Gorgeous 2-layer moist and delicious gluten-free chocolate cake frosted with a rich chocolate ganache frosting. Ideal for special occasions.
This gluten free chocolate cake is so perfectly moist and chocolatey that no one will even know it’s gluten-free. Gluten free cakes can sometimes be dry but not this one.
It’s also really easy and made with simple ingredients that are easy to find.
What You’ll Need For The Cake
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten free all purpose flour – this must be a blend. Single type flours like rice flour or almond flour won’t work. It needs to be a gluten free flour blend that is meant to replace regular all purpose flour in baking.
- Light brown sugar – this adds moisture to the recipe.
- Soy milk – can be replaced by pretty much any other non-dairy milk.
- Applesauce – adds moisture without weighing down the cake with extra oil.
- Flax egg – 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of hot water becomes a gloopy flax egg that works great in baking. If you don’t have any ground flaxseed on hand, you can replace this with an extra 3 tablespoons of applesauce.
- Vinegar – this reacts with the baking soda and causes the cake to rise. You can use either white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
The Frosting
The frosting is our vegan chocolate ganache frosting recipe. Another option for the frosting is our ultra simple vegan chocolate frosting.
How To Make Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift gluten free all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl. Add light brown sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Prepare a flax egg by adding 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding in 3 tablespoons of hot water from the kettle. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add soy milk, oil, flax egg, applesauce, vanilla extract and vinegar and mix into a batter.
- Divide the batter between two 7-inch (see notes for different cake pan sizes) cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom).
- Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake, it should come out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- When the cakes are completely cooled, frost with vegan chocolate ganache frosting or vegan chocolate frosting.
Recipe Tips
Gluten Free Flour – The only way this recipe works is if you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend that is designed to be used in place of regular flour. If you use a single kind of flour like rice flour or almond flour or coconut flour or something like that, it will NOT work.
Frosting – The frosting pictured here is our vegan chocolate ganache frosting. This frosting works great for this cake and so does our simple vegan chocolate frosting if you’re looking for an easier option.
Cake Sizes – This cake as pictured is made in two 7-inch cake pans. It can also be adapted as follows:
- Three 6-inch round cake pans – bake for 20-25 minutes
- Two 8-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes (note that the cake layers are quite thin).
- One 9-inch round cake pan – bake for 30 minutes
- 9×13 sheet cake – bake for 15-20 minutes
- 9×9 square cake – bake for 20-25 minutes
Recipe FAQ
We have tried out quite a few blends and all have worked great. Some blends have xantham gum as an ingredient, some do not. We haven’t found this to make a difference for this recipe. We’re fans of Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour, but we have also used lesser known brands and they have all worked great. The key factor is that it must be a blend that is meant to replace regular flour in baking.
Yes, you definitely can. This recipe makes a perfect 12 cupcakes. Bake for 22-25 minutes.
Store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days if the weather is cool. Alternatively store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature on the counter before serving.
It’s freezer friendly for up to a month if you’d like to freeze it.
More Gluten-Free Baking Recipes
- Vegan Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- Vegan Gluten Free Brownies
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 ½ cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend (204g)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder (42g) Unsweetened
- 1 ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk) (240ml)
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Flax Egg 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal + 3 Tbsp Hot Water
- 2 Tbsp Applesauce
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
Frosting:
- 1 Recipe Vegan Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 7-inch cake pans (*see notes for different cake pan sizes) with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
- Sift gluten free all purpose flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl. Add light brown sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Prepare a flax egg by adding 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding in 3 tablespoons of hot water from the kettle. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add soy milk, oil, flax egg, applesauce, vanilla extract and vinegar and mix into a batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake, it should come out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- When the cakes are completely cooled, frost with vegan chocolate ganache frosting or vegan chocolate frosting.
Notes
- Gluten Free Flour – The only way this recipe works is if you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend that is designed to be used in place of regular flour. If you use a single kind of flour like rice flour or almond flour or coconut flour or something like that, it will NOT work.
- Flax egg – this can be replaced with an extra 3 Tbsp of applesauce.
- Frosting – The frosting shown in the photos is our vegan chocolate ganache frosting. This frosting works great for this cake and so does our simple vegan chocolate frosting if you’re looking for an easier option.
- Cake Sizes – This cake can adapt to different cake pan sizes as follows:
- Three 6-inch round cake pans – bake for 20-25 minutes
- Two 8-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes (note that the cake layers are quite thin).
- One 9-inch round cake pan – bake for 30 minutes
- 9×13 sheet cake – bake for 15-20 minutes
- 9×9 square cake – bake for 20-25 minutes
- Cupcakes – This recipe makes a perfect 12 cupcakes. Bake for 22-25 minutes.
- Storing – Store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days if the weather is cool. Alternatively store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature on the counter before serving. It’s freezer friendly for up to a month if you’d like to freeze it.
- Nutrition estimate is for cake only and excludes frosting. Nutritional information for the frosting can be found on that separate linked recipe.
- This recipe was first published in January 2016. It has been updated with new photos and lots of extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
delicious cake. I make it for my daughter’s birthday almost every year.
So glad to hear Jill! Thanks so much for your great review!
Awesome, please can I use this same recipe for 9 inches round cake pan?
Yes you can make a single layer 9-inch cake with this recipe.
Excellent recipe! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking flour and substitute about 50g of flour with hazelnut flour just because.
I didn’t make it dairy-free so I used whole milk and yogurt in place of the applesauce. The cake is soft and delicious! Thank you!
So glad it worked out great Izzy, thanks so much for the great review!
There was no oven temperature listed for baking this so I used 300 in my convection oven and it took 20 minutes not 15. Having said that, it was delicious and moist. I made is in a 9×13 greased Pyrex. I also used Bob’s Red Mill Egg substitute and it worked well. I also love to use King Arthur’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. Definitely a keeper recipe. Thank you
Hi Constance, thanks for pointing that out! We had the temperature listed in the post but must have accidentally deleted it in the recipe card. So glad it was delicious and moist! Thanks for sharing!
Can you please tell me how much of the Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer you used in this recipe?
Hi Alison – I love all your recipes, especially your cake ones! I make them frequently. This week I had a request for a vegan and gluten free cake and cupcakes. The cake came out well – moist and delicious. The cupcakes, however, were almost too moist (some oil spots in the cupcake pan after baking). I actually had to re-pipe the frosting on them because moisture from the cupcakes caused condensation on the frosting. As far as I can tell, both the cake and cupcakes use the same recipe. I ended up using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour not the all purpose. From what I’ve read on their website, additional moisture is not needed (i.e., no need to adapt recipe) when using the 1 to 1 flour blend. Do you think I should either: use the all purpose blend for this recipe or use the 1 to 1 blend in your regular vegan cake/cupcake recipes in the future? I think the added oil was too much in combination with the 1 to 1 flour blend.
Also, I’ve read that a bit of additional mixing and allowing your batter to rest (for up to 30 minutes) helps with gluten free baking, as it allows the flours to absorb the liquids better therefore resulting in a less gritty cake. Overmixing etc. is an issue when using gluten-based flours, but not so much when it comes to gluten free ones. Just wondering your thoughts on this. Thanks very much for your anticipated help!
Hi Kate, I have used a few different gf flour blends when making the cake and cupcakes and haven’t noticed that issue. However, my favorite Bob’s Red Mill blend is the all purpose baking flour. You could definitely let it rest a bit first and you’re entirely right that over-mixing isn’t an issue with gf flours, but of course resting too long can affect the rising agents, so I would say 30 minutes would be a good maximum.
Hi Alison. In the recipe does the Baking Soda mean Baking Powder or Bi-carb Soda please.Thanks
Baking soda and bicarbonate of soda are the same thing. Baking powder is something different. 🙂
Thank you.
Hola soy de Puerto rico esta receta es riquísima super esponjosa y humeda muy rica gracias por compartirla
The cake was so easy to make and it came out perfectly!! So moist and delicious. The only thing that wasn’t the same for me is the frosting. I used the exact measurements and Ingres for your frosting recipe, but mine came out super dark in color as opposed to your light brown color. Mine also was so thick after I refrigerated it for an hour that I had to put it in the microwave to heat up so it would soften up so I could spread it on the cake. Other than this, the cake is great. I can’t wait to try your vegan GF carrot cake recipe next!
Hi Darice, so glad the cake was good! The chocolate in the ganache will firm up a LOT in the fridge and would need to soften before spreading. And the color would vary according to the kind of chocolate used, so I don’t think it sounds like anything went ‘wrong’ there necessarily. Hope you enjoy the carrot cake too. 🙂
Can you use this for cupcakes? If so how long should I cook it?
Hi Amy, we have a great recipe for gluten free chocolate cupcakes based on this recipe that you can check out. 🙂
This is a phenomenal recipe! I made this for my boyfriend’s mother for mother’s day, and she could not believe it was gluten free and dairy free (she can’t have wheat or milk, but can have eggs, so I subbed real egg for the flax egg). This cake was so moist and fluffy and held up great. I iced it with a vegan buttercream and it was one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. That is quite the statement considering I had only ever made boxed cake mixes before this one. This recipe is getting printed and stuck on the fridge forever!
Hi Kate! So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the amazing review. xo
This looks amazing! Can I double the recipe and use 2 9″ spring form pans. Want to feed a crowd.
That should work out right, just be really precise with your calculations and probably best to test it first before you make it for an event. All the best! 🙂
Doubled for 9 inch was perfect. Baking time was bang on 30 minutes!
Thanks for sending the photo, it looked amazing! So glad it worked out great and thank you for the amazing review. 🙂
Hi Alison, what can i use to sub the apple sauce for this recipe?
Hi Melissa, you can use extra oil instead.