Guess who’s back? Back again. Another AK cake recipes is back. Tell yo friends.
Hopefully you get that Eminem song reference and if not, let’s just move along to this DAMN GOOD PEANUT BUTTER BANANA CAKE. And surprise: this easy banana cake is gluten free, grain free and easily dairy free too. It’s a little healthier than most cakes, making it perfect for kiddo’s birthdays, or just anytime you want a DAMN GOOD cake.
I created this recipe almost 6 months ago on a whim and have been keeping it secret ever since. Since I make a Valentine’s Day cake recipe for you every single year, I knew this peanut butter banana cake would be this year’s sweet winner.
I’ve already made it four times already with various frostings (cream cheese, chocolate, vanilla and pb); but I found that pairing the peanut butter banana cake with peanut butter frosting was the clear winner. You know what they say: double the peanut butter, double the love.
Jk, that’s only me.
Ingredients in this gluten free peanut butter banana cake recipe
- Almond flour: I recommend using a fine blanched almond flour. Make sure you pack the almond flour like you would with brown sugar!
- Coconut flour: this is a great gluten free flour to help absorb moisture in recipes and also add fiber and nutrition. No need to pack the coconut flour.
- Vanilla: an essential in baking.
- Eggs: this peanut butter banana cake recipe calls for four eggs to help create a fluffy consistency and texture. To make this cake vegan you could try using 4 flax eggs (4 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 12 tablespoons water), but please know that I haven’t tested a vegan verison.
- Bananas: you’ll get major delicious, moist banana bread vibes but in cake form (omg yes). Make sure your bananas are ripe to provide a good amount of all-natural sweetness.
- Pure maple syrup: I love love baking with pure maple syrup for a touch of sweetness and moisture in baking.
- Peanut butter: because it’s a peanut butter cake, of course! Be sure to use an all natural creamy peanut butter that has just peanuts + salt. I love this brand for anything/everything but Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods both sell awesome peanut butters with just peanuts + salt as the ingredients. You’ll use peanut butter in both the cake batter and the fluffy peanut butter frosting.
- Mini chocolate chips: everything’s better with a little chocolate, right? You’ll add some mini chocolate chips directly to the cake batter, but feel free to jazz it up with some on the top & sides after you frost. Feel free to use dairy free mini chocolate chips like these if you’d like.
- Butter: along with the creamy peanut butter, the frosting calls for butter to create an incredibly delicious peanut butter buttercream. Feel free to use a vegan buttery stick, too.
- Powdered sugar: adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the frosting. You can also try my paleo powdered sugar recipe!
Let’s talk about the fluffy peanut butter frosting
Guys. This peanut butter frosting is fluffy, perfectly sweet and slightly addicting. To make it you’ll need just:
- softened butter (or a vegan buttery stick)
- powdered sugar
- natural, creamy peanut butter
- vanilla
- a few splashes of almond milk to make it extra creamy
Whip it up and spread it on to take this banana cake to the NEXT LEVEL. I re-tested it a couple of times to make it perfect, and let’s just say Abra and I were straight dipping apples in it the second time around. If you have extra frosting I’d recommend using it as a dip for your favorite fruit, pretzels, graham crackers or even a cookie recipe!
Tips for making this grain free peanut butter banana cake with peanut butter frosting
- You need a few essential kitchen tools for this recipe including: 6 inch cake pans (or you can use two 8-inch pans), parchment paper, an offset spatula for the frosting, a good set of mixing bowls and a cake stand.
- Use ripe bananas with a few brown spots. This help obtain the perfect cake texture, sweetness and consistency.
- Please be sure to follow the directions as written, and wait until the cake layers are completely cool before frosting them. After they are frosted, I recommend storing this gluten free peanut butter banana cake in fridge for optimal freshness.
- Do a crumb coat for the frosting first. Frost the layers as you normally would, coat the outside of the cake with a very thin layer of frosting, and then place the cake in fridge for 10-15 minutes before you finish frosting. This is so that the crumbs stick to this layer of frosting and not your main layer.
How to store this easy peanut butter banana cake
One of the best parts about this easy banana cake recipe is that you can make it 1-2 days ahead of time. I like to make the cakes ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for easy assemble, but you can also store it after you’ve frosted the cake too.
To store: feel free to leave the fully-frosting peanut butter banana cake on the countertop wrapped in tinfoil for one day. After that, transfer the cake to the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To freeze: you can actually freeze this peanut butter banana cake either frosted or unfrosted for up to 2 months! When you’re ready to serve it, simply thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and then let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
See how to make this gluten free peanut butter banana cake:
I hope you love this grain free peanut butter banana cake as much as we did! If you make it, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe. xo!
Damn Good Peanut Butter Banana Cake (gluten free, grain free)
Damn good grain free peanut butter banana cake filled with mini chocolate chips and topped with a luscious peanut butter frosting. This incredible gluten free peanut butter banana cake recipe is easy to make and perfect for Valentine's Day, birthdays and special occasions!
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients
- 3 very overripe medium bananas, mashed (1 ¼ cup mashed overripe banana)
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- ¾ cup natural creamy peanut butter (only peanuts & salt as ingredients)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Dry ingredients
- 2 cups packed super fine blanched almond flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- ½ cup coconut flour (do not pack)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips, dairy free if desired
- For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature (or sub vegan butter)
- ½ cup natural creamy peanut butter (just peanuts + salt)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice), to make the frosting creamy
- To garnish the cake:
- Mini chocolate chips around the edges of the cake
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of three 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper rounds. Spray parchment paper and sides of pan with nonstick cooking spray. YOU SHOULD USE PARCHMENT PAPER or the cake is likely to stick. Please do not forget.
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In a large bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, eggs, pure maple syrup, peanut butter and vanilla extract until smooth.
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In a large bowl, whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Fold in mini chocolate chips.
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Divide batter evenly between pans and spread out with a spatula to smooth the tops. Bake for 20-30 minutes if using two 8-inch pans and 25-35 minutes for three 6-inch pans. Cakes are done when a tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting or removing from the pans. The cake should be room temperature or cold when you frost it. This is very important. Cakes can be made a day ahead and stored in the fridge if you’d like.
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Make your frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and peanut butter and whip on high until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons almond milk. Beat slow at first, then increase speed to high and beat for approximately two minutes. Frosting should be nice and creamy, if you want it extra creamy, add another tablespoon of almond milk and beat again.
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Now it’s time to frost the cake: place about 1-2 tablespoons down onto the cake stand and spread out. Invert 1 cake onto the cake stand, add about ½ heaping cup frosting between each layer, repeat with each cake, then frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. If you’d like, you can do a crumb coat for the frosting first (to avoid crumbs in the frosting) by doing the following: Frost the layers as you normally would and then coat the outside of the cake with a very thin layer of frosting and place in fridge for 10-15 minutes before you finish frosting. This is so that the crumbs stick to this layer of frosting and not your main layer.
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Cake will stay good for 5-7 days in the fridge, and should be covered to ensure freshness. Serves 16.
Recipe Notes
To make dairy free: use vegan butter (I recommend Earth Balance) for the frosting. Be sure to also use dairy free chocolate chips (I recommend Enjoy Life).
To make vegan: I haven't tried making this cake vegan, but if you want to try you can use 4 flax eggs (4 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 12 tablespoons water).
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
118 comments
Can’t wait to try this! Any suggestions for almond flour substitute for those w/ an almond allergy?
Love your stuff!
Have you ever tried cashew flour? I have seen people use it in place of almond and i believe you can get it on amazon!
Feel free to use hazelnut or pecan flour instead of almond flour!
I substituted with oat flour because we have a tree nut allergy in my family and it worked beautifully. It’s no longer grain free, but I used gluten free oats to keep it gluten free.
Hey Brooke,
Could you tell me the conversion you used for the oat flour instead of almond flour? Thanks!
So glad those swaps worked out well! The perfect dessert 🙂
My level of excitement for this cake is… scary hahaha! looks AMAZING OMG!!!
YES it’s so amazing! Let me know when you get a chance to try it!
This looks divine! Thanks for all the tips.
Absolutely! Hope you get a chance to try it 🙂
I’m allergic to peanuts! Thoughts on using … cashew butter? almond butter? can’t decide what would work best!
Either would be fine! I would probably suggest cashew but it just depends on what nut butter you like more.
holy crud this looks delicious.
Thanks Dana! So. Delicious.
Hi! This looks SO fantastic. I can’t have almond flour (booo) but would oat flour be an okay substitute? Or chickpea flour?
Hi! Feel free to use hazelnut or pecan flour instead of almond flour.
This cake is amazing! Super easy to make and the taste is superb. You can fully taste all the flavors and they combine together beautifully. Thank you for another great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it! One of my favorite flavor combos, too 🙂
Hi! Have you ever made this but into cupcakes?
Hi! I haven’t tried it yet but bake temp would be the same. I would check the cupcakes around 18-25 minutes.
I made them as cupcakes and they were great! I made less frosting and stuff had some leftover. I just kept an eye on them but I would say my bake time was around 20 minutes.
Perfect!!
can’t wait to try!! What would the modifications be to make this without layers in a 9×13 baking pan?
Same temp and check the cake around 20-30 minutes. Make sure to grease your pan!
Oh, what a beautiful cake! I would love to make it for the 19th birthday of my daughter 🙂
That would be perfect! Let me know if you try it!
This cake is AMAZING!! I made a few modifications that I was a little nervous about, and it still turned out great.
I subbed oat flour for almond flour, flax eggs for eggs, and ghee for butter. All substitutions were 1 for 1 and it was perfect.
Cant wait to try this! Do you think this recipe would work as cupcakes? Any advice on cooking instructions?
Hi! I haven’t tried it yet but bake temp would be the same. I would check the cupcakes around 18-25 minutes.
Can I use almond butter or cashew butter instead of peanut?
Yes either should work!
This cake was a hit with my entire family (8 years to 88 years)! How do you keep the icing so pure white?! Mine turned out a deep tan color. It was delicious but not as pretty :/
The peanut butter frosting will be a light to medium tan color. It probably just depends on the color of your peanut butter. Also if you are using a paleo powdered sugar (such as paleo coconut sugar) that makes a big difference in color.
Can I get use brown sugar instead of maple syrup?
I can’t wait to make this!
I haven’t tried it, but if you’d like you can use 1 cup coconut sugar. Let me know how it turns out!
This was delicious! I used two 9in cake pans and baked for 20 minutes. The cake was moist and the frosting is creamy and not too sweet. Yum!!
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
Can I substitute regular flour for the almond/coconut flour? I have no gluten sensitives and don’t have those flours on hand. This sounds delicious either way!
Unfortunately a regular, all purpose flour won’t work in this one-to-one – sorry!
Hi!
This looks delicious and I plan on making it tonight. Can I use a general all purpose gluten free flour with same ratios or do you just recommend the 2 separate flours?
Thank you!
Hi Rebeka! It would be a completely different cake, so I’m not sure. Almond flour and coconut flour have unique absorbent properties and flavors so I recommend sticking to the recipe 🙂
Just made the Damn Good Peanut Butter Banana Cake- first off, can’t believe how easy it was, and second off can’t believe it’s gluten free and only sweetened with bananas and maple syrup!! Made this in a 9 x 13 pan and baked at 350 degrees for about 25 min. Same frosting recipe- perfect amount! Thanks for this deliciousness!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed and that it worked out well as a sheet cake – YUM.
Honestly not the best AK recipe. I’d say 99% are amazing but this ones just very unappealing. Icing is kind of weird. Edible but like more as a “healthy” snack than as a dessert. Thanks anyway 🙂
Sorry to hear you didn’t like this one, Hanna! I’m not sure where things went wrong as the icing is a pretty basic peanut butter buttercream. Glad you’re finding other recipes here that you like!
Can this cake be considered healthy?
Everyone’s definition of healthy is different, but I consider the more natural ingredients to be healthier than in traditional cakes 🙂
I made this recipe for my boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. After taking the first bite, he was SPEECHLESS. I’m a regular baker so he’s used to sampling what I’m baking. For this recipe, he said “This is the best thing you’ve ever made! A restaurant quality cake!” He then asked for a second helping, and asked if he could have some for breakfast this morning. This cake is a winner!
Amazing!! So happy to hear that 🙂 perfect Valentine’s Day treat!
This TRULY is damn good. I made it for Valentine’s Day and holy delicious it’s amazing. I made the recipe as is, but divided it amongst two 8” round pans and two 6” round pans. The layers were maybe 1-1 1/2” thick but still a night height for 4 layers. The frosting amount was perfect for the middle layers, a crumb layer, and the top layer. If you are wondering about making it, DO IT!!
Perfect! So happy you loved it – yum!
Just made this for my son’s 6th Birthday and couldn’t help but taking a bite out of the side to, of course, test it :). It was WONDERFUL! I made it in a 9×13 glass pan and decorated the top with mini choc chips in his name. He is going to love it!
Amazing! Love that 🙂 I hope he loves it, too!
I made it for my husband’s birthday and everyone loved it. It tastes like banana bread topped with peanut butter frosting. It was delicious!
So happy to hear that! My fav, too 🙂
Made this 2 times already! SOOOOOO DAMN GOOD!
YES love that, Ema!
I made this cake for my husbands birthday, I love to bake, but I have never made an actual cake before. This cake was so easy to make that my kids helped and it was so delicious we ate it every night until it was gone!
So happy to hear that, Shannon! The perfect birthday cake 🙂
Made the cake for hubby’s birthday and the whole family loved it! Frosting was the bomb!
Love it! So happy to hear that.
No joke 3rd time I am making this cake in I think 2 weeks? We can’t get enough of it! Ran out of chocolate chips this time so it will be chipless… sad but honestly we just had to make it regardless!
Love that!! The best 🙂
I followed the recipe to the T and it came out amazing. I wouldn’t change a thing.
So happy to hear that!
This cake was absolutely delicious but mine did not rise very well. Any idea why? It was extreme dense but still good . I also thought it could use more frosting .
That’s odd. Is your baking soda fresh and did you follow the recipe exactly? It will be a bit more dense because of the gluten free flours, but should not end up extremely dense.
I decided to try this just on the reviews it was getting and had a party Saturday so perfect timing. It was cut into and finished before I even thought about taking a picture lol. The icing is the bomb. Thank you ambitious kitchen for another successful cake. People always ask me where I get my recipes and I always say “My Girl”. Your my favourite blogger!! Always look forward to the next one.
Amazing! I’m so glad everyone loved it and that you’re finding your fav recipes here 🙂 Thanks, Kathy!
I did not have enough maple syrup so I used about half maple syrup and 1/2 molasses. The frosting, I used swerve with the regular confection sugar. The cake was delicious and those I shared with really liked it! Will definitely make again !
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Such a great dessert.
I’m planning on making this today for my husbands birthday. I couldn’t find coconut flour anywhere! Can I sub oat flour for the coconut flour? Also there was no parchment paper 😭😭😭. If I use non stick pans and oil spray do you think they will come out of the pans ok???
I haven’t tried this with oat flour but i suspect that it might work just fine! I might recommend adding a little more oat flour — maybe 1/4 cup. I recommend REALLY oiling up the pans. Otherwise you could make this in a 9×13 inch pan so you don’t have to worry about the cakes coming out of the pans!
Omg the icing is so delicious 😋 I want to bathe in it 😂😂😂
But really this cake is so good you won’t believe it’s gluten free ! 😂💕
My fav!! Glad you love it!
This cake was AMAZING! My sister is gluten intolerant so we are always on the lookout for good gluten free desserts. First off, as an avid baker, this was super easy to make. Everything came together easily. Everyone agreed that it was delicious, and my mom even commented “this is gluten free?”. Would definitely make again. I made it exactly as written without any problems.
Amazing! So happy you gave this one a try!
Hi! Is coconut flour necessary? May i leave it out?
Hi! It is necessary in here for the cake to bake up properly.
MAKE THIS CAKE! It was soooo delicious and easy to make. A big hit in my house and perfectly moist… yes I said the word but it’s true. Better than any store bought GF cake I’ve had!
So glad you loved it!
This was really good! I used this exact recipe to make cupcakes instead of cake – it yielded 18 cupcakes and the cook time was 20 minutes. They were kinda like a muffin, but when you frosted them, they were cupcakes! (we ate leftovers for breakfast).
Really good, moist, great texture and very tasty.
Delicious! Love that idea!
I’ve been wanting to make this cake since you first shared it, and I finally made it today! It really is mmm, mmm, damn good!! I will make this again and again!!
So glad you loved it! One of my favs 🙂
I made this for Easter but halved the recipe and it turned out great. My one and four year old ate it right up and my husband said it’s the best dessert we’ve had in awhile. The perfect amount of sweet without being over powering. It tastes like a delicious banana bread with frosting on it- yum!
Perfect! So glad everyone enjoyed 🙂
This was so easy to make and delicious!! I made this for Easter and added sprinkles to the top of it. I made it into a sheet cake and baked at the same temp for about 22 minutes. This will definitely be a repeat recipe in our house.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed!
This might be THE BEST recipe I have ever encountered…and on top of that, it is pretty easy! My family made me promise to make this every holiday. They couldn’t get enough! 12/10 must try!
Amazing! So happy to hear that, Charlotte!
We loved this cake! I made it vegan using egg substitute, vegan butter and it was delish!! Definitely a new favorite 👏🏻
Amazing! Glad that worked out well 🙂 the perfect dessert!
I discovered your blog about a year ago, and I have tried many of your recipes. I baked this for my birthday during home quarantine and it was amazing! Love the frosting! can’t stop licking it. Thank you very much for the amazing recipe! Love from Indonesia 🙂
Amazing! I’m so glad you found AK 🙂 one of my favorite recipes, too!
This cake in incredible! I made it for Easter and will be making it again for Mother’s Day. It was so moist and delicious, huge hit with my family! I typically don’t bake cakes but this recipe was easy and so good. Thank you!
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
Since quarantine began, I have made this 4 times. The cake recipe is also perfect sans icing for muffins or in a single layer for a healthy peanut butter banana bread! However, the frosting is divine. I’ve been making half a batch as muffins and the other half in an 8 in round cake pan. I make a half batch of the frosting for the cake, but the muffins are for mornings and snacks. Irresistible both ways!
Had to up my cardio because I’m only cooking for two… 😀
Amazing! Glad you love this one!!
This cake was DELICIOUS!! I made it into a 6-layer cake in my air fryer because the circuit to my oven was broken. It took super long because I had to cook each layer separately, but man was it worth it! Also, the peanut butter frosting is addicting – I couldn’t stop sneaking tastes from the bowl. Highly recommend!!
Amazing that it worked in your air fryer! And yes, obsessed with that frosting 😉
FIVE STARS!!!! (Star rating isn’t working for me). Made this today with my 2 year old daughter for her *graduation* and it was easy and delicious, although there were a few little hiccups! I used 2 round 6-inch cake pans and filled them almost all the way to the top, maybe left about 1/2 inch, and they rose beautifully BUT the centers of the cakes later collapsed while cooling on the countertop. IDK if this happened bc I overfilled them??… this is the first cake I make, even though I have been baking tons of other things for many years, and I didn’t have a third cake pan so I tried to pack it into two– and I was hoping it would work but had a bad feeling. Oh well– just wondering if that could have been avoided.
We also had enough batter left to fill one entire silicone baking cup which made one HUGE cupcake (the size of a baseball) with a beautiful rounded top and my toddler at the whole thing!! I would definitely use this recipe to make healthy cupcakes in the future.
Lastly, made a rookie mistake with the frosting… didn’t have powdered sugar so I ground up some organic raw cane sugar into a fine powder but found it made the frosting extremely sweet and BROWN. :/ Now did some research and found out that cane sugar is minimally processed and does not have the molasses removed. Granulated sugar, however, does have the molasses removed and can be ground up to make powdered sugar. Will definitely need to buy some next time. 😉
… and with all of that, the cake is still amazing!!! 🙂 Sharing my experiences just in case they can help someone else! Happy baking! 😉
Back to comment that our cake was way too moist so I imagine it was very undercooked after 30 mins, possibly bc the cake pans were pretty full, so the texture (and taste) was just like cookie dough… this seems like it would be the reason the centers collapsed. The cupcake, though, was well done at 30 mins, yet still moist, and it was the proper texture. Big bummer but a learning experience. Don’t overfill your pans!
Yes, you need to use 3 6-inch pans like the recipe calls for. Or else it’s too much batter and I’m not sure it would bake well. Let me know if you give it another try! 🙂
This cake looks delicious! I am going to make it for my one year old’s birthday who is obsessed with bananas and peanut butter. Do you know if I can sub all-purpose flour for the almond and coconut flours? Thank you!
Such a great combo! I wouldn’t suggest subbing all purpose flour in this as the texture and flavors will really change. Try these cupcakes instead!
Wow, this cake is amazing!! I did keto it by adding sugar free waldon farm syrup and also used Swerve confection for the icing and finally added Lily’s milk choco sugar free chips. It turned out super moist and delicious and my family had no idea it was sugar free. This recipe is a keeper. I made it in 2 8′ pans and baked it for 25 minutes. This will be a staple in my house from here on in. Thanks for the awesome recipe
I’m glad that worked out well! The perfect dessert 🙂
O.m.g. I made this for fathers day weekend and my husband absolutely loves it. It is highly addicting if u love peanut butter.
I let my cakes sit out over night last night and I frosted it this am. Just enough frosting to cover it all. Thank you for this heavenly cake.
Amazing! So happy to hear that!
Made this cake last night for my family and it was by far the very best GF DF cake I have ever had! Kudos to the chef! Flavor and texture were not compromised! By accident I used 3x 9 inch pans and although the layers were thinner it still came out perfect. I thought I had coconut flour (but didn’t) so had to substitute GF baking flour and it came out wonderfully! This cake will be moved up to my “need to make again” list. If you didn’t tell anyone it was GF no one would be able to tell. Excellent recipe!!
Amazing! I’m glad it still worked out well in those pans and with the GF baking flour 🙂
This was the very first recipe of yours I ever made and it was a HUGE hit. I made it for a get together with my girlfriends, one in which has celiac, so I wanted to make something delicious for her! At the time, I had a two month old and was trying to juggle being a first time mama and make this yummy cake, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out (because I had total mom brain). My friends LOVED it and so did I! I then went to another get together with my son and husband with some of my husbands work friends and decided to bring the leftover. It was demolished and also a huge hit because it is gluten free. I will definitely be making this again and again!
Amazing!! So happy to hear that, Linda. I can totally relate to juggling a newborn + trying to do anything in the kitchen 🙂 glad everyone enjoyed!
Hi! Can I use normal flour for this recipe instead?
Thanks!
Hi! Unfortunately regular will not work in this recipe. Sorry!
I’ve made this cake probably 5 times. It’s unbelievable. Everyone who tries it is blown away and can’t believe the cake is gluten free and refined sugar free (minus the frosting which has confectionery sugar but it’s to die for)
So happy to hear that!!