Decadent Healthy Chocolate Cake for Kids Who Love Chocolate

Your Kids Will Beg You to Make This Chocolate Cake

This healthy chocolate cake for kids is truly decadent yet totally guilt-free. Your kids will beg you to make this cake for them … and you’ll probably say, “Okay.” Because this cake is not only irresistibly delectable, it is also naturally sweetened with maple syrup, making it a much healthier alternative to the typical chocolate cake.

I have made so many chocolate cakes over the years. Some were recipes I found online, others were my own recipes. The only common theme among them is that I’ve always made them without processed sugar. Sometimes I have used date paste, sometimes I have used coconut sugar (but I’m really not a fan of coconut sugar).

But my daughter has never liked any of them as far as I can remember. It actually got to the point that my daughter declared she didn’t even like chocolate cake. And my daughter is a chocolate-lover, so that came as quite a shock to me!

I had literally ruined her appetite for chocolate cake.

She recently told me it’s because my chocolate cakes are always dry. But let me tell you, when I made this moist chocolate cake layered and frosted with my chocolate tahini buttercream frosting … Well, let’s just say this is now one of her absolute favorite special treats. And I’m not exaggerating.

As I type this, she has been eating this chocolate cake for breakfast every morning for a week and a half. The girl who decided she doesn’t even like chocolate cake for the past year or two now begs me for a piece of this rich chocolate cake each day.

And I don’t really mind her having her cake and eating it too. Because I know what’s in it, and it’s a much healthier option than the typical sweet treats kids call “dessert” or even “breakfast”. Honestly, I would much rather she eat this maple syrup-sweetened chocolate cake for breakfast than a bowl of highly processed cereal full of refined sugar.

This cake is incredible. It is healthy, yes, but it is also intensely chocolate, mouthwatering, luscious and indulgent. Now, your kids might not have the vocabulary to describe the cake in this way. But you can bet they are experiencing it all just the same when they get a bite in their mouths.

From their lips, you’ll know this chocolate cake is a hit when they say it’s “SO GOOD!”

What to Make This Cake for

This cake could be used for so many special occasions for kids – and even for adults! Or, if you happen to be a food blogger testing out recipes, it’s a great cake to make on an average weekend too 😊

Birthdays are the most obvious and absolutely perfect time to make this delicious chocolate cake. As a matter of fact, I did make this cake for two of the four layers in the cake I made for my daughters’ joint birthday party this past year. I alternated layers of this chocolate cake with layers of my healthy vanilla cake and frosted the whole thing with my vanilla buttercream frosting.

It went over so well with the kids and the parents!

You could also make this cake for so many different holidays and holiday parties by frosting it with vanilla buttercream frosting, colored to match the colors of the holiday. Pink for Valentine’s Day. Pastels for Easter. Orange for Halloween. Red and Green for Christmas.

If you want to make colored frosting, I recommend making my honey-sweetened buttercream frosting and using this food coloring by India Tree that is plant-based, sugar-free and dye-free.

This would also be a great cake to surprise your child with after a big accomplishment. Perhaps when your child graduates from kindergarten. Or even after his or her first day of Pre-K.

That first time your child goes to school (especially for a full school day) can be brutal for parent and child. Baking a cake might be just the thing to keep your mind occupied and just the thing to light up your child’s face at the end of the day.

Or you could make this homemade healthy chocolate cake when your child masters a new skill that required lots of practice and perseverance.

Of course, your kids will be thrilled to have this cake any time you are willing to make it 🙂 But since it is a pretty rich and decadent cake, you probably won’t be making this cake on any ol’ random day. This cake is special. This cake screams, “Celebration!”

Ingredients

• Butter: Butter makes everything taste better. It adds moisture and also helps with rise. I like to use Irish grass-fed or organic butter, but any butter will work.

• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is the natural, unprocessed sweetener in this cake. With it’s ultra-sweet flavor and light weight, it’s excellent for naturally sweetening baked goods without weighing them down or making them dense.

• Eggs: Eggs are the binder that hold everything together. Preferably use organic, cage-free or – even better – farm fresh eggs for maximum nutritional benefits.

• Milk: Milk is the liquid in this chocolate cake recipe. I use organic whole milk.

• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds that little bit of extra flavor. Be careful when buying vanilla. Some bottles inconspicuously say that they contain vanilla extract, but there are other, less pure ingredients as well. Check the ingredients to make sure it is only vanilla extract.

• Flour: Use whatever all-purpose flour you normally use for baking. I use organic, unbleached flour from Costco.

• Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder is the source of rich chocolate flavor in this delicious cake. I often use this cacao powder, but regular cocoa powder is also just fine.

• Baking Powder: Baking powder gives the cake it’s perfect rise. Make sure you have aluminum-free baking powder.

• Salt: Salt is almost always necessary in baking to help bring out the other flavors. I use pink Himalayan sea salt, but any salt will do.

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 2

Using an 9-inch round cake pan, trace around the bottom onto a piece of parchment paper with a pen and then cut out the circle. Place the circle in the bottom of the cake pan and spray generously with oil.

Step 3

In a medium-size bowl, mix softened butter and maple syrup with an electric hand or stand mixer.

Step 4

Add eggs, vanilla and milk to bowl and mix again.

Step 5

Add all dry ingredients to wet and mix until fully combined.

Step 6

Pour batter into prepared cake pan and spread around with a spatula. Tap on the counter to help even out the top and release air bubbles.

Step 7

Place pan in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick. toothpick should be inserted in the center of the cake and come out clean when done. Do not overbake.

Step 8

Take pan out of the oven and allow to cool on the counter for 20-30 minutes before removing cake from the pan. When you are ready to remove the cake from the pan, carefully turn the pan over on top of a plate or cooling wrack. The cake should release easily.

Step 9

Allow cake to cool the rest of the way on the plate or cooling wrack. As soon as cake is fully cooled, wrap in plastic wrap and place in a sealable plastic. Place in the fridge or freezer and allow to chill for several hours before frosting.

Substitutions & Tips

• This recipe can also be made into cupcakes. To make cupcakes, simply line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake wrappers and bake for 18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs.

• There is really no ingredient in this moist, delicious chocolate cake that I can recommend substituting. I have tried making various chocolate cakes over the years, but this one has been the best by far. It is difficult to achieve the same moistness and beautiful flavor when making a diary-free or gluten-free chocolate cake.

That being said, I do not particularly specialize in dairy-free baking and I definitely do not specialize in gluten-free baking. My specialty is processed sugar-free baking. So if you do try a substitution that works with this recipe, please let me know in the comments.

• Note that this recipe makes ONE 9-inch round cake layer. Multiply the recipe by however many layers you want your cake to be. You can do this easily on the recipe card. After clicking the “Print” button, you will have the option to adjust the servings. Simply double or triple the original amount shown to get the correct ingredient amounts for the number of batches you want to make.

• I highly recommend baking this cake at least 12 hours before you want to frost it so that it has time to freeze. Frosting a frozen cake is so much easier and helps the frosting to firm up instead of becoming melty while you work.

• To freeze your cake layers, wrap them in plastic wrap followed by foil as soon as they are cool from the oven. Then, place each layer in a plastic sealable bag to preserve freshness and store in the freezer.

• To learn how to properly frost and decorate a cake in a way that is very approachable for beginners, I highly recommend watching YouTube videos from Still Busy Baking by Steph Carr. Her videos are how I learned to step-up my frosting abilities and create the perfect chocolate drip on my cake.

• This cake pairs exceptionally well with my chocolate tahini buttercream frosting, but it also pairs very well with my vanilla buttercream frosting.

• For the filling between each cake layer, you can use the same frosting as you are using for the outside or you can use a jam, like my homemade strawberry jam sweetened with honey.