102 posts, over 1K followers, and over 170K views later, Radiant Rachels has reached its 1st blogiversary! When I imagine a meet up with every single one of you, it blows my mind what a massive group we’d be. We would need hundreds of this semi-mini pancake cake to feed us all.
The past year running this blog has brought about many changes. Since starting this blog, we’ve:
- Gotten addicted to Pinterest and Instagram
- Met up with Instagram friends in real life
- Graduated with each other
- Moved into the city and a block away from each other
- Eaten our weight in local ice cream (not necessarily due to the blog, but it’s still true)
- Listened to 1989 on repeat
- Dedicated our studies to food
By the way, it’s Leung here! Lately I’ve been obsessed with naked cakes. I’m not even gonna lie, I spent three hours on Pinterest pinning naked cakes right before constructing this one. Their simplistic look and ease of assembly is so my style. No need to spend hours trying to get every layer even and every inch of the surface as smooth as marble. Since the cake is so bare (harharhar), you can use whatever fruit is in season or pick fruits that match your desired colour scheme. Our local Whole Foods had a great mango sale so we decorated ours with some of that.
March has been a whirlwind for the two of us with midterms, Pi Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and our blogiversary to prepare for. Anything that would save us prep time was very welcomed, which is why we opted for a pancake cake instead of a baked cake. No oven? No problem! This recipe makes 5 biiiiig pancakes that will act as our cake layers. Each of my pancakes were slightly different in shape but I quite like the “rustic” look.
Now I’ll pass it to Chew to say type a few words…
Chew here! I wrote an interpretive poem with deep thoughts and hidden meanings. I’m pretty much Robert Frost.
Today is the day of birth of this ravishing blog
I don’t know about you but I feel like making a yule log
And maybe adopt an Australian sheep dogThen perhaps celebrate with some nut butter
Because I am a real nutter
And peanut butter makes my heart flutterThank you for all your support
Y’all are cooler than my winter fort
I wish Leung and I could just teleport
And see y’all at a Hawaiian resortBut for now I just want to say
You people make my day
We should most definitely make you some sorbet
And maybe even a rich chocolate soufflé
But to our dismay
We don’t have a reindeer sleigh
So we can’t make our jolly way
To shower y’all with strawberry yogurt parfait
Or treat you to a vegetable buffet in a ski chalet
And play a grand game of croquetThank you to you all
Up the ladder and down the wall
Popcorn ball.
Thanks for sticking around with us goofballs and cheers to many more years of scrumptious and healthy food! Let us know what recipes and content you want to see on Radiant Rachels by leaving a comment below.
To make mango rosettes: Choose a medium-ripe mango, peel the skin off using a vegetable peeler, cut out the seed, and thinly (2mm) slice the two mango cheeks. (If using a very ripe and soft mango, make the slices a bit thicker.) Take a short slice and roll it up tightly and stand the roll upright. Wrap the roll with more and more slices until you achieve the size you like. Slide a knife underneath the rosette and transfer onto the cake.
- PANCAKES
- 2 cups oat flour
- ½ cup buckwheat flour, or more oat flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- A dash of ground cinnamon, optional
- 3 tbsp chia seeds, finely ground
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp water
- 1 ½ cup almond milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- WHIPPED COCONUT CREAM
- 1 (14 oz.) can of coconut cream (not milk!), chilled in the fridge overnight
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp powdered stevia, or more maple syrup to taste
- Fresh fruit for decorating, washed and dried of excess water
- For the pancakes, whisk the oat flour, buckwheat flour (if using), baking soda and powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl until roughly combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the ground chia seeds with water until combined. Let it gel for a minute or two. Add the almond milk, vanilla, oil, and maple syrup and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and whisk until very smooth; since this is a gluten free recipe, there is no fear of overmixing!
- Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, spray a little bit of cooking spray if your pan needs it, and cook the pancakes using about half a cup for each pancake. Use a spatula to help spread the pancake out into a 6-inch circle. Once the bottom is golden brown, flip the pancake and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown as well. Transfer the cooked pancakes onto a cooling rack to cool. Continue with the remainder of the batter.*
- To make the whipped coconut cream, whisk together the coconut cream, vanilla, maple syrup, and powdered stevia in a small or medium mixing bowl until smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness as needed. This next step is crucial: chill the whipped cream in the freezer for 10 minutes before using. If the cream is not stiff enough, it will liquefy as you assemble your cake!
- Once the pancakes are completely cooled and the coconut cream is chilled, you are ready to assemble and decorate! An optional step is to trim the edges of the pancakes off to show the ‘cakey’ interior and make all the pancakes a uniform shape and size.
- Place the ‘ugliest’ looking pancake onto your serving dish, top with about ¼ to ⅓ cup of whipped coconut cream, and then another pancake. Repeat this alteration of pancake and cream, ending with the ‘prettiest’ pancake. Before adding the very last layer of cream, insert 3 wooden skewers, trimmed to be exactly the height of your cake, through all the layers in a circle 1 inch away from the edge of the cake. These sticks will hold the cake upright and prevent any slipping and sliding. Add a generous layer of cream to the top of the cake, hiding the skewers. Decorate with fresh fruit. Serve immediately or store in a container or wrapped in the fridge for 1 to 2 days.
Congrats on the blogiversary, ladies! I’ve been following for a few months but have stayed pretty quiet in the comments section. Your recipes, blog design, and photography is/are all fab. Wishing you the best! Thanks for posting such great ideas 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Hello Ella, thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely and encouraging comment!