Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
The best gluten-free chocolate cake recipe. A deliciously moist and chocolaty cake, covered in a decadent chocolate buttercream frosting. It’s the gluten-free chocolate cake of your dreams!
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1¾ cups gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend (see note)
- ¾ cup cocoa powder, dutch-processed
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk +
- 2 tablespoon buttermilk
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup coffee, hot
For the chocolate buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder, dutch-processed
- 3⅓ cups icing sugar
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder
Instructions
For the chocolate cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line with parchment. Combine the sugar, gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or large bowl (if using hand held mixer). Mix on low speed, or whisk by hand, until well combined.
- Add the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix on low speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, and gradually add the hot coffee. Mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Pour the cake into the two cake pans, distributing the batter evenly between both pans. Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool slightly in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the chocolate buttercream frosting:
- Add the butter and cocoa powder to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or large bowl (if using hand held mixer). Cream together on low to medium speed, until well combined.
- Add a third of the icing sugar, followed by a third of the milk, and mix until combined on medium to high speed. Repeat 2 more times until all the sugar and milk has been added.
- Add in the vanilla and espresso powder and mix well.
- Frost the cooled cake with the chocolate buttercream frosting.
Notes
Note: use a blend that contains xanthan gum, so the cake has enough structure and stability. Make sure your blend doesn’t contain any ingredients with strong flavours, such as bean flour. See Baking with Gluten-Free Flour for more information.
Top Tips
- Make it a showstopper: if you want to make a slightly more impressive cake, use two 8-inch cake pans instead, and increase the bake time by about 5 minutes. Once cooled, cut each cake horizontally in half, to create a 4-layer cake. You will also have to increase the amount on frosting you make. I generally make 1.5 times the recipe. Decorate the top of the frosted cake with chocolate curls.
- Make ahead: the baked cake, unfrosted, can be made ahead and kept in the freezer for up to 1 month. Wrap well and store in a freezer bag. To use, defrost in the refrigerator, and then frost as normal.
- Leftovers: store up to 2 days, covered, at room temperature.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 590kcalCarbohydrates: 87gProtein: 6gFat: 28gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 547mgFiber: 6gSugar: 68g
Nutritional information shown is an estimate only.
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