The Best Chocolate Cake (Gluten Free)

Chocolate cake, chocolate cake, how do I love thee? You are the very fairest of cakes, the truest and bluest and luscious-est of cakes, a cake I covet, a cake I will always choose if there is a choice of cake. You're never a dark horse; no, you're a cake that walks by itself through the dark alleys of cakes advertising whimsy and panache and something different, maybe with bananas and raspberries and a boozy creme filling -- no! I will always, always come back to thee, o best beloved chocolate cake.

Rich and satisfying, this is a totally solid chocolate cake. It's also versatile: You can bake it in two cake rounds, a large bundt pan, or a tube pan (make sure to use a baking sheet to catch any drips). You can fill or frost it with anything you like -- I am partial to a very chocolatey buttercream, but ganache or even just plain whipped cream would be delightful, too.

This recipe leans heavily on Sarah Keiffer's "Black Magic Chocolate Cake" or simply, the chocolate cake, which is a deeply dark and chocolatey cake. Here, I adjusted some of the ingredients to turn it gluten-free, though you can use all-purpose flour instead if you prefer. This is my family's favorite chocolate cake, and it shows up on most birthdays (when I'm not making an oat flour chocolate cake or a gluten free coconut pineapple cake).

Why Is This Chocolate Cake the Best?

Chocolate cake, what's not to love? This one needs just a few minutes to whisk together and is always delicious. It's so important to have a reliable gluten-free chocolate cake recipe in your recipe arsenal, and I hope this one becomes one of your most-used recipes. Dress it up or down, make it into cupcakes - whatever you do, it's a winner.

• So simple. I love a cake that doesn't require a mixer. You'll just need a whisk to put the batter for this cake together, and it really does take just a few minutes.
• Packed with chocolate. I love a rich, dark chocolate cake. There's a whole ¾ cup of cocoa powder here, and it infuses the cake with loads of chocolate flavor.
• Versatile. I love that the cake is so perfect that it goes with any type of frosting, or no frosting at all if that's your thing. You can easily turn it dairy-free, throw in some chocolate chips - it's so easy to adapt.

Ingredients Needed

Here's the easy ingredients list you'll need to gather up to make this cake. The full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.

• Gluten free flour - Your favorite blend (or mine) works great here, or use 2 cups of all-purpose flour or a mix of 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour.
• Cocoa powder - I always use unsweetened cocoa powder in baking so that the results are not overly sweet.
• Granulated sugar -
• Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar is fine here, or use coconut sugar.
• Rising agents - A mix of baking soda and baking powder. Make sure they're fresh!
• Salt - I use fine sea salt, and table salt is fine.
• Eggs - Large or medium eggs are best.
• Oil - Canola, vegetable, coconut, or avocado oil are all great choices.
• Sour cream - If you're out of sour cream, regular or Greek yogurt is a fine substitute. I like full-fat sour cream. Swap non-dairy yogurt or sour cream if needed.
• Milk - Your choice of whole, 2%, or non-dairy milk.
• Vanilla - Use pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
• Coffee - Make a little extra coffee on the day you plan to bake this cake, and save 1 cup to add to the batter!

Variations

Use this cake recipe as your base and try different frostings or even switch out the flours. Here are a few variation ideas:

• Make it gluten-free or not - I use my homemade gluten free flour blend when developing this recipe, and you can use any 1:1 gluten-free flour blend you prefer. Or use 2 cups of all-purpose flour if you don't need to keep gluten-free.
• Add almond flour - For an even moister cake, substitute ½ cup of flour for almond flour.
• Olive oil - I wrote this recipe to incorporate a neutral oil such as canola or avocado oil, but I love to make it with olive oil for a richer, more floral note!
• Buttermilk - Sarah's original recipe uses buttermilk. You can trade the yogurt and milk for 1 cup of buttermilk.

Recipe Notes

• Rest the batter. Let the batter rest while the oven heats. All gluten-free flours need time to hydrate before baking, so make sure to let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes before baking it.
• Refrigerate before frosting. This cake is quite tender, and I like to bake it well in advance of when I plan to frost it. If you can, let the cake rest overnight, well wrapped, in the fridge. This will make it so much easier to frost when you're ready. If you don't have time, no worries, but an hour or two in the fridge will really help. Just make sure the cake is fully cooled before frosting it, even if it's at room temperature!
• Make it refined sugar-free - Use coconut sugar or maple sugar in place of the granulated sugar and brown sugar.
• Make it dairy-free - Swap non-dairy milk and non-dairy yogurt for the milk and sour cream.
• Make it egg-free - I haven't tried making this cake without eggs, but you could try using 3 flax eggs in place of the eggs.
• Use room-temperature ingredients. Bring the ingredients to room temperature before using. This will help them better incorporate into the batter, resulting in a smoother, more velvety crumb to the cake.
• Swap the coffee. If you don't drink coffee, try 1 cup of tea, or just use water.

Don't Forget the Crumb Coat

My biggest piece of advice when frosting this cake - and with any cake, really - is to apply a crumb coat when you assemble the layers. This is a softer cake, and crumbs will inevitably flake off when you add the frosting to the assembled cake.

What is a crumb coat? A crumb coat is the process of adding a thin layer of frosting to the exterior of an assembled cake. Then you place the cake in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes until it firms up a bit. This thin frosting layer seals in any crumbs that may come off the cake when frosting it. Once the crumb coat is set, go ahead and finish frosting the cake with a thicker layer of frosting. See the photo above for an example of how the crumb coat will look.

Serving Options

This cake is perfect when served on its own, but I will always suggest a scoop of ice cream, or even a soft dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. You can bake it as cupcakes or as a tube cake, too. Other options include:

• Toppings: Sprinkle the top of the frosted cake with mini chocolate chips, raspberries, crushed candy canes, toasted walnuts, sprinkles, and more.
• Make a single layer and freeze the other. You can freeze one layer for another time (see how below), then make the frosting when you're ready to serve, or simply dust it with powdered sugar.
• Plain! Serve slices plain with ice cream or whipped cream, or drizzle over a little salted caramel sauce.
• With jam: Make a lighter cake by spreading jam and whipped cream between the layers, then finish the top with more whipped cream.

Proper Storage

• Fridge - Store cake, tightly covered, in the fridge for 5 days. Serve cold or at room temperature.
• Freezer - Wrap the cake in foil and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw the cake thoroughly in the fridge before serving.
• Individual layers - Wrap each cooled layer in plastic, then foil, then freeze them for up to 3 month. Defrost the cake in the fridge before filling and frosting it.