Cast off the doldrums of these gray, January days by celebrating Winnie the Pooh Day with your family! From crafts to family reading time to this Chocolate Honey Pooh Day Cake recipe, this is the prefect time to take a break on the homestead this winter. Bonus, this recipe is grain-free, refined-sugar free and Paleo friendly! 
Celebrate Pooh Day
Sometimes there’s a let down after the festivities of Christmas and New Year’s – it’s constant excitement for months and then…it’s over. Pooh Day, or the January 18th celebration of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne’s birthday, is an easy and fun way to bring a little joy to January. Along about this time of year, we’re starting to get tired of the cold and the grey skies and could use a little cheer!
This is one holiday that I celebrate a little differently every year. Some holidays have rigid rules in our family – we only do this and we only eat that. However, I like to keep Pooh day flexible and simple.
Sometimes we just make a treat and read Pooh poems in front of the fire. Other years we’re in the mood for some Pooh crafts and even decorations! Here’s our holiday tree (that lives in this spot year-round) with both Pooh and Valentine’s Day represented. There may even be a stray Christmas ornament or St. Patrick’s Day garland somewhere on there. We’re not picky.
Pooh Day Crafts
This year, little one and I made paper together – here’s how to do that. While making paper, we inserted these Winnie the Pooh quotes we cut out years ago from something. They turned into lovely bookmarks – you can make some, too, with this article.
Other years we’ve made bees wax candles and thought about Pooh’s penchant for honey.
Here’s a bear ornament to make from The OT Toolbox
I love Mason jars and use them for crafts all the time – we make lanterns from them every year, for example. This Pooh Mason Jar Vase from Not Quite Susie Homemaker is certainly aw-worthy.
Polka Dot Chair has some really sweet Pooh Embroidery Hoop Art, if your kiddo is just a little bit older and handy with a needle. We always teach hand-sewing before we teach machine sewing. If you need help teaching that to your kids, here’s a really simple course I can recommend:
Pooh Day is Not Just for Littles
You might think this holiday would only be enjoyed by the littlest in your family, but you could be surprised at the appeal of Pooh-related fun for even your big kids. There’s a little bit of something for everyone in these classic characters and timeless stories.
Who isn’t friends with a ponderous Eeyore or a bouncy Tigger?
Who hasn’t done some crazy things in pursuit of “a little something sweet”?
Maybe you haven’t pretended to be a rain-cloud to fool the bees, but I bet you’ve done a crazy thing, or two. The stories of Winnie the Pooh
Recipe for Chocolate Honey Pooh Day Cake
Regardless of which crafts or stories you choose for your Pooh Day celebrations, you NEED to have a honey treat. We really didn’t intend to make a pun with this recipe, it’s just that chocolate is the littlest one’s favorite treat. When I asked her what dessert she’d like to make for our Pooh Day celebration, chocolate cake with honey is what she asked for. I think we’ll have to make this our new traditional treat for this day because it was delightful.
This recipe was adapted from both Danielle Walker’s Against All Grain
Here's a Paleo-friendly, grain-free chocolate and honey cake for your Pooh Day celebrations. Goes nicely with a spot of tea.
- ½ Cup Coconut oil or butter Plus more for greasing pan
- 4 Oz Unsweetened chocolate
- 5 Fresh eggs, room temperature
- ¾ Cup Honey
- 1/3 Coconut flour, loose and unpacked
- 1/3 Cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp Baking soda
- Pinch Sea salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon, optional
- ¼ tsp Cloves, optional
- 4 oz Unsweetened chocolate
- 1/4 Cup Honey
- 3 Tbsp Coconut oil
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Preheat oven to 325F/ 163C
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Grease a 9 x 13 pan, or a 9” pie plate or spring form pan.
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Use a double boiler (or a saucepan placed over another pan filled about halfway up with water) to melt the fat and chocolate together. Stir often to avoid scorching the chocolate as it melts. Burned chocolate is gross.
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Meanwhile, thoroughly whip the eggs and honey together in a mixer.
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In a separate bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and whisk together to mix well.
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Add the dry ingredients to the egg and honey mixture slowly and beat on low until incorporated. Switch to high to get the mixture as smooth as you can, but don’t overbeat.
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Slowly add the melted chocolate and beat until the batter gets smooth and thick.
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Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Lick that spoon.
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Bake for 30 minutes; test for doneness by inserting a bamboo skewer or toothpick. If the stick comes out clean, the cake is done.
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Cool in the pan for a few minutes while you mix the honey chocolate drizzle.
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Combine all ingredients in a double boiler and melt, stirring consistently to prevent scorching.
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*Drizzle either the whole cake or individual pieces of cake and serve. The drizzle will set up a bit as it cools thanks to the coconut oil. You can use this drizzle on ice cream for a kind of hard-shell sauce, if you have some left over. Coconut oil makes fabulous dessert sauces!
* If you want to remove the cake from the pan before you add the drizzle, make sure you’ve waited until the cake has firmed up a bit (about 20 minutes). I usually cut individual pieces and drizzle before serving. Coconut flour cakes are pretty firm, but I’m a spazz and don’t even like transferring cakes made with wheat flour because I usually botch something somewhere. Do whatever you prefer for presentation. The only thing we really care about at our house is that we get to eat this treat – it is SO good!
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