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This heavenly Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake with no xanthan gum is easy to whip up and elevates an everyday chocolate loaf cake into summer bliss by the addition of fresh luscious cherries. Drizzled with a thick chocolate glaze this cake keeps everyone coming back for more.
The deep rich flavour of fresh cherry at the height of the season and the decadence of dark chocolate is a dreamy combination. Think of this Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Loaf Cake as a lighter, more everyday affair than a traditional Black Forest Cake.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Incredibly chocolatey as we use both melted chocolate and cocoa powder.
- Very moist. The melted chocolate and fresh cherries give a wonderful texture.
- The cherries are gorgeously juicy and perfectly suspended in the cake thanks to a trick with tapioca flour.
- Easy to make – just a case of mixing the wet ingredients, whisking the dry, stirring in the cherries and adding together.
- Lovely combination of flours make this a perfect gluten-free chocolate cherry cake.
- No xanthan gum.
- Very simple chocolate glaze just to finish the cake.
- Gorgeous treat served with a tall glass of milk or with a cup of tea or coffee as an afternoon treat.
Watch The Video To See How To Make It
Gluten-Free Flours
Teff flour
Teff flour is a wonderful flavour match with the chocolate thanks to its molasses undertones. It also gives a light tender crumb.
Substitution. You can swap the teff for sorghum flour or buckwheat flour. The taste will be a little different through with these swaps
Ground almonds (almond flour)
For this recipe you are looking for blanched ground almonds. There is a bit of labelling confusion over this kind of almond flour which is sold as ‘ground almonds’ in most major UK supermarkets and found in the baking aisle. It's more commonly known as almond flour in countries like USA. If you want to know what exactly you are looking for then check out this post >>>Is Almond Flour The Same As Ground Almonds.
Substitution. The almonds can be substituted with sunflower seed flour but it will have a more pronounced flavour.
Tapioca starch
This starchy flour helps hold everything together. It is also used to coat the cherries to help hold in the moisture.
Substitution. Tapioca starch can be swapped for arrowroot powder.
Ingredients Needed
- Chocolate. Use a good brand of dark chocolate. This recipe was tested with Callebaut 70% dark chocolate in the cake and Callebaut 54% dark chocolate in the glaze. You can use whichever percentage is your preference.
- Fresh cherries. The fresher the better, any variety is delicious.
- Greek yoghurt. This gives a great heavy moisture content to the cake and lovely tanginess.
- Olive oil. Use a flavourless mild and light oil or swap for melted coconut oil.
- Brown sugar. For flavour, moisture content, structure and sweetness. Be careful about reducing the amount of sugar as the structure of the cake won’t be as sound.
- Eggs. The cake was tested with medium sized eggs of 60g each.
- Vanilla extract. Use a good brand of extract, I recommend Nielsen Massey
- Ground almonds (Almond flour). You are looking for blanched ground almonds. There is a bit of labelling confusion over almond flour which is sold as ‘ground almonds’ in most major UK supermarkets and found in the baking aisle. If you want to know what exactly you are looking for then check out this post >>>Is Almond Flour The Same As Ground Almonds.
- Teff flour. The recipe was tested with white teff flour but you can use brown.
- Tapioca starch. You can substitute for arrowroot powder.
- Cocoa powder. Use a good organic brand of cocoa powder for the best flour. Don’t forget to sift it before you add it to the cake mixture.
- Bicarbonate of soda. To help rise to a light texture.
- Baking powder. To help rise and a tender crumb
- Salt. This recipe was tested with kosher salt which is a gentler flavour than table salt.
- Butter. Use unsalted at room temperature for the chocolate glaze.
Cake Tin Advice
This cake was tested in a large 2lb loaf tin which is sized at 27x15x8cm. (This Anodised 2lb Loaf Tin)
You could also bake this cake in a 20 x 10cm (8 inch x 4 inch) round cake tin.
How To Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Wet Ingredients. Beat wet ingredients into a smooth batter then stir in the melted chocolate.
Dry Ingredients. Whisk dry ingredients then sift them into the wet ingredients.
Add cherries. Coat cherries with tapioca flour then stir into the cake mixture.
Coating the cherries in tapioca flour allows the flour to absorb some of the cherry juices so that they don’t leak out into the cake. This would make the cake too moist and it would sink.
Bake. Pour into cake tin and bake for 1 hour.
Chocolate Glaze. Melt chocolate then stir in butter. Drizzle over cooled cake.
Tips and Troubleshooting
- Room temperature. All ingredients should be at room temperature in order for them to mix together properly.
- Sift the brown sugar. As otherwise it has a tendency to clump
- Sift the cocoa powder. To avoid clumping.
- Coat the cherries in the tapioca flour and leave to rest for 5 minutes before adding to the cake mixture so the tapioca flour has a chance to absorb the cherry juices.
- Check the cake at 50-55 minutes. Unless your oven is properly calibrated some ovens run a bit hotter than others. Just in case, do check your cake 5-10 minutes before the allowed baking time. An inserted skewer should be removed without any wet crumb.
- Rest. Allow the cake to rest for 5 minutes in the tin before removing to give it a chance to relax away from the sides of the tin.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting or it will crumble.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake
- The cake. You can substitute the greek yoghurt for a coconut yoghurt.
- The glaze. Switch out the butter for a plant-based butter.
How To Store
The cake is best eaten within 3 days. It keeps best if stored in a cool dark place in an airtight cake tin. I don’t recommend a plastic container as the environment would be too moist.
How To Freeze
Wait for the cake to cool completely then freeze without the chocolate drizzle.
Double wrap in cling film and aluminium foil then store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To defrost, remove the cake from the freezer and allow to defrost thoroughly at room temperature before unwrapping.
Other Cherry Recipes You'll Love
- Homemade Glacé Cherries
- Gluten-Free Cherry Clafoutis
- No Bake Frozen Chocolate Cherry Pie
- Ruby Berry Eton Mess
- Gluten-Free Cherry Cake
✨Have you tried this Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake? If you liked it, please leave a 5-star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear about how your recipe turned out and your feedback also helps other readers✨
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake
Ingredients
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 200 g greek yoghurt
- 125 ml olive oil - mild and light
- 250 g light brown sugar
- 3 eggs - medium
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 180 g almond flour - (ground almonds in UK)
- 125 g teff flour
- 60 g tapioca starch - split into 40g + 20g
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 250 g cherries - pitted and halved
Chocolate Glaze
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 50 g unsalted butter - cubed, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
- Line and grease a large 2lb loaf tin (27x15x8cm).
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or a bain marie and set aside to cool slightly.
- Beat together the yoghurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in the melted chocolate.
- Whisk together the ground almonds, teff flour, 40g of tapioca starch, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in another large mixing bowl.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Pour the remaining 20g tapioca flour into the used dry ingredient mixing bowl and stir in the halved cherries until thoroughly coated.
- Stir the cherries into the cake mixture until evenly dispersed.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and carefully insert the Chocolate Cherry Cake onto a rack to cool thoroughly before drizzling with the chocolate glaze.
Chocolate Glaze
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or a bain marie.
- Stir in the butter and salt until melted and glossy.
- Drizzle the glaze over the Cherry Chocolate Cake.
- Allow for 30 minutes for the glaze to set before serving.
Video
Notes
Flours
Teff flour. You can substitute for sorghum flour or buckwheat flour. The switches will affect the resulting flavour of the cake. Almond flour (ground almonds). This recipe calls for almond flour which is blanched and ground whole almonds (without their skin). In the UK this kind of flour is sold in most major UK supermarkets labelled 'ground almonds' in the baking aisle. To make sure you know which almond flour you are choosing then check against this article The Difference Between The Almond Flours. Tapioca flour. You can substitute for arrowroot powder.Tips and Troubleshooting
- Room temperature. All ingredients should be at room temperature in order for them to mix together properly.
- Sift the brown sugar. As otherwise it has a tendency to clump
- Sift the cocoa powder. To avoid clumping.
- Coat the cherries in the tapioca flour and leave to rest for 5 minutes before adding to the cake mixture so the tapioca flour has a chance to absorb the cherry juices.
- Check the cake at 50-55 minutes. Unless your oven is properly calibrated some ovens run a bit hotter than others. Just in case, do check your cake 5-10 minutes before the allowed baking time. An inserted skewer should be removed without any wet crumb.
- Rest. Allow the cake to rest for 5 minutes in the tin before removing to give it a chance to relax away from the sides of the tin.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting or it will crumble.
Dairy-free version
- The cake. You can substitute the greek yoghurt for a coconut yoghurt.
- The glaze. Switch out the butter for a plant-based butter.
Dory says
Hi Georgia,
I've noticed that in almost all of your chocolate cake recipes you use a melted chocolate bar. Can I please check if I could leave this out you think? Or I'd need to replace with something else?
Thank you!
Dory
Dory says
What I mean is whether the melted cocolate in the recipe is for taste or does it have some structural function too? Thank you!
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Dory, yes the recipe won't work without the melted chocolate as it helps to keep the cake together. The only other cherry cake recipe I have on the website is this one - which is made with glace cherries - Gluten-Free Cherry Cake.
Marge says
In the Pacific Northwest (Oregon), cherries have a short season & we can’t get them any other time of the year in my area. Would frozen cherries work, and, if so, what steps would you recommend?
Georgina Hartley says
Yes but use them directly from the freezer (do not thaw them beforehand) and so make sure they are pitted before they are frozen. Let me know how you get on.
Alene says
I am on a fodmap diet and can't eat cherries. Awful! Stomach issues. Do you think anything else would substitute tor cherries? Strawberries, drained? I know. Not even close. And I can eat the flours! The cake sounds divine! Thank you.it
Georgina Hartley says
You can make without the cherries. Can you use raspberries or are they are an issue as well?
Christina says
If I leave out the brown sugar and use stevia.. will that be ok? Also do you have a substitute for the yogurt? We can have no yogurt of any kind. Thankyou
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Christina, I don't really bake with stevia so I can't say if that switch will work. I haven't tried this cake recipe with anything other than yoghurt so I can't say what you could substitute it for. You will need to experiment with this one to make the swaps you need.
ET says
I have been consistently substituting Stevia in Georgina's recipes (including this one) and it works just fine. Just follow Stevia's weight substitution rule (eg 10g of Stevia if Georgina says 100g of sugar) and you'll be fine.
What about kefir instead of yoghurt?