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Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

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This easy gluten-free chocolate cake is super simple, and has the perfect texture. You won’t know it’s gluten-free! It’s my favorite gluten-free chocolate cake recipe and it will be yours too.

And it makes the best gluten-free birthday cake!

a slice of gluten free chocolate cake on a white plate in front of a chocolate cake

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Sometimes you just need a little gluten-free cake chocolate cake to get you through the day. We make this chocolate cake recipe at least once a month. It’s simple, uses minimal ingredients, and it bakes up quick.

I often find that gluten-free cake recipes are complicated or call for a kazillion ingredients (ok, not a kazillion – but a lot). I don’t have the time or the brain space to bake up crazy big recipes, or recipes that have tons of steps in them.

I need gluten-free cake recipes to be simple, have less than 15 ingredients, and require two bowl or less – otherwise my kitchen ends up a massive wreck. You know what I’m talking about right?

Piles and piles of dishes, all for one delicious thing – a gluten-free chocolate cake. You might be wondering why it has to be that way. Well, It doesn’t.

There are amazing recipes out there, and they don’t take forever to make or require you to hire a housekeeper to clean up after you in the kitchen. You just have to look for them.

Give this gluten-free chocolate cake a try and see what I mean. We often use this gluten-free cake recipe to make gluten-free birthday cake.

a top down view of the side of a chocolate cake topped with raspberries

When we first switched over to a gluten-free diet we struggled. Gluten-free recipes were over-complicated and we got frustrated in the kitchen. We were tired of having to hunt down ingredients and even more tired of recipes failing.

Chocolate cake was one of the things we missed the most. Not flour-less chocolate cake, not chocolate cake made with nut butters, but regular old-fashioned gluten-free chocolate cake. The kind that is crumbly on the outside, and spongy in the middle.

We tried a couple of gluten-free chocolate cake mixes (mind you, this was seven years before this post) and weren’t satisfied. Most of them tasted like grass. It wasn’t until I started creating recipes from scratch that we found our perfect, easy gluten-free chocolate cake.

a slice of gluten free chocolate cake on a white plate with a fork and raspberries

How to make gluten-free chocolate cake

There are a couple of tips and tricks to getting the right texture with gluten-free cake. First, you have to follow the recipe. So many people comment on recipe posts saying that they made a ton of substitutions and the recipe didn’t turn out.

Other than the dairy substitute, I haven’t tried other substitutes in this recipe. If you use substitutions, you are doing so at your own risk.

Second, you want to mix at the right time and not over-mix. When you are beating the oil, sugar, and eggs you’ll want to beat it for the time listed. This adds air which in turn helps the cake rise. Beating any longer will cause the batter to stiffen.

Can I make this gluten-free chocolate cake dairy-free?

Yes, you can make this gluten-free chocolate cake dairy-free. Simply use dairy-free milk in the gluten-free chocolate cake mix and use dairy-free butter in the frosting.

a straight on view of a chocolate cake topped with chocolate frosting and raspberries on a white cake stand

Can I make this gluten-free chocolate cake egg-free?

I haven’t tried using an egg substitute in this gluten free chocolate cake but a few others have tried it with flax-egg. If you make it egg free please stop back by and let me know which egg replacer you used. If you don’t want to experiment, you could always start with my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes.

What causes a gluten-free cake to crack on top?

If your temperature is too high, or your cake is placed in the oven too high your cake may bake up into a high, cracked dome. The heat of baking activates the baking powder and causes it to release carbon dioxide, which forms bubbles and raises the cake. If your oven is too hot, that process is sped up. Make sure to place your cake in the center, and regularly check your oven’s temperature.

Some of my favorite gluten-free cake recipes:

If you are looking for cupcake recipes, just search cupcakes in the search bar on the right. Here is a video of my gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, which uses the same ingredient as this chocolate cake.

 

Why did my gluten-free cake sink?

There are several reason why cakes sink, one is from over beating the batter and adding too much air. Also, cakes often will sink when there is too much moisture. This is more common in humid climates where added moisture can collect naturally in ingredients such as flour. When this occurs, cupcakes may rise rapidly and then fall during baking. In higher elevations, the leavening agent works twice as hard and may cause the batter to rise rapidly and sink before it’s had a chance to set up.

All these tips are relevant to most cake and cupcake recipes, not just this Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake.

a pinterest pin with a photo of a slice of gluten free chocolate cake on a white plate with a fork and raspberries

This gluten-free chocolate cake recipe is also in my cookbook, “Sweet & Simple Gluten-Free Baking; Irresistible classics in 10 ingredients or less!” I wanted to share it with you so you can find your happily-cake-ever-after. This gluten-free cake recipe is simple enough that anyone can make it (yes, even the non-baker folks).

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! If you like cake then you’ll also love my Gluten-Free Lemon Cake and my Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes.

If you make this gluten-free cake please stop back by here and let me know what you thought!

Yield: 1 2-layer cake

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

a close up of a slice of gluten free chocolate cake on a white plate with a fork and raspberries

This easy gluten-free chocolate cake is super simple, and has the perfect texture.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 38 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 3 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake:

For the frosting:

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Position rack in center of oven. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans; set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until there are no visible clumps.
  3. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for two minutes.
  4. Stir in boiling water.
  5. Spoon batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for 35 to 38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack.
  7. For the frosting: In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add cocoa powder and beat until combined. Gradually add powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Slowly beat in milk. Beat in additional milk if needed, to obtain desired consistency.
  8. Frost cakes.
  9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

    • Flour Blend: I used my gluten free blend in this recipe and I've used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. I do NOT recommend using Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour blend has chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour) in it. Chickpea flour goes rancid rather fast and when it does it creates a dry and sour/bitter flavor. It also does something funny to this recipe.
    • When working with or measuring gluten-free flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level. Do not scoop your measuring cup into the gluten-free flour. The best method really is to weight it but I don't have the ingredient weights for all my recipes yet.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16 slices

Serving Size:

1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 407Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 347mgCarbohydrates: 66gFiber: 2gSugar: 49gProtein: 4g
© Chrystal
Cuisine: American / Category: Desserts

a pinterest pin with a photo of a chocolate cake on a white cake stand with the words easy gluten-free chocolate cake in text at the top

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I made this cake for my brother’s birthday, because he is gluten and dairy-free, and everyone loved it so much! So moist, beautiful, and delicious! Thank you for this awesome cake!

    Reply

      • Hi Chrsytal,
        I made this cake for my birthday yesterday and I was so excited! I haven’t had a chocolate cake in years because I am allergic to gluten and egg. I have never been able to find a decent GF/Egg free anything that I can make work.
        This cake was so delicious and it was moist and fluffy.
        I added 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda and I subbed chia seeds for the egg. I used 1 Tbsp chia seeds, 3Tbsp of water per egg. You could taste the texture a little bit but overall, this cake was wonderful. I am so glad I stumbled upon your recipe and website. Thank you so much. You don’t know me, but you made my birthday extra special.

        Thankful,
        Jeanna

        Reply

    • Hi. Great recipe, thank you so much for posting it! Best chocolate cake I’ve made so far. I did a few changes and thought I would share:

      – I added less sugar than suggested and it was coconut sugar,
      – had small eggs so used 3 instead of 2,
      – replaced regular milk with an almond milk,
      – I havent used baking powder. Instead I used only baking soda, 2 teaspoons in total,
      – I used coconut oil,
      – added a bit more flour as the batter wasn’t thick enough,
      – mixed everything by hand and waited about 10-15 min for the batter to get a bit thicker before pouring it into a baking try.

      Even with all these changes the cake tastes delicious.

      Reply

      • Not if you are using the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to1 Gluten Free Baking Flour or my blend with xanthan. Just a note, this recipe doesn’t work well with Namaste or Bob’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour.

        Best,
        Chrystal

        Reply

  2. I have made this cake consistently using Cup4cup with great results. In fact, my friend’s wedding will be graced with a cake using this recipe. I make three very small changes: split the oil with mayo (I find it keeps it moist if I make it the day before), use coffee instead of water, and add about 75g of chocolate added to the hot coffee (adds more chocolately flavor, but might just be because my cocoa powder isn’t strong enough). Anyway, it’s a perfect recipe, as is. Thank you!

    Reply

  4. My cake was good but very dense. Is this normal? This is my first gluten-free cake so I’m not really sure what to expect

    Reply

  5. Loved this recipe! We have a xanthan allergy so we used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 with guar gum and the texture was fantastic and it bound together super well. One note: the batter tasted very strange, almost as if the baking soda/powder was off. We confirmed we had done everything accurately and that all ingredients were good. The final product was incredible and the taste was fantastic and a nice dense fudgey cake. Still not sure why the batter tasted off but wanted to drop a note for anyone else that experiences this! Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Clare,
      I am so glad you liked it. The batter might have tested off because of the guar gum, I’m not sure. I’m glad it turned out perfect though.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  6. I followed the cake recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly! My gluten free friends love it and said it’s the best they’ve ever tasted. Thank you for sharing

    Reply

  7. Thank you for this recipe! I made cupcakes and they absolutely wonderful. Moist and delicious without being too sweet. I used coconut sugar in the cake but of course the icing had icing sugar.

    Reply

  8. Made this cake for my sister and her fiancé’s baby shower, and it is simply amazing!! They LOVED it. Even though I pride myself in baking, and that is the reason she wanted me to make her cake and not buy it from somewhere, she still thought I bought it from somewhere. LOL. Mainly because it is the first gluten free cake I have ever made. She said it is hands down the BEST gluten Free cake she’s ever had. And she’s tried several! And now wants me to make it for her wedding next year! I would have never guessed it was gluten free. It was soooo good! Great recipe that will be hanging around for some time to come! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  10. What are everyone’s favorite milk substitute for this recipe ? Trying to do a dairy free version, but just interested in milk subs . Thanks !!

    Reply

  12. How many cupcakes would this make?
    Hubby has been asking for a gf chocolate cake…so want to try this.
    Char in IL.

    Reply

  13. Last night I was craving a chocolate cake and new your recipes would not let me down! I made this cake and it took everything in me to not eat the cake while it cooled. My whole house had a rich chocolate aroma that had me salivating. I opted for a peanut butter buttercream frosting since Reeses are my favorite and it turned out great! I wonder how long this cake is going to last. As always I love your recipes so much and cannot wait to experiment with more. You give hope to me mastering gluten free baking!

    Reply

  14. This is one of the best cakes I’ve ever had! And it’s gluten free, wooooo! I have to hold back from making one every week, hahah. I’ve never made a cake from scratch before and I had everything on hand which is amazing. Thank you!!

    Reply

  15. This is a good recipe. I had to make a few changes because I didn’t have all the ingredients. I didn’t have oil so I substituted 1/4 cup of butter and a 1/4 cup of lard, both melted. I did also use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gf flour. I did make cupcakes which I cooked for about 12 minutes. They turned out excellent.

    Reply

  16. A recipe for keeps. Done twice in the same week. I used Schar Gluten Free Mix C Patisserie flour. Thanks so much for sharing. Will not be trialling out anothr chocolate cake recipe now. Found the perfect one.

    Reply

  17. Thanks for this super easy gluten dairy free chocolate cake. It reminds me of my mother’s never fail chocolate cake that she made so often when we kids.
    You did not recommend using Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour in this recipe BUT this is what I had in the house so I tried it and it turned out delicious, I have made it twice using this flour (which I keep in the freezer) Everyone said it was delicious even my daughter for whom I made it and she is very particular about gluten free taste and texture.

    Reply

  18. I just commented on how great this cake was but forgot to mention my daughter’s comment on how light the cake was. I mixed by hand

    Reply

  19. I made these as cupcakes with coconut oil and a simple frosting: unsweetened cocoa, maple syrup and coconut oil. best ones yet!

    They taste like hostess cupcakes. Going to add some cream in the center next time!

    Reply

  20. Have you tried your flour blend with brown rice flour instead of white rice flour? I cannot for the life of me locate white rice flour locally and wondering if I sub the brown rice flour if it will be too dense?

    Reply

    • Hi Wendy,
      I have several readers who use fine ground brown rice flour in my blend with great results. Just remember to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it, and do the same when you are making the cake. It shouldn’t be too dense.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  21. I’ve never added boiling water to cake mix before so I was a bit worried about it, but it’s baked up beautifully! I followed the recipe exactly with no substitutions. This page has been saved, I think it’s going to get a lot of mileage! They don’t taste gluten free at all.

    Reply

    • Hi Natalie,
      I know it seems a little scary but it activates the cocoa and by adding it at the end, you’re not cooking the eggs in the recipe. I am so glad you loved it. Thank you for stopping by.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

    • Yes, you can double it – for cupcakes: Spoon batter evenly into cupcake wells. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

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