It's Easter Week! We will be celebrating one of our favorite holidays with decoration and recipe ideas. Here's a delicious cake without all the post-junk food guilt!

I took one of my favorite grain-free recipes and put a holiday twist on it. I love this cake because it's the only carrot cake I've ever had that doesn't make me feel sick after eating it. I adapted the recipe from Elana's Pantry, but I have changed several components. I also use real cream cheese in the frosting. Elana has a great coconut-based frosting, should you want a dairy-free option.

Cake Ingredients:

3 Cups Blanched Almond Flour

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

5 Large Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Maple Syrup

1/2 Cup Warmed Coconut Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or a combination of both)

3 Cups Carrots, Grated

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice.

In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract and oil. Add Carrots. Stir wet ingredients into dry and mix until completely combined.

Place batter into two well greased round 9" cake pans.

Bake for 35 minutes. Do not over bake! Allow to cool.

Frosting Ingredients:

3- 8 oz. Bars of Cream Cheese (at room temp)

3/4 Cup Maple Syrup

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

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Topping:

1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut

*For Easter, I've also added some chocolate caramel eggs from Whole Foods.

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Serves 8-10

Combine cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl and mix on high for 1 - 2 minutes until thoroughly combined and creamy. Do not frost the cake until it is completely cool.

When you are ready to frost the cake, take a pastry bag with a 1/2" open tip and fill it with 1/2 of the frosting. If you don't have a pastry bag, create your own by taking a large Ziplock bag and cut 1/2" off of a side corner.

Place the first half of the cake top-side down on your cake plate.

Frost the first layer, by starting in the middle and work your way out in a continual circle. It's fine if it doesn't look perfect! Just make sure it is all covered out to the edge.

Place the second layer of cake on top of the frosting top-side up.

Fill your pastry bag with the remaining frosting and repeat. Now gently smooth the frosting with a spatula.

Sprinkle coconut shreds evenly on top.

Decorate with candy eggs to add an Easter touch.

I also added this adorable Meri Meri Easter cake topper to make it extra festive. xx

It feels as though it has taken me lifetimes to come up with a fabulous matzo treat recipe. I finally think I have a winner. This was a hit with my family and I have to admit I have a bit of an addiction to it now. I always strive to make things a little less junky and higher quality than what you can find at even a high-end store. I ended up going back to one of my old staples - butter and maple syrup, as the base of my almond praline. Lightly baking the matzo really makes for a perfect crunch. Add on some good dark chocolate and sea salt and I'm hooked!

Ingredients:

4 Sheets of Matzo (I used gluten-free)

3/4 Cup Maple Syrup

1/2 (1 stick) butter

1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

1 - 3.5 Oz. Bar of Dark Chocolate (I like 70% so it's not too sweet)

1 Tablespoon Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the four sheets of matzo out on the paper. Don't worry if it breaks, We'll be breaking it up later anyway. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, until a light golden brown, and then put aside.

Place butter, maple syrup and a pinch of salt in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally as to not let it burn.

Bring mixture to a gentle boil, stirring more and more. Allow it to simmer and thicken for 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly.

Add vanilla and almonds. Allow to bubble and simmer for another 5 minutes. Lower heat as needed. Stir almost constantly so it never burns. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes. Once it cools slightly, it will have a nice caramel consistency.

Distribute the praline evenly to each of the four crackers. Spread it out GENTLY to cover the majority of the matzo surface. Allow to set for at least ten minutes. Even better if you can stick it in the fridge.

Break your chocolate bar into large pieces and place in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly, until it is melted. Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over all of the matzo. Do this however you like, making your own modern art. Once you have all of the chocolate on the matzo. Place immediately in the fridge. Cool for 10 minutes.

Remove from fridge. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over the matzo. Use as much or as little salt to your personal taste. Place back in the fridge and chill until the chocolate has hardened completely (at least 1 hour).