment.
By: Zoe V on January 23, 2011
at 1:16 pm
Hi Zoe,
this cake looks soooo good. Do you find a way to make it lighter? That would be the perfect birthday gift for my best friend…she is a vegan too and it is so hard to find vegan recipes here in Germany.
I wish u a sweet and successful week!
By: Daniela on June 5, 2011
at 5:42 pm
Hi Zoe. I know this is an old posting, but I just thought you should know that agave is poison. It is NOT a health food. Agave syrup is made from anywhere from 70-98% fructose, which is WAY worse for you than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is generally ~55% fructose. There is a lot of info on the web about this evil sweetener that has been masquerading as a health food. I would check out Dr. Mercola’s website and read up on it a bit. (Here is a link to some articles: http://search.mercola.com/search/Pages/results.aspx?k=agave )
By: Robert Murdock on August 17, 2011
at 5:55 pm
Robert, while it’s true that agave nectar is high in fructose, it’s not nearly as poisonous as white processed sugar or HFCS. You can’t generalize that all agave nectar is produced the same way. The one use in my recipes is clear and therefore, minimally processed under 115 degrees to maintain many of the living nutrients. I use other sweeteners such as coconut palm sugar, raw coconut nectar (10% fructose!) and dried fruits such as apricots and dates. If you use it in moderation, it should not be as dangerous as Dr. Mercola claims. Keep a balanced approach and you’ll be fine.
By: Zoe V on August 28, 2011
at 3:06 am
Хорошая статья, мне кажется что вам нужно в какие нибудь спец журналы писать
By: Владимир Малкин on November 27, 2011
at 2:59 pm
Вопрос к автору блога, а вот у вас время у каждой статьи и в комментариях пишется… Это какое? Московское? Заранее спасибо за ответ.
By: дeткa on November 27, 2011
at 3:26 pm
Zoe: Where do we get the recipe for this birthday cake?
Thanks,
Denise
By: Denise on February 11, 2012
at 1:49 pm
Denise, it’s been a while and I don;t have that recipe anymore. As much as it was fun to create, it was very time consuming which is why I never made it again. Also, the cake was very dense and heavy to eat.
By: Zoe V on February 27, 2012
at 1:31 am
Looks absolutely fabulous! I stick to making smaller raw vegan desserts – it’s easier for decor. I also make fast and easy recipes (yes, including brownies) lol. Keep up the great work! Check out my site if you are looking for dessert recipes.
By: Purna on June 27, 2012
at 1:32 am