Instagram has spoken - and requested the recipe for Deniki's 8th birthday cake creation!
This was a human chocolate cake recipe that I adapted to suit a wheat free dog who absolutely adores sweet treats, but as we know dog's cant eat chocolate- so we swapped it for the dog friendly alternative- carob!
Carob and Coconut Dog Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Cake: 1/3 cup carob powder (found in health food stores) 1 cup flour of choice *see note 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (any milk is fine) 1/4 cup coconut oil 1/4 cup plain yoghurt 2 eggs 1 tblsp honey Cream cheese icing: 1/2 block cream cheese dash of coconut milk 1 tblspn coconut flour Chocolate icing: Melted carob chips dash of coconut milk
1 tblspn coconut flour Method: Preheat oven to 180C and grease your cake pan (I used coconut oil and a large rectangular tin which i cut smaller rounds from) Whisk eggs, and add all wet ingredients. Whisk to combine. In a seperate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients- mix. *See notes Pour into cake tin and bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin, then on wire rack Cut shapes if doing so *See notes Cream cheese icing Method: Add cream cheese and coconut milk to a small bowl. Beat until it is smooth Add coconut flour if more form is needed for piping Chocolate icing: Melt carob chips in a bowl (microwave on low or double boil) Add a dash of coconut milk and a spoon of flour. Beat until desired consistency Use piping bags to decorate your cake!
Top with any other dog friendly decorations you'd like!
Notes: 1. I used coconut flour for this recipe, it does make it texturally strange, and it absorbs a LOT of moisture, so you will likely need to add extra water until you get a nice batter consistency if you also use coconut flour. Other options are: plain flour, wholewheat flour, buckwheat flour, oat flour etc 2. I baked the slab for 30 mins, if using smaller tins, bake for a shorter length of time until a skewer comes out clean 3. If baking a slab and then cutting shapes from it, it is easiest to do this when the cake is slightly frozen. So freeze for a few hours prior to cutting. 4. Ensure you are using CAROB only. No cocoa, no cacao, no chocolate - as these are toxic to dogs. 5. Obviously this isn't a balanced meal- but will cause the average dog no harm for a once a year celebration!
As you can see, Deniki loved it!
If you try this recipe, or a recipe for your own pup, or create something similar inspired by this post, please share and tag us @tailsoftime on Instagram. I'd love to see!