Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Chocolate lovers rejoice! Looking for a gluten free chocolate cake recipe? This easy homemade gluten free chocolate cake is so moist and fluffy you won’t be able to tell it’s gluten free! The best part about this easy gluten-free chocolate cake recipe? It’s made from scratch with simple ingredients and requires no fancy equipment.

It takes less than fifteen minutes to make the batter for our easy gluten-free chocolate cake, which means you’ll have more time to spend on other things in your life – like cooking up something else scrumptious! What are you waiting for?!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

We have just recently been exploring gluten free baked goods. What I found is that a lot of them are dry and flavorless. Which isn’t how a baked good should be. So, for my first foray into the world of GF baking (or any new recipe!), I revisited an old favorite: Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. We use this cake any time we have a special occasion and it’s just the best chocolate cake.

I started by making two batches–one using regular all-purpose flour as in the original recipe; one substituting it out entirely with King Arthur Gluten Free AP Flour. It took me some time to get this right but after a few attempts, we have what you see before you today: A rich chocolate cake topped off with deliciously smooth frosted Italian buttercream.

How Many Cake Layers Do You Want?

The recipe as written makes two layers. So if you want a three layer cake as shown, just increase the recipe by 50%. Or if you just want to double the recipe, you could make a few cupcakes instead of four layer cakes. The cake freezes well, so go ahead and make more for another day. I wouldn’t recommend going over three layers. The structure of the cake isn’t strong enough to support the weight of the layers.

Cake Ingredients

• Gluten Free AP Flour (We have only used King Arthur GF AP flour in this recipe. You can easily find it in grocery stores or online at Amazon)
• Xanthan Gum (If your GF Flour already has this, you won’t need it)
• Cocoa Powder (Use good quality to get the best chocolate flavor)
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda
• Butter (Room temperature)
• Caster Sugar
• Eggs
• Milk
• Vanilla Extract
• Boiling Water

How to Make the Gluten Free Cake

1. Preheat oven and grease and line two 8″ round cake pans with parchment paper. Be sure to get the sides of the pan as well as the bottom.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a second bowl using an electric mixer, or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the room temperature butter and sugar on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add eggs and combine. Then add vanilla and milk, mixing until smooth.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined.
6. With mixer on low speed, slowly add the boiling water a little at a time until incorporated.
7. Pour the cake batter into your prepared cake pans and bake.
8. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes then remove and place onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Tips For Baking The Best Gluten Free Cake

• Lightly grease the bottoms of your cake pans with gluten free cooking spray and place a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit in the bottom. This will make removing cakes from their pan super easy!
• Make sure to allow time for your butter to soften. You can read more about the importance of that in our Baking with Room Temperature Ingredients writeup.
• Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 – 15 minutes, then remove and place on a wire cooling rack.
• The cakes must be completely cool before icing them.
• I don’t recommend making this cake days ahead of time for when you need it. The earliest I would recommend making a gluten free cake is the day before you need it.
• Store in an airtight container to keep the moisture in.
• If you want to know more about the whys and hows of gluten free baking, King Arthur has a great writeup for beginners entering the gluten free world.

Looking For More Recipes?

Subscribe to my free newsletter to get new photography tips in your inbox monthly. Find me sharing new recipes and tips on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook.

5 from 9 votes

Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Print Recipe

This easy homemade gluten free chocolate cake is so moist and fluffy you won't be able to tell it's gluten free!

Prep Time:15 mins

Cook Time:25 mins

Total Time:40 mins

Ingredients

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

• 1 ⅓ cups Gluten Free AP Flour (208 grams)
• ¼ tsp Xanthan Gum (Omit if your flour already has this)
• ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder (62 grams)
• 2 tsp Baking Powder (10 grams)
• 1 tsp Baking Soda (6 grams)
• ⅔ cup Unsalted Butter (150 grams)
• 1 ½ cups Superfine/Caster Sugar (312 grams)
• 3 Large Eggs Room Temperature
• ½ cup Whole Milk (120 mL)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• ⅔ cup Boiling Water (160 mL)

Chocolate Italian Buttercream

• ⅔ pound Sugar (303 grams)
• 151 grams Egg Whites (5-6 large eggs)
• 2.66 ounces Water (80 mL)
• 1 pound Unsalted Butter cut into 1" cubes (453 grams)
• 6 ounces Melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate (170 grams)

Instructions

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and line two 8" round cake pans.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on a medium speed for 2-3 minutes to combine.
• Add the eggs, 1 by 1, beating on a medium speed between each addition.
• Add the vanilla extract and milk and mix until smooth.
• Add in the flour mixture and mix on a low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides when necessary.
• With the mixer on a low speed, slowly pour in the boiling water a little at a time until all of it has been added and incorporated through.
• Pour the mixture into your cake pans, distributing it evenly between the two. It will be very runny, but don’t worry – this is how it’s supposed to look!
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer poked into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs and no wet cake mixture.
• Leave the cakes to cool in the pans for10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Chocolate Italian Buttercream

• Combine 76 grams of the sugar with the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer.
• Combine water with the remaining sugar in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat this until the mixture reaches 240° F (Soft ball stage).
• When the sugar syrup reaches 230°F, begin whipping the eggs in your stand mixer on medium speed with the whisk attachment. The whites should reach a soft peak stage by the time the sugar reaches 240°F.
• Carefully stream the hot sugar into the whipping whites. Continue whipping until room temperature.
• Once the meringue is cooled, switch to the paddle attachment and slowly add the butter on medium speed. Cream until smooth and light.
• Once the buttercream is at the proper texture add in the melted chocolate and whip until incorporated.
• Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com

All images and content are copyright protected. Do not use our images without prior permission.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy Gluten Free Recipe, Gluten Free Chocolate Cake, Italian Chocolate Buttercream

Servings: 14 slices

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. What that means is if you click on one of our affiliate links they may toss a few pennies our way for a commission.