Who doesn’t love chocolate cake?? OK, I know there are a few of you, but I would venture to say, you are the minority. 😉 I know I love chocolate cake, any kind of chocolate cake, especially if it is covered in frosting. This moist, rich Devil’s Food Cake fit the bill perfectly. My husband actually brought most of the cake to work, and no one even know they were eating gluten-free. That always puts a smile on my face; when no one even suspects that they are eating something that doesn’t contain wheat flour. Especially when it is people that say they would NEVER want to eat gluten-free, because it’s flavourless and bland and such a BORING diet. WRONG! We can actually have our cake, and eat it too!
Gluten-free Devil's Food Cake with Mocha Buttercream
Rich, decadent Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients
Devil's Food Cake
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup hot coffee (or water)
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
- 1 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup sorghum flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Mocha Buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 4-6 Tbsp water
Instructions
Devil's Food Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 9-inch round baking pans with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix together the Dutch-processed cocoa powder and hot coffee. Let it sit for a few minutes while you prepare the other ingredients..
- Sift together the white rice flour, potato starch, cornstarch, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl when necessary. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Mix until well blended.
- Add the milk to the cocoa/coffee mixture.
- With the stand mixer running on low, add half of the sifted dry ingredients to the mixer. Mix until nearly all blended. Add the cocoa mixture, and when that is incorporated, add the rest of the dry ingredients. Once it is all incorporated, divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Place on middle rack in preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove cakes from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before running a knife around the outside of the cake, and inverting the cake onto a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting. Before frosting, you can either cut each cake in half horizontally, giving you a four layer cake, or leave each layer as is, giving you a two layer cake.
Mocha Buttercream:
- With a hand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, espresso powder and confectioners’ sugar. Slowly add enough water to reach desired consistency. You want the frosting to be stiff enough to hold its shape, but soft enough to easily spread over the cake.
- Use an offset spatula to frost the cake as desired. This recipe makes enough frosting to frost a four-layer cake, but just enough. If you want a thick layer of frosting, make another half recipe.
Wondering how to make the chocolate curls to decorate your gluten-free Devil’s Food Cake with Mocha Buttercream?? Watch this video, it’s so simple!
Margaret A. Massey says
Oh!! Yum!! I’m having company later this month, they can help me eat this. Thanks for all you do for us. ~ Margaret
Jeanine says
This is the PERFECT cake for sharing, Margaret!! 🙂 Enjoy!
Mary says
Yum!!! Jeanine, this is beautiful…I want to lick my screen!
Jeanine says
Thanks, Mary!
caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy says
oh my word, that looks just diving! that buttercream looks so enticing! my mouth is watering! thanks for sharing!
Jeanine says
Thank you, Caralyn! I hope you give it a try, it’s a really great cake.
Barbara B says
Oh, what an awesome cake! The height was amazing, the taste, divine. I made this for company tonight and they couldn’t tell it was gluten free. I’ll be making this one again and again. Thanks so much for posting it!
Jeanine says
So glad to hear that, Barbara! Thanks for the feedback. Glad that you had company so you had the opportunity to make it. 🙂 So…Sunday breakfast will be chocolate cake?? 🙂
Barbara B says
We are not THAT decadent here…we had it for lunch! 😉 My non-gluten free company wanted a piece to take home for coffee today. That’s how good it was. We’re going to try your balsamic potatoes tonight. You are the Queen! 😀
Jeanine says
Aw, so happy to hear that everyone loved it. 🙂 You know when Non-GFers are asking for it, it’s good. lol No lowered expectations here!
Fran Heath says
I’m going to be making this cake for a picnic this Saturday (today is Weds.) and was wondering how long you think this will keep? I’m trying to determine how early I can get away with making it since I have to make several other things as well. Thank you so much for all the great recipes! My family has enjoyed everything I’ve made from your site (although the lemon bars will have to be rare treats since I have no self control around them!)
Jeanine says
OH, sorry for not responding, Fran! I would probably only bake it up to two days before, wrap it up really good, but frost it up to one day before. Hope your have a great weekend!
Tami says
Just made this cake (into cupcakes! bake at same temp for 10 minutes, then rotate pan 180 degrees for another 10 minutes=) for my son’s first birthday party and I have already had 2 and the party is not until tomorrow! I also made regular vanilla cupcakes but I think these will be the hit, I’m not going to tell people they are gluten free. I did not make the buttercream as I wanted white buttercream so in the future I will definitely try this buttercream. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Jeanine says
That’s awesome,Tami! Hope your little man has a fantastic birthday party!! If you tell people they are GF, maybe there will be more leftovers for you! 😉
Michelle says
I made this today in a bundt pan – took about 45 minutes – and it looks perfect. Not short, not like gluten free at all. Better than that, it tastes amazing. Thanks for all your great recipes.
Mindie says
I made this today! Changes I made: I had no sorghum flour, so I added that amount to the rice flour measurement (I used brown instead of white). I also 1.5x’s this recipe to make a large 11×14″ cake, flipped it out, topped it with the chocolate buttercream (omitted the coffee in the icing), strawberry glaze, and lots of chocolate covered strawberries. AMAZING. My 8 year old wanted a chocolate strawberry cake for her birthday, and this made her day!
Jill Anderson says
I am confused as to how you put the cake together. Is it a 4 layer cake? Must I slice each layer into half? Your instructions do not say to do that, but the photo shows more than 2 layers. Your directions also say it is enough frosting for a four layer cake.
I have never cut a layer in half. Is there some secret to doing that? I think I will make a mess 🙂
Thanks for the great website!
Jeanine Friesen says
Sorry, Jill, I will clarify now. Yes, I split each cake into 2 layers, but you don’t ‘have’ to, you can leave them whole and have a 2 layer cake. You may have some leftover frosting doing that, as I had enough to put frosting between each layer as well. Off to edit the recipe to include this now. 🙂 thanks!
Stephanie says
Hi,
I have a gluten free flour mix, how much should I use to replace the listed dry ingredients?
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
Thanks!
Jeanine Friesen says
You could try 1 3/4 plus 1/3 cup, and omit the xanthan gum. I haven’t tried it, so the results may vary from the picture above though.
Karla says
Do you think I would be able to substitute shortening for the butter in the cake itself? Also, I have some special dry milk powder that is gluten/dairy/soy free that I just bought. Can I reconsitute that in place of the milk in the cake? Thanks!!!!!
Jeanine says
Definitely worth a try, Kara! I’ve never tried those subs, but if you do, please let me know how it worked!
Karla says
Hi! I did make the cake – substituting shortening (trans fat-free) for the butter, & the dairy-free powdered milk (reconstituted with plain water) for the regular milk. I kept everything else the way the recipe read. It was so delicious!!!
I was nervous because the batter appeared “grainy” when I poured it in the pans, and the baked cake did have a grainy texture on top after I took it out the oven – I guess the grain all rose to the top. But after I iced it you couldn’t even detect that when eaten.
I’m no baker so I can’t explain what made the batter grainy. But I was wondering if that’s normal. Do you have any ideas as to what could be the cause given the cake’s ingredients? I did sift everything, but I also used fresh flours that had been in the freezer. Could that have done it?
I’d appreciate any ideas on that grainy situation you may have. In the end it was still very good though and even the gluten eaters gobbled it up. I also used that shortening in the icing and it was rich, but wonderful.
Thanks!!!!
Elise M. says
I made this last night and it is fabulous!!! I didn’t make the frosting because I was missing some ingredients. But I put it together with a vanilla frosting and added some sprinkles (a MUST!). It is wonderful!! Thank you for posting this recipe 🙂
Jeanine says
Ah, sprinkles are a must, aren’t they? 🙂 Love that! So glad that you liked the cake, Elise! It seems to get rave reviews from both those that are GF, and those that are not. 🙂
Elise M. says
Yeah even my husband liked it! He isn’t a GF eater.
Jeanine says
This could convert him. 😉
Margaret says
I’ve used this recipe many times now and it always turns out great! Thank you Jeanine!! My whole family is gluten free and I’m always looking for good gluten free recipes to try. I do make this using a flour blend I make myself with no problems. In fact I have one in the oven right now! Yummy…can’t wait!!
Jeanine says
Thanks for sharing, Margaret! so glad to hear that it’s a favourite. Wish I was at your place for a fresh slice of chocolate cake. Mmm… 🙂
Ihjaz Ahmad says
Oh my goodness, this looks delicious! I’m definitely making this! thanks for sharing!
Bridy says
I am going to make this for my Birthday next week. It looks very good!
Jeanine says
Happy Birthday, Bridy!!
Suzanne says
I made this cake today and I didn’t have enough corn starch and I substituted tapioca starch. I don’t know if that’s the reason but the cake was very crumbly and my layers just cracked in half after it cooled. I managed to “paste” it back together with lots of frosting so it still looked and tasted fine. Will try it again with cornstarch. I loved that this had the height of a regular cake and it’s not “flat looking” like many gluten free things. Great recipe!