OK, I have been taunting you for long enough by posting pictures of this cake on Twitter and Facebook. It is time I actually shared it with you…prompted by a request for a good birthday chocolate cake by Caoimhe on Twitter. So here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Best gluten-free chocolate cake
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free, Soya-free
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1-2tsp coffee granules - optional, for a choca-mocca cake
- 175 g margarine or butter - if butter, soften it first
- 175 g white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 200 g gluten-free self-raising flour - I use my wholegrain flour blend
- 3-6 tbsp dairy or dairy-free milk - depending on what flour you use - you dont want your mixture to be runny
- Either 100g dark chocolate broken into pieces - or if your diet allows, 50g dark or milk chocolate and 50g toffees (I use Tesco value ones) both chopped into small pieces
- FOR THE ICING
- Either 100g dark chocolate or 50g toffees and 50g dark or milk chocolate broken into pieces
- 50 g margarine or butter
- 2 tbsp dairy or dairy-free milk
- 100 g icing sugar - sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/160degrees fan. Grease a 20cm round cake tin (ideally a loose bottomed one but it doesn't really matter)
- Place the cocoa and coffee granules (if using) into a cup and add enough hot water to make a smooth, thick paste
- Put the butter/marg and sugar into a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for approx. 1 minute
- Add the eggs, syrup, milk and cocoa paste and whisk until combined.
- Add the flour and carefully mix in. Once incorporated whisk for a further minute or two
- Place the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth and scatter the chocolate (and toffee pieces if using) on the top
- Gently push the chocolate (and toffee if using) into the mixture - not too far or it will sink right to the bottom!
- Cook the cake for 40-50 minutes until the top springs back when you press it lightly
- Cool in the tin for 5 mins then turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack
- Whilst cooling, make the icing by heating the chocolate, toffees (if using), butter/marg and milk in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring occationally.
- Once melted add the icing sugar to the mixture and leave to cool
- Spread the cooled icing on the cooled cake and decorate however takes your fancy...
Gina says
Hiya,
I made this yesterday and I think I did something wrong… was pretty crumbly and a lot of the chocolate didn’t melt…
I only pushed the pieces in slightly and they didn’t even go underneath the mixture, but the majority fell to the bottom. Some of the mixture seeped out of the loose-bottomed cake tin, too.
I only used 3 tbsp milk and didn’t think the mixture seemed too runny. Otherwise, I couldn’t think of anything else I did wrong. Tasted nice, though!
Gina
Vicki Montague says
Hi Gina, sorry to hear that you were rather disappointed. I am not sure where you live but perhaps you used a different gluten-free flour blend? The one I used in the recipe has xanthan gum in it so I don’t add it. If you used something else you may like to add a bit in to prevent the crumbling next time. Or check out my post for chocolate cupcakes where I reveal the secret to great gluten-free cakes…which I found after posting this recipe and is ground flax seed and sugar syrup! Regarding the chocolate not melting…it is not meant to. There are supposed to be lumps of chocolate to ‘find’ within the soft cake! They do tend to sink rather though. Sometimes I have a problem with mixture coming out of the loose bottomed tin. I find that the cheaper tins I have seem to warp a little and the base doesn’t fit really well after a while. If I use one like that they I just line them first. I hope that helps? Glad you liked the taste at least!!!
Gina says
Thanks for your reply! That all makes sense and helps loads.
I used Doves Farm plain flour, which doesn’t have xantham gum and added baking powder separately (just over 2.5tsps) to make it self-raising. I thought that might be why it was crumbly. I gave it a “rocky road” topping and the cake went pretty fast, which is ace.
I’ll check out that post – thank you! I’m making chocolate cupcakes this weekend but hadn’t found a recipe, yet.
Thanks again, Gina
🙂
Vicki Montague says
Hi Gina, plain flour with the lack of xanthan explains it! The xanthan…or ground flax seeds, bind it together and prevent the crumbles! Let me know if you try out my cup cake recipe!
Gina says
Cool. Looking forward to a more successful bake this weekend 🙂 Thank you.
Is there a specific quantity of xantham/flax seed? I checked the cupcake recipe but couldn’t see it on there.
Although I can take a look at some other recipes and figure it out 🙂
Thanks again for posting these recipes!
Vicki Montague says
Actually with the chocolate cupcakes it is the sugar syrup that holds it all together believe it or not! If you wanted to try out the flax seeds then make sure they are finely ground and add 1tsp. You wouldn’t need more than 1/4tsp of xanthan. Good luck and do post a picture on your favourite social media site making sure you tag me!!!