Back in October, I got an email from a reader asking for camera and photography advice. We emailed back and forth and months later… this reader, Rose, started her own blog: The Clean Dish! You know how most people start off blogging with some pretty bad pictures? Rose’s aren’t. I kind of feel like a proud mama. ;) Rose’s posts are usually grain-free, vegan, and refined sugar free. And she makes it look good! Just look at these coconut surprise bars and this chocolate mousse. They look incredible! Now over to Rose. :)

Hi! My name is Rose – author of The Clean Dish! I started my blog earlier this year; food blogging had been on my mind ever since I found Erin’s blog. That’s right; looking at her stunning food photography and trying her cleverly worked out recipes inspired me to start my own page. Thanks to Erin, I followed through with it; she pointed me in the right direction and was generous enough to share her expertise with me – so, thank you Erin! You’re invaluable to the food blogging community.

I am both excited and a little nervous about posting for Erin – the Texan Meister baker! Excited because, well, it is a great big honor for a newbie blogger to be invited to guest post at a well established blog and nervous because … I knew I just had to produce a quality recipe for Erin! Luckily, I think I was able to concoct something that you all will enjoy: A Raspberry Sour Cream Crumble Cake!
It’s easy to make; it tastes wonderfully fresh and light and above all, it is a healthy treat. I used almond slices and coconut flour instead of grain flour (so it’s gluten free, y’all!), there is no processed sugar in this cake (it’s sweet, though, I promise!) and it’s free of any chemically processed or artificial ingredients.

If you enjoy grain free and processed sugar free recipes, come visit me at The Clean Dish! I cook as much as I bake so perhaps you will find other recipes that are of interest. :)
Grain-free Raspberry Sour Cream Crumble Cake

- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: one 8 1/2" cake
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon raw coconut oil
- 6 large medjool dates
- 1 cup toasted almond slices (I buy them at Trader Joe's)
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup maple syrup OR honey OR agave
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 bag of frozen raspberries (1 bag = 12oz / 340g)
Crust and crumbles:
Filling / topping:
Directions
- Defrost raspberries.
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease the bottom of an 8 1/2" spring form or line with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, slowly melt coconut oil on low heat.
- Chop dates into small pieces and process in blender or food processor.
- Add almond slices and process again.
- Add coconut flour, coconut oil, sea salt and vanilla extract and process until you have a sticky-wet, crumbly consistency. If you pinch it, it should hold together.
- Set 1/4 of the crust aside and press the remainder into the bottom of the spring form and up to about 1 inch on the side.
- For the filling, beat egg and add sour cream, maple syrup, coconut flour and vanilla extract; mix well. It should be a thick, creamy consistency – if it is too runny, add another tablespoon of coconut flour.
- Pour your filling over your crust and spread out evenly.
- Cover with raspberries and add crumbles on top.
- Place the cake on a rimmed baking sheet, just in case the coconut oil leaks out.
- Bake for 28 - 33 minutes. Make sure the center is cooked through.
- Allow to cool down before serving.
- Enjoy!
44 comments on “Grain-free Raspberry Sour Cream Crumble Cake” — Add one!
Can I use whole almonds instead if almond slices since they are going in the food processor anyway?
I haven’t tried it but I’d first pulse the almonds until they’re broken up quite a bit, remove them from the processor, and then start with the dates.
I’m thinking about adding a jam to the filling, leaving out the fresh/frozen fruit and putting crumble on top…only because it’s what I have on hand. What do you think?
I’m not 100% sure it’d work because I haven’t tried it, but it sounds good to me! And my apologies for the slow reply! I just got back from vacation and wasn’t able to access the page from my laptop where I approve and reply to comments.
How many calories is this per serving?
I don’t have that info but you can copy and paste the recipe here for the nutritional profile, if you’d like. :)
Had my eye on this cake for months and finally tried it. It’s lovely. Sour cream and raspberries definitely make a delicious pair! I doubled the sour cream and egg, because my pan was a bit bigger. Also, cause almonds are very pricey where I live, I put only a small handful of them, with some sunflower seeds (not too much cause I was afraid they’d overpower the taste), and ground them after toasting them all, which yielded about 2/3 cup meal, and I put just about 2/3 cup of coconut flour, so the rest I made up with oat flour. It seemed to have worked out ok. In my version it turned out very soft and delicate. I blindbaked it just in case. One note though-this cake gets MUCH better after sitting in the fridge. If you eat a lot of it right away, you’ll be sorry later that you didn’t save it for when it got cold!
Great tip about the cake getting better once chilled! Some grain-free goodies seem to be like that for whatever reason. And I’m so happy it came out well with your changes! I’m kind of shocked it worked with doubling the sour cream and egg. ;) Thanks as always for your feedback!
Not quite sure how this tastes, as it’s still in the oven. I have a very important suggestion to anyone who tries this. Please put a cookie tray under your springform pan. The coconut oil melts its way out of the bottom of the pan and drips all inside your oven, causing a very large smoke problem. Let’s hope it doesn’t catch on fire. Next time – closed bottom cooking vessel.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ll have to ask Rose (she guest posted this recipe) if she had any issues with that. I’ve had the exact issue with tart pans when using butter. It’s so frustrating and creates a smoky mess so I’m really sorry that you had this happen! Could it be that the pan is no longer as tightly sealed as it once was? Thanks for your feedback – I’ve just added your tip to the recipe!
Can you use fresh fruit instead of frozen?
Fresh fruit is fine! Hope you’ll like the cake. :)
Is there a substitute for the nuts that would work here? I am looking for a grain free, nut free dessert and this is almost perfect.
I’m afraid not. An entire cup of them go into the crust so you can’t just leave them out and nothing else really has the same texture. Sorry! :(
Try sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
Thanks for the suggestion! :)
Hi I wanted to cook with normal flour as I can’t find coconut flour should I adjust the recipe?
Hi Bella! I’m afraid that you can’t sub the coconut flour with any other flour. :( Coconut flour is totally different from other flours and you can’t sub it in general. Sorry about that!
Can this be made in a glass pie pan? thats the only thing i have
I don’t see why not! It should come out fine. I hope you’ll like it! :)
Yum, love anything with a crumb topping. The raspberries sound perfect with it!
Me, too! Raspberries just solve about anything, I think.
This looks incredible! Going to check out(and subscribe to!) your blog Rose :)
Yay! That’s the spirit. Thanks for checking her out, Heidi. :)
gosh erin how kind of you to share your photography knowledge and share Rose’s beautiful blog and photos…love learning more about this type of baking/cooking.
Well after she asked if I was a professional photographer (hahaha) I had to share all my “secrets.” ;)
This cake looks amazing and it’s so beautiful too!
Thanks, Holly! I really want to try it. :)
What a gorgeous cake! Love this idea!!
Thanks, Katrina!
This looks delicious! Do you think I can substitute the sour cream for coconut cream?
Hmm. I don’t think so. If it were no-bake, I’d say go for it, but it sounds too risky with something that you have to bake. :(
This is SUCH a gorgeous cake, Erin! I love that it’s bursting with raspberries – my favorite!
Thanks, Georgia! Rose did an awesome job with this cake. So pretty! :)
Looks scrumptious, in my book you can never go wrong with raspberries and almonds!
Agreed! Just plop some raspberries on anything that you mess up. It’ll be fine then. ;)
Rose, nice to see you on Erin’s blog and you made a great job :)
Thanks, Marta! I think she did, too. :)
Such a pretty cake, I love the crumble topping!
Doesn’t it look yummy?! Can’t wait to try it!
Looks totally awesome…gotta try this. I live in Venezuela, what is raw coconut oil. I have never seen it and we have lots of coconuts. How would you make it any ideas?
Sorry for the slow response, Ruth! You can’t make coconut oil yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_oil or in Spanish: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceite_de_coco
So… aceite de coco! The raw isn’t important here. If you can find aceite de coco, get it! :)
I am too excited about all of these raspberry recipes I have been seeing all of the place. Yours looks fabulous!
Other raspberry recipes?! I haven’t seen any lately! I need to do some blog reading, I guess. ;)