Vegan Cocoa Butter Birthday Chocolate Cake Topped With Cherry Preserves, Coconut, & Sliced Almonds

A merry slice of chocolate birthday cake paired with Trader Joe's Soy Creamy Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

This past Sunday, upon turning older and celebrating in modest style amongst my family, I realized a newfound pride in creating new recipes and sharing vegan food with loved ones. It's just wonderful to have not only made it to 10 months, but to find an appreciation to interweave animal compassion into my birthday and beyond.
The idea to utilize cocoa butter, an ingredient solely used in my hair/face/body products, came from saving a huge chunk of the raw, unrefined rock that smelled so delicious that it begged to be in the cake.
Sorry, I can honestly state that my birthday wasn't oil free. Maybe next year?
And let's agree not talk about the epic failure of the pumpkin frosting or if the So Delicious Coconut Almond Chip survived long enough to reach October 7th.....

Vegan Cocoa Butter Birthday Chocolate Cake Topped With Cherry Preserves, Coconut, & Sliced Almonds

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup melted cocoa butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (So Delicious Plus)
2 tablespoon cherry preserves
2 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

3 tablespoon cherry preserves
2 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
handful sliced almonds

Grease and flour a 8 or 9 inch cake pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend all the lovely ingredients together. Bonne Maman hands down best Cherry preserves ever & apparently imported from France, which makes it super duper fancy!

Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes & transfer onto a plate. As it cools, spread on the preserves & sprinkle on the coconut & almonds.

Though it sits near the spinach & basil pesto Daiya topped pizza, the cake was never forgotten during dinner. If you spied how old I became, do not congratulate yourself. ;)

At $3.99 for 8 servings, I commend this delicious flavor of soy ice cream! So very yum & coordinated well with the cherry chocolate theme of the party.

Perfection.

Moist, delightful heaven, the cocoa butter shines through every bite of this rich chocolate cake complemented harmoniously by textured flaky coconut, sweet cherry preserves, and the raw crunch provided by sliced unsalted almonds and the soft, flavorful soy ice cream.
The cake wasn't the only hit.
My nonvegan family enjoyed the green saucy nontraditional Daiya topped pizza (perhaps not truly believing that the "cheese" was really vegan), the crispy Kettle Brand potato chips, and the yummy addictive Trader Joe's ice cream was almost gone before the party ended.
And keep in mind, there were only four of us! Hahaha!
Now Mom said she'll be by often. Yes!
Though I do enjoy eating alone, it's even sweeter to watch people relishing and greedily engulfing your food as though there's nothing better on earth to eat, especially this compassionate, animal free cooking that makes my heart and insides feel all warm and fuzzy.
So yes, all in all, a great birthday this year. After 3 days, I still cannot stop thinking about it.
Maybe because I ate the last slice of cake today. Good warmed up too!