*This post is sponsored by Earthco. All words, images, and opinions are my own.

Natural food coloring is such a magical thing! I’m always amazed at the level of vibrancy that can be created using just freeze dried fruit and different flowers and spices. I also love that along with taking out the icky ingredients found in normal food coloring, the natural stuff actually enhances anything I create with antioxidants and lots of other good for me benefits. Typically I will use a few core natural food powders, or liquids, and mix them together to achieve all of the colors I need, but I’m so excited to collaborate with Earthco to bring you a raw rainbow cake made using their vast range of natural food coloring powders, which contains multiple shades of a hue (as well as some really yummy flavor additions like bourbon vanilla, lavender, and pumpkin spice). I was also happy to see how well Earthco powders blend into anything, making it easy to quickly and evenly color liquids, thick buttercreams, and even marzipan dough without clumps.

This raw rainbow cake is gluten and dairy free, and is much simpler to make than it looks thanks to the chocolate almond crust and coconut vanilla filling that works as a base for each cake slice flavor. Feel free to try all of the flavor combinations, or pick and choose your favorites. While I loved trying out all of the Earthco natural food colorings, the Butterfly Pea Flower powder is definitely a favorite of mine as it contains a little extra magic (it goes from blue to purple to fuchsia with just the squeeze of a lemon). I thought it would be perfect in the dreamy blueberry galaxy slice, and, of course, I had to add a few cute animals to the mix :). I was impressed by how well the flavors of the powders incorporated into the cake slice flavors I was creating without overpowering them (like the blue spirulina which can sometimes taste fishy in large amounts, but was hardly noticeable in the cake). I’m especially a fan of the Rosehip flavored Strawberry powder which has a sweet, almost bubblegum like taste, and combined with the matcha powder, in the rose strawberry matcha latte slice, was prob the yummiest of them all.

This is a great dessert to make ahead, so that you always have a healthyish option on hand for when your sweet tooth strikes. Plus, the individual slices are great for portion control (unless you are like me and want to sample each flavor haha). You can find out more about Earthco (along with their awesome biodegradable and compostable packaging), and help support a product that creates beautiful, vibrantly colored food with benefits on their Kickstarter page.

Ingredients: (makes 7 individual cake slices)

Chocolate Almond Crust:

8 cavity silicone cake slice mold

1 1/2 cups finely ground almond flour

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips or flakes

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons cacao powder

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or 2 medjool dates

Coconut Vanilla Base Filling:

2 cans full fat coconut milk

2 cups soaked cashews

Pinch sea salt

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or 8 drops liquid stevia

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Decorations:

Marzipan

Your favorite cashew buttercream

Earthco Natural Food Coloring Powders:

Pink Pitaya

Blue Spirulina

Turmeric Root

Coconut Charcoal

Hibiscus Flower

Butterfly Pea Flower

Premium Matcha

Rosehip Strawberries

1 teaspoon rosewater

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

2 tablespoons frozen raspberries

3 tablespoons frozen mango chunks

2 tablespoons frozen blueberries

5 frozen strawberries

1 mango

1 small orange

1/2 a small lemon

Gold star sprinkles

Rainbow sprinkles

Toothpicks

Wax paper

Small zip top bag

Directions:

1. To soak the cashews stir ½ tablespoon sea salt into 4 cups filtered water in a medium size bowl. Add the cashews, cover with a thin kitchen towel, and allow them to soak for at least 3 hours on the counter. Before using the cashews drain the water and rinse them until the water coming off is clear. Set aside.
2. Add all of the crust ingredients to a food processor, and process until the ingredients begin to stick together to form a dough-like texture. Evenly distribute the crust mixture among 7 of the cake slice cavities, and firmly press into the bottom of each. Transfer to the freezer while making the filling. I like to place the silicone mold on top of a baking sheet to make it easier to move it in and out of the freezer.
3. Using a high-speed blender, combine all of the filling ingredients, adding the cashews ½ cup at a time, until smooth. Blend for 1 minute more on medium-high speed to make sure the cashews are completely broken down.
4. To make the bear cake slice, pour enough of the filling over the crust to fill 1 cake cavity.
5. To make the polka dot cake slice, pour the filling into a second mold cavity. Separate a little of the filling into 7 small bowls, and add 1 – 2 teaspoons each of the Earthco Hibiscus Flower, Turmeric Root, Premium Matcha, Blue Spirulina, Pink Pitaya, Hulled Strawberries, and Butterfly Pea Flower powders to each bowl, stirring to combine (add more for more intense color). Use a toothpick dipped into each color to create the dots on top of the filling.
6. To make the rainbow cake slice, fill a third cake slice cavity ¾ full, and use a toothpick to draw each color on top in stripes (I made the orange by mixing together the Turmeric Root, Hulled Strawberries and a touch of Hibiscus Flower).
7. To make the chick cake slice, transfer the filling bowl you added Earthco Turmeric Root to along with 3 tablespoons frozen mango to your blender. Blend until smooth (add more filling if needed to get it going), and pour into a cake cavity with the crust. Use a toothpick dipped into the filling bowl mixed with Hulled Strawberries powder to draw the diagonal stripes on top.
8. To make the pig cake slice, transfer the filling bowl you added the Earthco Pink Pitaya to along with the 2 tablespoons frozen raspberries to your blender, blend until smooth (adding more filling if needed). Pour into a cake cavity with just the crust. Add a little more Pink Pitaya powder to that filling bowl and transfer to a small zip top bag. Cut a corner off the edge of the bag, and pipe any design you would like on the end.
9. To make the Matcha Strawberry Rose cake slice, transfer the filling bowl you added Earthco Hulled Strawberries to along with the 5 frozen strawberries, and rose water, to your blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a cake cavity with just the crust. Use a toothpick dipped into the Matcha filling to draw stripes on the bottom of your slice and drag a toothpick through the lines going in the opposite direction.
10. To make the galaxy cake slice, add almost all of the leftover filling back to the blender (reserving a little of the uncolored filling). Add 2 teaspoons Earthco Coconut Charcoal and 2 tablespoons frozen blueberries and blend until smooth. Pour into the last cake cavity with just crust. Use a toothpick to add in swirls of the Pink Pitaya, Blue Spirulina, Blue Pea Flower and uncolored filling to the top. Squeeze the fresh lemon into the Blue Pea Flower bowl to make purple, and swirl that in as well.
11. Transfer your cake slice mold back to the freezer for at least 4 hours, or until the cake slices are set.
12. Use the marzipan to mold the bear’s ears, and pig’s ears, snout, and tail (add a little Pink Pitaya for color).
13. Pipe the cashew buttercream onto the middle of the bear for the nose, and tint a little with Pink Pitaya to pipe onto the ears.
14. Cut the chick’s wings out of fresh mango, and use a large round piping tip, or sharp kitchen knife to cut the beak out of orange peel.
15. To make the chocolate facial features, melt the dark chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, in the microwave, in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval until smooth. Use a toothpick to draw the designs onto wax paper and allow to set.
16. Once the cake is ready, you can add more of your chocolate to the end of the bear slice (re melt if needed), and top with rainbow sprinkles.
17. Decorate the animal slices, add frozen fruit and gold star sprinkles to the other pieces and enjoy!

Any uneaten cake slices can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, or transferred back to the freezer to keep longer (just wrap them or put in a freezer container first so they don’t get freezer burn).