Gluten Free Coconut Cake with Fresh Berries, Ganache, and Whipped Cream

 This Coconut Cake with Fresh Berries, Ganache, and Whipped Cream is tender, slightly sweet, and fragrant. Plus, it is a truly decadent gluten free dessert. 

It’s difficult to imagine where I’d be without mom’s table. I grew up at that table amidst plates, casserole dishes, and the Sunday paper.  It’s where I took my first bites. It’s where my brother and I fought for elbow space, where I slurped cereal and read the comics before school. It’s where I ate stuffed crust pizza and giggled about boys with my friends. It’s where I learned to hull strawberries and play a mean game of Rook. It’s where we hashed out curfews and dating relationships, where I agonized over college decisions, and where I cut, pasted, and sealed hundreds of wedding invitations. It’s where we celebrated birthdays and Thanksgivings, long summer nights and wedding mornings.

Over the years, Mom’s table has welcomed friends and family, neighbors and distant guests. It’s captured stories from the walls of elementary schools to the safaris of Uganda. It’s seen celebration and grief, fights and forgiveness. It’s been full of turkey and mashed potatoes and full of junk mail. Laden with candles and china or paper plates and solo cups (or both). It’s been a desk. A counselor’s office. A crafting nook. A bakery. A card table. A refuge.

Anyone that’s lucky enough to spend some time around Mom’s table has experienced it. There’s a sense, a feeling you get, sitting there, that this is the kind of place you want to be. It’s the kind of place you can let loose a little bit. Be yourself. Laugh until you snort. It’s the kind of place you want to stay awhile and cozy into. The kind of place that feels like home.

It’s not the table that draws me back there, time and again, and makes me stay into the wee hours of the morning. It’s not mom’s colorful, vintage decorating style (though it’s so inviting), and it’s not even the smell of her fresh baked goods (though I can’t resist them).

No, the reason this table is so powerful is because of Mom. It’s her person, her presence,that draws people. Mom’s love hits you the moment you sit at her table. It whispers: You are welcome here. You are loved. You are enough. You belong.

I can never thank Mom enough for that simple message. For showing me, through brownie batter and breakups, what it means to be unconditionally loved. What it means to be welcomed, no matter the circumstance. What it means to be generous with my time and my food, and with my own kitchen table. Her love has changed and shaped me, and pointed me to Jesus, time and again. And that’s the greatest gift she could have ever given me.

This week all of our #SundaySupper contributors are honoring our mothers by making special dishes just for them. Our kitchen table has looked a little different since mom found out she has to follow a gluten free diet. You’d never hear a complaint come out of her mouth, but mom has had to pass over too many desserts since then. I made this cake so she could enjoy a truly decadent gluten free dessert.

The cake is made with coconut flour which is light and nutty and has an absolutely intoxicating scent. Coconut flour soaks up a lot of liquid, so this recipe requires a lot of eggs. But this couldn’t be easier to make. Honestly, it’s easier than any gluten-full cake I’ve ever made. You just throw all the ingredients together in a mixer or food processor and blend until smooth. That’s it. No separating the wet and dry ingredients. No creaming butter and sugar.  Just throw it in and blend.

The resulting cake is tender, slightly sweet, and fragrant. It makes a beautiful base for frosting or, in this case, piled high with fresh berries, rich chocolate ganache, and fluffy, orange-scented whipped cream.

I love the understated elegance of this cake. It reminds me of mom. It’s not fancy or glamorous, but has a graceful beauty about it that just begs you to grab a slice.

Make sure you take a look at my other great shareable recipes by searching for “Mother’s Day” in the search bar at the top of the page!