Almond joy layer cake

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup toasted finely shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup maple sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablepsoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 tablepsoons cider vinegar

Frosting:

• 1 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup toasted almond butter
• 1 tablepsoon coconut oil
• 1 tablepsoon coconut milk, or more if needed
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, or more if needed
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablepsoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups toasted sliced almonds
• 1 1/4 cups toasted large flake coconut

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Line two six-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with parchment paper.
• Coat parchment paper and pan sides with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, sea salt, and sugar in a large bowl to blend well.
• Whisk oil, juice, vanilla extract and food coloring together in small bowl to blend well, then whisk into the flour mixture until well blended. Whisk in cider vinegar and stir quickly (pale swirls will be in the batter, which is the baking soda reacting with the vinegar, which allows the cake to rise since there are no eggs).
• Transfer cake batter to prepared pan and bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack, about 1 hour.
• Cut around sides of pan to loosen. Turn cake out onto platter; peel off parchment paper. Let cool completely, then place in the fridge to chill until very cold to make slicing easier (since cakes with no eggs crumble easier).
• When chilled, slice cakes horizontally in half so that you have 4 layers. To make frosting, whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl until very smooth, adding more cocoa powder if the frosting is not thick enough, or more coconut milk if too thick.
• Place a layer of cake on a plate, and spoon about 1/2 cup frosting over, almost to the sides, then top with about 2 tablepsoons each toasted almonds and coconut. Add another cake layer and repeat.
• Top with another cake layer, another frosting layer, the nuts and coconut then the top cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and the sides of the cake, and sprinkle almonds and coconut over the top of the cake, and at the base.

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