This gluten free dairy free chocolate cake recipe is one of my most popular free from cake recipes. It’s suitable for people who have to avoid all top 14 allergens and is the perfect gluten and dairy free party food.
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The story behind this gluten and dairy free cake
At the weekend we were privileged to witness and be involved in something very special. The baptism of my very special friend, Mel’s (of Le Coin De Mel) littlest girl.
It was a beautiful occasion, and despite not being religious, I found it very moving.
The kids learnt all about what happens at a baptism (and have been sharing their new-found knowledge at school) and we all got to meet some truly lovely people.
All in all it was a fabulous day!
Of course for me, no celebration is quite complete without a cake so given the allergies of one of Mel’s girls, and Roo’s dietary requirements, I set about making a cake that was gluten-free, wheat-free, nut-free, seed-free, egg-free and dairy-free.
It just so happened that I had some amazing products from Coconut Merchant, so I made the cake refined sugar-free too. Except for the decorations.
Pre-planning is not my forte, so on the morning of the baptism I gathered the ingredients and set about baking whilst everyone ate their breakfast!
One thing I had failed to pre-think was the dairy-free milk.
We always use almond milk…which of course is no good in a nut-free cake.
I therefore had to include dairy milk in my version. Luckily small amounts don’t seem to bother ‘Roo’ provided she doesn’t have it very often.
Being early, there were other mistakes too…like dropping one cake and having to start again.
That just meant that instead of a 2 tiered cake, it turned into a 3 tiered cake.
If you make it you could either follow the recipe below and make 2 tiers, or double the recipe to make 4 tiers. If you don’t want 4 tiers you could freeze one tier to use at a later date. Or use fancy maths to work out how to make 3 tiers.
How do you make a gluten free dairy free chocolate cake?
This was a question I often pondered until I had to do it. Surely chocolate is made from dairy is what I thought?
Well, yes, lots of chocolate does has dairy in. But there is also a lot of dark chocolate, and more specialist milk chocolate, that is dairy free.
Cocoa powder is also dairy free (although it may be contaminated so check your packets carefully if you have an allergy).
In this recipe I use cocoa powder because it’s something I always have in the cupboard.
Rather than butter, I’ve used margarine. However, as I update this is 2019, I’ll tell you that I try to avoid that as much as possible these days. In my more recent recipes I use coconut oil rather than margarine.
For example, my gluten free vegan chocolate cake recipe uses coconut oil in the cake and cashew nuts to form the basis of the icing.
In order to make the cake gluten free I just use my wholegrain gluten free flour blend instead of wheat flour.
It’s a multipurpose gluten free flour that can be used for everything. From cakes to bread, biscuits to pastry. Only one bag of flour required with lots of recipes and support right here.
And unlike lots of other gluten free recipes, when you use my gluten free flour blend there’s no need to use xanthan gum or other gums. Lots of people are sensitive to xanthan gum which is found in many other flour blends. So if its important, this is a gluten free chocolate cake without xanthan gum too!
If you’ve had lots of baking disasters since using gluten free flour then I suggest you read What on Earth is…A Gluten Free Flour Blend. In that article I explain that there is no such thing as gluten free flour which in turn will help you understand gluten free baking.
The recipe really is simple and doesn’t need further explanation.
What equipment will I need?
I use my Sage stand mixer to make cakes in these days. It means I can make a cake at the same time as clearing up, or unloading the dishwasher! And the end result is always a lovely light bake.
Alternatively you could use a hand held electric whisk for beating the ingredients together. In which case you’ll also need a large bowl.
Finally, you’ll need two 15cm round cake tins (or 3 or 4 depending upon how many tiers you require). I like these springform ones because it makes getting the cooked cakes out much easier.
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Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 145 g Free From Fairy gluten-free plain flour
- 3 tsp baking powder - (make sure it's gluten free)
- 30 g cocoa
- 70 g margarine - I used dairy free Vitalite
- 60 g coconut sugar - I used Coconut Merchant - you could use 'ordinary' sugar
- 1 tbsp syrup - I used Coconut Merchant coconut syrup but you could use golden syrup
- 150 ml coconut milk - (or other dairy free milk)
- FOR THE ICING:
- 100 g margarine - I used Vitalite again
- 100 g icing sugar - sifted
- 50 g cocoa - sifted
- Splash of water - enough to make a spreading consistency
Instructions
- Place the sugar, syrup and dairy-free spread into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk, or stand mixer until pale and fluffy in appearance. This will take about 2 minutes.
- Add all the other ingredients and carefully fold them into the mixture until the dry ingredients are combined with the wet.
- Whisk together for a further minute or so until nice and fluffy.
- Transfer the mixture to two well greased 15cm round tins, and smooth the tops.
- Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven at 190 degrees (170 degree fan, gas mark 5) for 15 - 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top springs back when you touch it.
- Cool for 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool.
- While cooling, make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together until combined, then whisking for approx. 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Decorate how you like...checking the ingredients of everything you use!
Notes
Nutrition (Approx)
If you want to buy my wholegrain gluten-free and rice-free flour blend click on the link below:
I shared this with:
Zoe says
Hi just looking at your recipe and you use icing sugar, when looking at the packet it states not suitable for egg allergy sufferers. Do you know of an alternative that could be used? I have looked at both branded and shops own brands and all state the same
Vicki Montague says
That’s odd. I’ve never seen that before. I use Tate and Lyles and it says it is suitable for vegans. No mention of not being suitable for egg allergy sufferers so perhaps get in touch with them to double check?
Stephanie says
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. I need to bake a gluten free vegan cake for my daughter’s nursery. Can I bake this the night before? Will it become dry and harden the next day?
I have tried some other recipes (Gluten free & vegan) from other website and some of the cakes will become dry/hard the next day.
Thanks,
Steph
Vicki Montague says
Hi Steph, if you use my flour blend you’ll have no problems. Cakes last for several days. In fact I have just made my daughters birthday cake and she won’t be having it until Sunday. Let me know how you get on. Much love, Vicki
Pat says
So pleased with your recipe for chocolate cake and I tried it for the first time yesterday. I had to use golden syrup because it was not possible to get the coconut syrup and all went well unti I took it out of the tin , when it fell apart, beautifully crumbly and very yummy but in bits! Do you have any thoughts about why this happened? If so please do tell me because I want to make another one, thank you
Vicki Montague says
Hi Pat, did you use all the ingredients exactly as specified apart from the coconut syrup? If you used a different flour blend for example you won’t get the same results…
Emily says
Hi,
My daughter can’t have sugar either even coconut sugar. She can have maple syrup…would it work with maple syrup? Thanks.
Vicki Montague says
Hi Emily, I’m not sure because it is a liquid rather than solid. If you try it just cut down the amount of milk to make up for the extra liquid. And do let me know how you get on!
Rachel says
Could this recipe be used for cupcakes?
Vicki Montague says
Hi Rachel, I’m sure it could…I haven’t tried it but you’ll just need to bake for less time. I usually do cupcakes for around 15 – 20 minutes if that helps. Let me know how you get on!
Suzanne says
I made this for my daughter’s childcare centre party. It was a hit! I used soy milk and a different type of icing with less sugar.
Thank you.
Vicki Montague says
Hi Suzanne, thank you so much for letting me know! I am so glad it went down well!
Kyra @ Vie De La Vegan says
Oh my god, yum! I love that this cake is free from everything I try to avoid…sugar, dairy, eggs…I’m going to pin this recipe because I know I will come back to make it soon <3
Vicki Montague says
Great! Do let me know how you get on if you do make it! It makes my day if I see a picture on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook of one of my recipes…
Jenny says
This looks amazing! I really want cake now! 🙂 xx
Vicki Montague says
Ah sorry!!!
Mel says
Just linked to your recipe in my latest post sweetie 🙂
Vicki Montague says
Thank you so much Mel!
Annabel (Tickle Fingers) says
That is some challenge and you nailed it! Great free-from recipe #FreeFromFridays
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Annabel! I do like a challenge!
International Elf Service says
Oh wow this looks just like what I’m after – thank you so much for posting this! It’s making me feel hungry!
Vicki Montague says
Me too!!!
ALISON DOCKREE says
Help… I tripled the ingredients as I’m making a bigger cake but it was really really thick in consistency.. is that right? ?
Vicki Montague says
Hi Alison, as long as you followed the recipe and tripled all the ingredients it should be correct. Let me know how it turned out 🙂
Kate - glutenfreealchemist says
The cake sounds divine Vicki! I love using coconut sugar…. it has much more depth of flavour and I always think it adds a lovely caramel sweetness. With a cake this good, I would go for 4 tiers!!!! Far too good to freeze….
Vicki Montague says
Yup me too!! Shame the fourth got dropped 😉
Mel says
oh you are an absolute superstar! Your cake was out of this world, “lush” to quote my lovely niece! We all loved it and I will share it with the family. I’ll also link to your recipe when I get round to writing about baba’s baptism. Thanks again, you fantastic Free From Fairy!! (can’t believe it was refined sugar free, too! Certainly didn’t taste like it was missing sugar)
Vicki Montague says
Hi Mel, thanks for your lovely comment! I think I have pinned it to your shared food bloggers board. Being refined sugar free does not mean it isn’t sweet! That is why I object to people using things like coconut sugar and dates and saying they are sugar-free…it is very misleading. Refined sugar is just the white stuff…all sweetener is sweet! I wrote about it in my post, The Sugar Conundrum! So glad you and your family liked the cake though. That means so much. I am having to get used to things being eaten by people that I cannot try…it is very uncomfortable for me!
Joanna says
I’m sorry but you list icing sugar in the icing ingredients?
This is the refined, white stuff, no?
I put coconut sugar in coffee grinder and make coconut icing sugar that way but your recipe doesn’t say that …
Vicki Montague says
Hi Joanna, yes I list icing sugar for the icing. I don’t say that it is refined sugar free. The cake happens to be…but not the icing. You could, as you say, make icing sugar by grinding coconut sugar. But sugar is sugar whatever way you look at it!
Vicki Montague says
I agree! Can’t wait to meet you too!
Nóri | ingeniouscooking.com says
Hi Vicki, this cake still looks yummy and the ingredients list is quite short, good job! 😉
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Nori. I always try to keep ingredients list short with products that are easy to find…where ever possible!
Vicky says
Ooo This looks awesome!
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Vicky!