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Vegan gluten free chocolate cake on a white cake stand.
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4.87 from 29 votes

Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

The best vegan gluten-free chocolate cake! Rich and decadent and made with simple ingredients. No one will ever guess it's both vegan and gluten-free!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Dessert, Gluten-Free
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
Servings: 12
Calories: 303kcal
Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

For the Cake: 

  • 2 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend (272g)
  • ¾ cup Cocoa Powder (63g) Unsweetened
  • 2 cups White Granulated Sugar (400g)
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Instant Espresso Powder Optional*
  • 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice + Soy Milk up to the 1 cup line*
  • 2 Flax Eggs 2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed + 6 Tbsp Hot Water*
  • ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Hot Water (240ml)

Frosting Options: 

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. 
  • Sift the gluten free flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add the white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and instant espresso powder and mix together. 
  • Prepare the vegan buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp lemon juice to a measuring jug and adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle.
  • Prepare the flax eggs by adding 2 Tbsp of ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding 6 Tbsp hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy. 
  • Add the vegan buttermilk to the mixing bowl along with the flax eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Stir into a thick batter. 
  • Add the hot water and whisk it in. The batter will be thin.  
  • Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared 9-inch cake pans. 
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean. 
  • Allow to cool in the cake pans for a few minutes before transferring them to wire cooling racks to cool completely before frosting. 
  • Frost with whipped vegan chocolate ganache or vegan chocolate buttercream frosting.

Notes

  1. Gluten-free all purpose flour. It's essential that you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. I don't recommend trying this recipe with any single type of gluten-free flour such as rice flour or almond flour or coconut flour. I would not expect this recipe to work in that case. It must be a blend that is meant to replace regular wheat flour. 
  2. Instant espresso powder. We use just a little instant espresso powder in this recipe which really helps to enhance the chocolate flavor. You don't notice any coffee flavor at all in the cake, it's just really chocolatey. You can use any espresso powder or instant coffee. Alternatively you can omit it altogether. 
  3. Vegan buttermilk. We made the vegan buttermilk using soy milk. But you can also make it using almond milk if you prefer. 
  4. Flax eggs. This recipe uses two flax eggs. If you don't have ground flaxseeds you can replace the flax eggs with 6 Tablespoons of applesauce. 
  5. The Frosting. The frosting on this cake (as pictured) is the whipped version of our vegan chocolate ganache recipe. It's made with just 2-ingredients: vegan chocolate and coconut cream. It's not a very sweet frosting and so it's ideal for those who prefer their frostings to be less sweet. If you want a more traditional buttercream frosting then our vegan chocolate buttercream frosting will also work great for this cake. 
  6. Cake Sizes. You can make this cake in two 9-inch cake pans or three 8-inch cake pans. For fatter cake layers you can also do it in two 8-inch cake pans, increase the baking time to 35 minutes. For a 9x13 sheet cake bake for 35-40 minutes. 
  7. Cupcakes: This recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes. If you want a perfect 12 cupcakes then check out our recipe for gluten free chocolate cupcakes. 
  8. Make it with regular all purpose flour instead. If you don't want this cake to be gluten-free then you can just replace the 2 cups of gluten-free flour with 2 cups (250g) of regular all purpose flour. 
  9. Storage: Keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Or you can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 
  10. Freezing: It is also freezer friendly for up to a month if you want to freeze it. 
  11. Nutritional information is for cake only and does not include frosting. Nutritional information for the chocolate ganache or chocolate buttercream can be found on those separate linked recipes. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 52.4g | Protein: 3.9g | Fat: 10.9g | Saturated Fat: 1.1g | Sodium: 365mg | Fiber: 3.9g | Sugar: 34.1g