This super easy to make, delicious healthy chocolate cherry coconut cake is low in sugar and made using oil, as well as cocoa, coconut and frozen cherries.
My blog is 1 year old this week (!!!) and I am celebrating with this super delicious and easy to make healthy chocolate cherry coconut cake.
It’s been an exciting year full of challenges and learning and being out of my comfort zone all the time! All good stuff. I almost feel like a seasoned blogger! Almost. Which calls for a celebration! A cake then.
As with all my healthy desserts, I’ve kept the amount of sugar in this coconut chocolate cake recipe to the minimum. Very much in keeping with the everyday healthy philosophy of the blog!
Which is also why I used rapeseed oil instead of butter in this chocolate coconut cake recipe. If you’ve never had cake made with oil I really recommend you try one (or make this recipe:). It’s lighter and fluffier than a butter cake and much kinder to your digestive system (as well as your waistline!).
This easy cake combines my favourite dessert flavours: dark chocolate, delicious cherries and sweet coconut. So essentially black forest cake only a little differently. The recipe is also simple to make and the cake won’t collapse when it comes out of the oven. (I know this because I’ve made it a few times!).
How to make healthy chocolate cherry coconut cake
Start by beating the eggs and sugar, then gradually add the oil and continue beating until the mixture becomes glossy.
Then gradually add the ‘dry’ ingredients as well as the milk. Lastly, fold in the coconut and cherries and pour the cake batter into a lightly greased and dusted with flour spring form pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour.
How to make easy cherry topping
This is also very easy to put together. In a saucepan cook the cherries with the sugar and coconut oil for a few minutes until the mixture thickens and becomes syrupy. Squash the cherries with the back of a spoon as they cook.
You can either puree the mixture or leave it lumpy. Spread it over the cake once it’s cooled a little but the sauce can still be a little warm.
I’ve tried to keep the sugar and fat content of the cherry topping down by using only 1 and a half tablespoons of sugar (cherries and the coconut oil add natural sweetness).
More chocolate cherry recipes
If you like this dark chocolate cherry cake you might also like this moreish Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats recipe. Another healthy dessert you might like is Cherry Quinoa Rice Pudding. Check out also this gorgeous Healthy Black Forest Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Tart.
Other cake recipes using oil you might like
I also used oil in this easy Rooibos (Red Bush) Cranberry Tea Cake recipe! Also in this Healthy Chocolate Buttermilk Banana Cake. Check out also this Polish Gingerbread Loaf Cake (Piernik) Recipe as well as my Dairy Free Pumpkin Brownies.
Chocolate Cherry Coconut Cake (Dairy Free, Healthy)
Ingredients
- 4 level tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 and 1/4 cup frozen cherries
- 1 cup desiccated coconut plus more for decorating
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 4-5 tablespoons non dairy milk
- A little oil for greasing and flour for dusting the tin
For the topping
- 2 cups frozen cherries
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1.5 tablespoon preserving sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C/ gas mark 4. Lightly grease a round 24 cm springform cake tin with oil, sprinkle with a little flour, shake the tin to ensure even coverage (including the sides), tip out excess flour and set aside.
- Cream together the eggs and sugar, then gradually add the oil beating for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture becomes glossy.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cocoa) and milk beating all the time. Fold in the coconut and cherries stirring only until the coconut is no longer visible.
- Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- To make the topping in a small pan combine the cherries, sugar and coconut oil and cook over a high heat for about 6 minutes stirring constantly (until you are able to mash up the cherries a bit and the mixture reduces a little and looks syrupy). Remove from the heat. You can puree the mixture or leave it lumpy.
- Spread over the cake (the mixture can still be warm), sprinkle over coconut flakes and enjoy!
Pin Chocolate Cherry Coconut Cake (Dairy Free, Healthy)!
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RECIPE LINK PARTIES
I am sharing this dark chocolate cherry cake recipe with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday. Also sharing with Fiesta Friday (cohosted by Ai at Ai Made It For You and Petra at Food Eat Love) and Saucy Saturdays.
Hi, I am Monika, welcome to Everyday Healthy Recipes! This blog is all about creatively simple recipes with a healthy twist, old classics with a modern take, and an occasional Polish dish thrown into the mix - all easy to make, healthy and delicious, perfect for everyday cooking. 
Wow Monika that cake looks soooo good! really inticing and full of flavour! A great choice to celebrate your blog’s fisrt birthday, happy blogiversary!
Angela x
Thank you Angela! It was so popular with everyone in my house not even a crumb remained:)
Congratulations on your blog birthday, Monika!!? My blog birthday is coming up next week but I have no idea what I’ll be making to celebrate haha. Your cake looks delicious! I love the combination of chocolate and coconut, and what’s not to love about a healthier cake?? Just a reminder, don’t forget to add links to Petra’s blog and my blog so you can be considered for features next week? Thanks for sharing, and Happy Fiesta Friday!!?
Thank you Ai! Congratulations on you blog birthday next week! Thank you for reminding me to add the links, I’ll do it straight away:)
I love the combination of coconut, cherries, and chocolate too! I only wish cherry season lasted longer! Thank goodness for frozen cherries!
Thank you Julia! I also am a great fan of cherries and find the frozen variety great in baking, though nothing beats fresh of course.
Happy Blogiversary!!!!! I cannot believe your blog is only one – it looks and feels so much more grown up – you have achieved a lot in a short space of time – I wish you all the best for year two!! And what a cake to celebrate with – I love all the flavours AND the fact that it is a little bit healthier – my kind of cake, for sure 🙂 Thanks for linking it up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Thank you so much Eb, I feel you are being too kind:) Glad you like the cake, I’ll be using oil in baking much more from now on, it really doesn’t leave you feeling like you’ve eaten a mountain (at least that’s how I feel after eating cakes using butter).
Congratulations on your blog birthday – I feel like I’ve known you for much more than a year! Your photos and recipes are always lovely so well done. This cake is no exception X
Thank you Mandy! I feel the same, it seems strange it’s only been a year. Thank you for your kind words:)
Oh me, oh my! Chocolate-cherry-coconut, that’s kind of my three favourite flavours all squished up together! This is at the top of my to-do-list!
Thanks! I love using frozen fruit in my desserts, it reminds me of summer:)
Congratulation on your blog birthday. It’s a great blog with lots of lovely recipes, you should be very proud of it I know I would be. I love popping along to see what you have written even though I don’t always get a chance to leave a comment. Ive only been blogging a little longer than you and I struggle to find time to get everything done, you are much more on top of it than me.
Thank you for your kind words Jacqui, I too visit blogs, yours included, without always leaving a comment, there just isn’t enough time to get everything done, as you say. I certainly don’t feel on top of it most of the time, but I just try my best and maybe one day I really will feel like I know what I’m doing. In any case it’s fun trying to get there, isn’t it?