Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

slice of chocolate cake on a plate with fork ful removed showing moist and tender sponge and creamy frosting.

5 from 15 votes

Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

This Gluten-Free Chocolate Layer Cake is rich with chocolate and boasts a moist and tender crumb. Finished with a luxuriously silky buttercream for the ultimate indulgence. No xanthan gum is needed for this crowd pleaser of a cake.

Prep Time1

Cook Time35

Total Time1 35

Course: Cake

Cuisine: British

Servings: servings

Calories: 769kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

125 g 70% dark chocolate
100 g teff flour
80 g sweet rice flour glutinous rice flour
50 g almond flour ground almonds in UK
90 g cocoa powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1¾ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
400 g whole milk
1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
160 g caster sugar
100 g soft light brown sugar
170 g olive oil
3 eggs *medium
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream

300 g 70% dark chocolate
500 g unsalted butter room temperature
50 g cocoa powder
500 g icing sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted /gas mark 4 / 350°F and line and grease 2 x 8 inch (20cm) round 4 inch (10cm) deep cake tins.
Melt the chocolate in a bain marie, or a glass bowl set over a pan of boiling water, then set aside.
Pour the milk into a jug and stir in the apple cider vinegar. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to curdle slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer, whisk together the flours and starches, cocoa powder, espresso powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until well mixed.
In a separate bowl mix together the vinegar milk, sugars, olive oil, eggs and vanilla then beat into the flour mixture.
Finally mix in the melted chocolate until completely incorporated.
Divide the mixture between the 2 cake tins and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until an inserted skewer is removed without a wet crumb.
Turn out the cakes and cool on wire racks before filling with buttercream.

Chocolate Buttercream

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie or a glass bowl set over a pan of boiling water, then set aside to cool.
Beat butter together with the icing sugar in a stand mixer for at least 6 minutes until light and creamy, scraping down the sides every so often.
Add the cocoa powder, melted chocolate and salt then beat until smooth and incredibly creamy.

Video

Notes

Eggs. The eggs used in this recipe are medium size, 60g with shell and 50g without shell. If you can't get hold of medium eggs I suggest you weigh the amount.

70% chocolate. You can swap for 50-60% chocolate or a dairy-free chocolate.

Flour

I do not recommend using a branded all-purpose gluten-free flour as the results will not be the same. But you can swap the whole amount of teff flour, sweet rice flour and almond flour for my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend which has been developed specifically to support the texture and structure of sponge cakes. No xanthan gum is needed with this flour blend either.

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.

Teff flour. You can swap for sorghum flour or oat flour.
Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour). You can swap for cassava flour.
Almond flour. You can swap for chickpea flour (gram flour).

Dairy Free Substitutions

Make sure the chocolate is dairy-free.
Whole milk. Swap for plant milk for dairy-free version.
Butter. Swap for a plant based butter for dairy-free version.

Baking Tips

Chocolate. Make sure the melted chocolate has cooled for at least 10 minutes before adding to the cake batter and the buttercream.
No stand mixer. You don't need to use a stand mixer for making the cake batter. However if you are not then make sure to sift the dry ingredients and the sugars as they have a tendency to clump and it will mix better.
Buttercream. If you cover the mixer with a tea towel when beating the butter and sugar then you won’t get a sugar snowstorm in your kitchen. For the lightest creamiest result then mix the butter and sugar for at least 6 minutes in the stand mixer, scraping down the sides every so often.
Slicing the cake. If you are serving straight away then place the cake in the freezer for 20 minutes, it will make it easier to cut. In between cuts wipe your knife with a warm damp cloth for clean slices.

Make Ahead

You can make this cake up to 3 days in advance. Store in the fridge.

Freeze

You can freeze the cake whole with the buttercream. It's best to chill the cake completely before wrapping up well in cling film and aluminium foil. The cake will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost the cake overnight in the fridge before removing the plastic wrap then bring to room temperature before serving. You could also freeze the cake in slices.

Ingredient measurements

Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.

US customary measurements

These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups

Nutrition information

Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.

The nutrition serving is for 1 slice of cake, assuming the cake is cut into 16 servings.

Nutrition