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    Home » Recipes » Gluten Free Cakes & Cupcakes

    Gluten-Free Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

    Modified: Aug 18, 2023 · Published: May 6, 2022 by Nicole Spiridakis ·

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Who doesn't love a Gluten-Free Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe? This one-bowl beauty has the advantage of being gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free.

    Gluten-free vegan chocolate cake

    Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

    This tender, dark, very chocolatey cake is enriched by coconut milk which deepens its flavor and brings an almost buttery quality though it's entirely dairy-free. It's perfect as-is but would also be nice with a scoop of raspberry or lemon sorbet.

    For the flours in this recipe, I used white rice flour in the flour mix because I happened to have a large bag of it on hand. I tend to lean on whole grains for the most part, but white rice flour does have its place. It's a great neutral flour with a bit of starch to help hold things together, which is appreciated here because there are no eggs in this recipe. The white rice flour is balanced by almond flour in an equal amount.

    I love the flavor of this cake -- it's deep, rich, not too sweet, and very very chocolatey. A favorite aspect is that it's a one bowl cake, making preparation a breeze.

    Why You'll Love This Recipe

    It's so easy. I love a one-bowl cake, and this one is no exception.

    Delicious fudgy texture. The white rice and almond flours melt together to create a dense, moist cake that nonetheless retains a cake-y crumb (meaning it's not like a flourless chocolate cake which has a tendency to be a chocolate brick).

    Vegan! Coconut milk in this recipe brings flavor and richness, while keeping the recipe totally suitable for vegans and those who need to eat dairy-free.

    Gluten-free vegan chocolate cake

    Gluten-Free Flours Needed

    White rice flour. While I don't use white rice flour too often because I prefer the nutritional hit whole grain gluten-free flours bring, this flour works perfectly in this recipe.

    Almond flour. Almond flour is a staple in gluten-free baking for good reason: it's versatile, great for structure because of its high protein content, and plays well with other gluten-free flours.

    More about gluten-free flours.

    Ingredients in Gluten-Free Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake

    • White rice flour
    • Almond flour
    • Coconut sugar
    • Unsweetened cocoa powder
    • Baking powder
    • Coconut milk: I like the gum-free coconut milk cans, but you could use any coconut milk here.
    • Fine sea salt
    • Water

    How to Make Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

    For the full instructions, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

    1. Combine dry ingredients. Sift or whisk together the flours, coconut sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt.
    2. Add coconut milk and water. Stir well to combine.
    3. Bake. Pour batter into prepared 8-inch cake pan and bake for 45 minutes. Cool before serving.

    Substitutions

    White rice flour - swap sorghum flour or oat flour.

    Almond flour - try tiger nut flour or another nut flour.

    Coconut sugar - use brown sugar.

    Coconut milk - use your favorite non-dairy milk of choice.

    Storage

    Store the cake in the fridge, well-covered, for 3 days. Eat straight from the fridge or bring to bring temperature before serving.

    Tip

    If you would like an even richer cake, replace the ½ cup of water with coconut milk.

    FAQ

    How do you keep a gluten-free cake moist?

    In this case, the answer is easy! The combination of almond flour and coconut flour keeps this cake rich and never dry.

    Does a gluten-free cake take longer to bake through?

    As with many things gluten-free, it depends. But, it often takes a gluten-free cake a little longer to bake. In this recipe, you'll need about 40-45 minutes of bake time.

    Can you overmix gluten-free cake batter?

    Because gluten-free flours perform differently than wheat flour, "over-mixing" gluten free flour can actually give the cake better structure! This helps the cake layers rise better as they bake and gives the cake a more tender crumb. One caveat is that when you use buckwheat flour you need a more delicate hand. It's better folded into the batter at the end of mixing.

    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Easy Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

    Nicole Spiridakis
    Just two gluten-free flours in this super simple cake.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 30 minutes mins
    Cook Time 40 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 10 servings
    Calories 187 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • ½ cup white rice flour (100 grams)
    • 1 cup almond flour (120 grams)
    • ¾ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
    • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 2 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 cup coconut milk
    • ½ cup water

    Instructions
     

    • Heat oven to 350° F and lightly grease an 8-inch cake round with coconut oil. Line with a round of parchment paper.
    • In large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the coconut milk and water and stir well to combine.
    • Pour batter into pan, place in oven, and bake for about 40-45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven, place on a rack, and cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn out onto rack to cool completely.
    • Serve cake plain, with whipped cream, or ice cream. Cake will keep, well covered in the fridge, for 3 days.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 187kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 148mgPotassium: 183mgFiber: 3gSugar: 0.1gVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 90mgIron: 2mg
    Disclaimer: Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is an estimate (I'm not a nutritionist and can't guarantee accuracy!). Even when not specified, be sure to check that all the ingredients you use are gluten free if you need them to be by reading labels on all packaging and/or confirming with the manufacturer.
    Did you make this recipe?Let me know in the comments how it went!

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    Comments

    1. Bee says

      April 20, 2025 at 12:33 pm

      Hi,

      I have a question about the measurements: you write to use 1 cup or 100g white rice flour. When I measure 1 cup white rice flour, I get 180g.

      So, I used the cup measurements because the rest the ingredients is listed with cups/tsp and tbsp only, no more gram conversations. My cake turned out dry, looking more like a crinkle cookie, and the batter was not pourable at all, even after adding more liquids.

      Please advise! I'd love to have this easy a recipe for a chocolate cake!

      Thank you!

      Reply
      • Nicole Spiridakis says

        April 21, 2025 at 11:13 am

        Hi, Sorry it didn't turn out so well! I have updated the measurements because I don't think I aligned them well with cups/weight. So try 1/2 cup white rice flour (80 grams) and 1 cup of almond flour (120 grams). You could also try 200 grams of a preferred gf flour of choice like oat flour if you can eat oats!

        Reply
    2. Ritha says

      February 27, 2024 at 1:34 pm

      5 stars
      Hey!! Thank you for the recipe :)

      So easy to make and everyone was a fan !!

      Was wondering if I could do it sugar free or using sweeteners such as monk fruit instead of brown sugar or coconut sugar ?

      Reply
      • Nicole Spiridakis says

        March 02, 2024 at 12:29 pm

        Love to hear that! I haven't baked with monk fruit, but the google tells me it should work if you use half as much as the recipe calls for. I don't know if I'd skip the sweetener altogether because it might make the cake too dry.

        Reply
    5 from 4 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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    Cucina Nicolina is your home for easy gluten free baking recipes made with simple, wholesome ingredients. I'm a writer, recipe developer and cookbook author who loves to share all things yummy and gluten free. Learn more about me.

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