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!
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.
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.
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.
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:
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Grain-Free Hummingbird Cake
- Gluten-Free Lemon Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Ganache Cake
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.
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!
Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
This easy gluten-free chocolate cake is super simple, and has the perfect texture.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups (320g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (285g) all purpose gluten-free flour blend
- 3/4 cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (6g) gluten-free baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (6g)
- 2 large eggs (110g), room temperature
- 1 cup milk (260g) (or dairy-free milk)
- 1/2 cup (110g) vegetable oil (or oil of choice)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (4g) gluten-free vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (150g) boiling water (for activating the cocoa)
For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter (or dairy-free butter)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (4g) gluten-free vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 1/2 cups (450g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup (40-60g) milk (or dairy-free milk)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Position rack in center of oven. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until there are no visible clumps.
- Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for two minutes.
- Stir in boiling water.
- Spoon batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for 35 to 38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack.
- 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.
- Frost cakes.
- 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 slicesServing Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 407Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 347mgCarbohydrates: 66gFiber: 2gSugar: 49gProtein: 4g
Ana says
I used the Bob’s 1 to 1, checked the date for freshness (expiration date well into 2021 and proceeded with just the tweaking for high elevation. I like the texture, I love the aroma. What remains perplexing are two things: the existence of aftertaste which I can’t quite put my finger on how to describe it and the really weird experience of the chocolate taste not coming through. I have had both these experiences with every single GF chocolate cakes I have tried (not once using a bean or pea source flour) and having confidence that flours are fresh. Any ideas? I use high quality chocolate products so that isn’t an issue. The frosting is great though!
chrystal says
Hi Ana,
I haven’t personally had a aftertaste but it could be that there’s a flour in the blend you are more sensitive too. The hot water in the recipe is suppose to help the cocoa disperse through the batter, making it stronger. You could try adding more cocoa.
Best,
Chrystal
Peggy says
Maybe try using strong hot coffee, in place of the water. I’m not a coffee drinker, but this can boost the chocolate flavour. Alternatively, you can toss a tablespoon of instant coffee into the batter. I’ve had great success with this.
chrystal says
Thanks for sharing Peggy! Yes, coffee is a great option to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Best,
Chrystal
Danabee says
Hi! I would take a hard look at your cocoa powder. They are not all created equal. I like the Ghirardelli or Scharffenberger. Even Whole Foods 365 organic cocoa powder is pretty good. I find that cheaper brands don’t cut it. Specifically Trader Joe’s and generic brands. And make sure it’s fresh! I also love the hot coffee in place of water. It doesn’t make the cake taste like coffee it just makes it richer.
chrystal says
Thanks for sharing!
Christine says
I have been searching for about 10 years for the perfect gluten free chocolate cake recipe! This is it! So moist and fudgy! I used 1/2 milk, 1/2 buttermilk~WOW! Thank you for your delicious recipes!
chrystal says
Hi Christine,
I am so glad you like it. Thank you for sharing what you used.
Best,
Chrystal
Christine says
Since I started using Cup 4 Cup flour for baking, I haven’t noticed that odd gluten free flour aftertaste.
chrystal says
We love cup 4 cup. I haven’t tried it in this recipe yet, but several of my readers have.
Best,
Chrystal
Judy Hammond says
This is my first time commenting but I did have an interesting experience making this cake! I made the cake for my grandson’s 8th birthday party. It was delicious! I think everyone there commented on how tasty it was.
Well, I made a mistake! I don’t use oil in a cake, preferring to use Butter instead. In this case I used Unsalted Butter. My mistake was that I used twice as much as I should have! One cup rather than the half cup you recommend. Also, in reading another recipe they had used Coffee rather than water. So I did that too.
I didn’t realize my mistake with the Butter until too late so that’s how the cake was baked! I checked it at 30 minutes and it was done, quite possibly done sooner. It was moist, cake did not fall, nice texture too.
Chrystal, if possible, you might want to bake a cake with these changes before you post my comment. I intend to bake it this way again but better that you check it out first since you’re certainly more qualified than I am!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Frosting I used – 8 oz Cream Cheese, 2 cups Whipping Cream, 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar, 2 tsp Vanilla. Not too sweet, beautiful cake & delicious!
chrystal says
Thanks for sharing Judy!
Best,
Chrystal
Monique says
Hi Judy.
I also prefer to bake without oil. How did u melt the butter prior to adding it?
Thank you for sharing.
Monique
chrystal says
Hello Monique,
You can melt it in a bowl, covered in the microwave or you can melt it in a pot on the stove. You’ll want to cook it just until it’s melted (not boil it) and then let it site for 15 minutes or so to cool it down so it doesn’t cook the eggs when you add it to the batter.
I hope that helps.
Best,
Chrystal
Ruta says
I forgot to do the boiling water step but the resulting cake was still beautiful and delicious. Thank you
Danabee says
This is delicious! I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF baking mix. I use freshly brewed strong decaf in place of the boiling water. This time I baked it in a 10” Bundt and it fit perfectly and baked up beautifully. We forgo the frosting and serve with ice cream. Thank you for the delicious recipe!
chrystal says
You are very welcome. I am so glad you love it. Thank you for letting me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Lacey Cormier says
I LOVE this recipe. I’m a trained pastry chef, but when I met my husband he was gluten intolerant and so were his kids! I learned very quickly that gluten free baking is COMPLETELY different from what I was used to. Everything I was trying kept flopping. It was nothing short of embarrassing! Thank you for this recipe, and all the others! I do substitute the oil for real mayonnaise (an old baker trick that actually works here too lol) and the cake is super moist and fluffy. You’ve made my life so much better haha
chrystal says
I am so glad you love it. Thank you for letting me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Lisa says
I subbed decaf coffee for the hot water and frosted the cake with chocolate ganache. Made alterations for high altitude, but otherwise followed your recipe. It was a huge success! Thank you!
chrystal says
I’m so glad Lisa! Thanks for stopping back by to let me know.
Best,
Chrystal
katherine says
Hi Chrystal,
I wonder if this cake is firm enough to be a bundt cake. I am thinking of using this recipe in a bundt pan. What do you think?
chrystal says
I don’t think it is. I’d stick to my bundt cake recipe that you made.
Best,
Chrystal
Val says
I haven’t had good cake in forever. This was amazing. Totally saving.
chrystal says
I am so glad you love it! Thank you for letting me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Demetria H says
I follow a gluten free diet and my husband cannot tolerate dairy. Since it is only the two of us, I cut the recipe in half, used diary free coconut creamer instead of milk and baked the cake in a small bundt pan. The cake is excellent-lovely crumb. Thanks for a great recipe!
chrystal says
I’m so glad you love the texture, Demetria. Thank you for taking time to stop by and let me know.
Best,
Chrystal
Tessa says
Can I substitute the water with hot coffee?
chrystal says
Hi Tessa, Yes you can sub hot water with coffee.
Best,
Chrystal
Susi V says
Great recipe – used to make a birthday cake as some of our guests are gluten intolerant. I used a different icing but followed the cake recipe to the letter, using the weights you give for the dry ingredients (and with the addition of some instant coffee to the hot water). I used a South African brand of GF cake flour based on potato starch, soya flour and brown rice flour that worked very well.
Very easy to make and served to rave reviews! Great chocolate taste and melt-in-your-mouth light texture. I would make this even if GF was not required because it is so easy and good.
It is still very yummy the next day (just had some) but it is just incredible fresh out of the oven and just cooled. For an uncomplicated weekend family treat I’d halve the recipe, make in a loaf tin, skip the icing and have with tea/coffee as soon as it is cool. Everyone should try it!
chrystal says
I’m so glad you like it! Thank you for sharing.
Best,
Chrystal
Robert says
I made this for my who is vegan and does not eat gluten. I used a custom mix of coconut flour and rice flour, flax egg, almond milk, coconut oil for the cake and vegetable ghee for the frosting. I did need to add more almond milk to the cake batter than the recipe called for, probably because of the flax egg. The cake was amazing!! Thank you for sharing this recipe. This will be my go to cake recipe now! I am going to try a vanilla version and see how it comes out.
chrystal says
Hi Robert,
Thanks for sharing what you used. I’m so glad you liked it.
Best,
Chrystal
Julia says
After baking the cake, it was almost completely raw on the inside. I think that the addition of water to activate the coco powder made it far too wet.
chrystal says
Hi Julia,
Unless you added more water then called for, it wasn’t the water. Did you make any substitutions? What flour blend did you use? How did you measure your flour blend and the water? Is there a possibility your oven temperature could be off?
Best,
Chrystal
Juanita I Zdawczyk says
I have been gluten free for a while but my husband just recently became gf. He loves chocolate so I was looking for a gf chocolate cake that even he would love. I tried your chocolate cake recipe and we both loved it! I did increase the baking powder and soda to 2 teaspoons each. It was so light, fluffy, and moist. I even gave some to my daughter in law and son and it was quite a hit. This will become a regular recipe for our family!
chrystal says
I’m so glad everyone loves it. Thank you for sharing.
Best,
Chrystal
Enion says
We’ve made this cake twice in the past 2 weeks, due to some close birthdays in our house. It is hands down the best GF cake recipe I have found, and we’ve been GF for 16 years. I use a blend of flours I make – 1 part tapioca starch, 1 part potato starch, 2 parts sorghum flour, and 2 parts white rice flour, plus 3/4 tsp of xanthan gum per cup of flour.
chrystal says
Hi Enion,
I am so glad you think its the best. Thank you for letting me know and for sharing what flour blend you used.
Best,
Chrystal