Birthday Cake from the book "Gather"

About a month ago, I met Bill Staley and Hayley Mason from Primal Palate during a book signing in Houston. They already have one great cookbook out called "Make it Paleo".  Bill and Hayley had a copy of their new book "gather; The Art of Paleo Entertaining" which is coming out April 30th. 
The book is set up by seasons, Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall.  Within each season are events like Easter lunch, Harvest dinner, and Birthday Celebration to name a few.  Each event has everything you need to host a great gathering.  Appetizers, side dishes, main course and dessert all for the theme of the event.

While looking through the book, I came across the Birthday Celebration that featured an amazing looking grain-free cake.  When I mentioned to Bill and Hayley that my birthday was in a month, they offered to send me an advanced copy of the book so I could make the cake for my birthday!  You can imagine how excited I was!

When I received the book in the mail, I couldn't wait to look through it again and get all the ingredients for my cake.  I did have to make a few adjustments though.  The recipe calls for a checkerboard cake pan.  I did not have time to order one and I looked at a few stores but was unable to find one.  So, I googled how to make a checkerboard cake without the pan and found tricks on how to make it.  I also double the cake recipe since I needed four layers in order to make the checkerboard pattern.  I also doubled the icing recipe since I did have 4 layers.
I was a little worried about how the checkerboard was going to look because some of the pieces broke and I had to glue them together with icing.  But, it turned out pretty good (not as pretty as the book!)   

The cake tasted amazing and it really did taste like a regular cake.  The whole family loved it too.   The only bad thing was I had just finished the 21 Day Sugar Detox two days before so the cake tasted super sweet to me.

I have really fallen in love with this book!  I love how everything is laid out for you including what to do a few days in advance to the the day of the party.  Everything you need to throw a party is in this book!

I am really looking forward to trying out more of the recipes from the book.  They all look amazing.  Plus, the pictures alone are worth buying the book!  If you like to entertain or are just looking for some great new recipes, check out this book "gather"!