Many of us grew up eating chocolate cake made from a box of cake mix.
Although, my mom always made her own chocolate chip cookies and whole-wheat bread from scratch, cake was just better and cheaper when it came out of a box.
Box mixes make light, fluffy cakes, especially those mixes that have pudding and tons of oil as part of the ingredients.
Once I went gluten free, there were still gluten-free cake mixes to help me out. Betty Crocker mixes, which are processed in a gluten-free environment, are sold in most grocery stores, even today; but they are expensive and didn't turn out as light as I would have liked.
In fact, the vanilla flavored cake was pretty dry.
Since I'm a perfectionist when it comes to baking, I was sure that I could come up with something that would rival the old boxed chocolate cakes I used to make before going gluten free; but creating my own recipe meant I had to learn the principles that lay at the heart of gluten-free baking.
Since I'm a perfectionist when it comes to baking, I was sure that I could come up with something that would rival the old boxed chocolate cakes I used to make before going gluten free; but creating my own recipe meant I had to learn the principles that lay at the heart of gluten-free baking.
Baking Without Gluten is a Challenge
Gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye.
It contributes important properties to baked goods. Some of those properties include:
- structure
- texture
- taste
- moisture
- ability to bind the ingredients together
When gluten is removed from the recipe, the result can be disastrous.
Cake is dry and crumbly. It tastes funny without the wheat, and has often been described as a hockey puck. Even if you can get the cake to stay together, it's heavy and dense.
Obviously, that wasn't what I wanted, so I started hanging out a couple of different gluten-free forums to see what others were doing.
I listened to the experienced gluten-free bakers as well as a few cookbook authors hanging out there. I took what I learned from them, went back to my old stash of recipes, and pulled out an emergency chocolate applesauce cake recipe I used to use when I had unexpected company show up and didn't have any cake mixes in the house.
Although, that starting recipe produced a cake that was denser than a cake mix, it was moist, fudgy, and delicious.
Protein ingredients, such as high-protein flours, eggs, and milk help to give your gluten-free cake and other baked goods a strong structure, but cakes also need to be moist and as velvety in texture as possible.
That requires moisturizing ingredients, extra leavening, and vegetable gum to give the final product an extra lift.
What my original recipe had going for it was the applesauce.
Applesauce and other fruit purees, sour cream, yogurt, and mayonnaise work extremely well in gluten-free recipes. They add moisture, help hold the gluten-free flours together, and add a nice flavor to a rice-based cake.
In addition, chocolate cake mixes produce a light and fluffy chocolate cake because they're made with a special cake flour.
Cake flour is ground from a softer type of wheat that's lower in protein, and therefore, lower in gluten. That quality is easy to imitate when you use a rice-based gluten-free flour mix that's also heavy on starches.
The extra starches will still give your cake plenty of structure and keep it light enough for a good rise.
In order for gluten-free baked goods to be edible, you have to use alternative ingredients that will mimic the missing properties of gluten. Without gluten, cakes won't rise and hold their shape.
The protein in all-purpose flour forms a web-like structure that's capable of trapping air.
That's where cakes get their tender crumb from.
Gluten is also sticky, which causes the ingredients to stay together, once baked. In addition, gluten traps moisture inside its web. That keeps baked goods from drying out.
However, there isn't a single gluten-free flour or starch that can do all of that.
As a result, gluten-free bakers generally use a variety of methods and cooking tricks, rather than one single gluten-free flour or starch. This means you need a mixture of different flours, starches, vegetable gums, and protein boosters that when used all together cause a recipe to come as close to imitating gluten as possible.
Most gluten-free recipes use a gluten-free flour mix that gives the recipe the properties the cook is looking for. When prepared ahead and stored in an air-tight container, these ready-made mixes save tons of time.
Since having to have a number of different flour mixes can quickly become overwhelming and impractical, most gluten-free cooks have come up with a basic, all-purpose gluten-free flour mix they can use for most of their recipes.
Since gluten-free cakes should be as light as possible, especially a gluten-free chocolate cake, I use a heavy-on-the-starch, all-purpose gluten-free flour mix that one of the moderators over at the Delta Forums Celiac Disease Support Group uses.
It was the first gluten-free flour mix I tried in 2009.
The mix worked so well, that I have only experimented with a couple of other flour mixes since then, including trying to make up a mix of my own without cornstarch; but I keep coming back to that first flour mixture.
It works in almost everything I've tried, so here's the recipe.
2-3/4 cups finely ground white-rice flour
1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1 cup tapioca starch or flour
1/4 cup cornstarch (I use Argo brand)
Just mix all of those ingredients together.
Many gluten-free cooks and bloggers will tell you that you can't overwork a gluten-free batter, so you don't have to be afraid of whipping in plenty of air. But my own experience with using vegetable gums doesn't back that up.
Xanthan gum activates when you beat it into the cake ingredients, so you can definitely overwork the dough or batter.
Overbeating the cake batter results in a bready texture, so I never use my Kitchen Aid Mixer when I make cake. But I do use it for making the frosting.
Makes 9 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup gluten-free flour mix
1/2 cup of unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup oil
Cake is dry and crumbly. It tastes funny without the wheat, and has often been described as a hockey puck. Even if you can get the cake to stay together, it's heavy and dense.
Obviously, that wasn't what I wanted, so I started hanging out a couple of different gluten-free forums to see what others were doing.
I listened to the experienced gluten-free bakers as well as a few cookbook authors hanging out there. I took what I learned from them, went back to my old stash of recipes, and pulled out an emergency chocolate applesauce cake recipe I used to use when I had unexpected company show up and didn't have any cake mixes in the house.
Although, that starting recipe produced a cake that was denser than a cake mix, it was moist, fudgy, and delicious.
Great Gluten-Free Cakes Need Moisture as Well as Structure
Protein ingredients, such as high-protein flours, eggs, and milk help to give your gluten-free cake and other baked goods a strong structure, but cakes also need to be moist and as velvety in texture as possible.
That requires moisturizing ingredients, extra leavening, and vegetable gum to give the final product an extra lift.
What my original recipe had going for it was the applesauce.
Applesauce and other fruit purees, sour cream, yogurt, and mayonnaise work extremely well in gluten-free recipes. They add moisture, help hold the gluten-free flours together, and add a nice flavor to a rice-based cake.
In addition, chocolate cake mixes produce a light and fluffy chocolate cake because they're made with a special cake flour.
Cake flour is ground from a softer type of wheat that's lower in protein, and therefore, lower in gluten. That quality is easy to imitate when you use a rice-based gluten-free flour mix that's also heavy on starches.
The extra starches will still give your cake plenty of structure and keep it light enough for a good rise.
A Good Gluten-Free Flour Mix is Essential
In order for gluten-free baked goods to be edible, you have to use alternative ingredients that will mimic the missing properties of gluten. Without gluten, cakes won't rise and hold their shape.
The protein in all-purpose flour forms a web-like structure that's capable of trapping air.
That's where cakes get their tender crumb from.
Gluten is also sticky, which causes the ingredients to stay together, once baked. In addition, gluten traps moisture inside its web. That keeps baked goods from drying out.
However, there isn't a single gluten-free flour or starch that can do all of that.
As a result, gluten-free bakers generally use a variety of methods and cooking tricks, rather than one single gluten-free flour or starch. This means you need a mixture of different flours, starches, vegetable gums, and protein boosters that when used all together cause a recipe to come as close to imitating gluten as possible.
Most gluten-free recipes use a gluten-free flour mix that gives the recipe the properties the cook is looking for. When prepared ahead and stored in an air-tight container, these ready-made mixes save tons of time.
Since having to have a number of different flour mixes can quickly become overwhelming and impractical, most gluten-free cooks have come up with a basic, all-purpose gluten-free flour mix they can use for most of their recipes.
Since gluten-free cakes should be as light as possible, especially a gluten-free chocolate cake, I use a heavy-on-the-starch, all-purpose gluten-free flour mix that one of the moderators over at the Delta Forums Celiac Disease Support Group uses.
It was the first gluten-free flour mix I tried in 2009.
The mix worked so well, that I have only experimented with a couple of other flour mixes since then, including trying to make up a mix of my own without cornstarch; but I keep coming back to that first flour mixture.
It works in almost everything I've tried, so here's the recipe.
My Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
2-3/4 cups finely ground white-rice flour
1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1 cup tapioca starch or flour
1/4 cup cornstarch (I use Argo brand)
Just mix all of those ingredients together.
Don't Overbeat Your Cake Batter
Many gluten-free cooks and bloggers will tell you that you can't overwork a gluten-free batter, so you don't have to be afraid of whipping in plenty of air. But my own experience with using vegetable gums doesn't back that up.
Xanthan gum activates when you beat it into the cake ingredients, so you can definitely overwork the dough or batter.
Overbeating the cake batter results in a bready texture, so I never use my Kitchen Aid Mixer when I make cake. But I do use it for making the frosting.
Here's My Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Recipe
Makes 9 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup gluten-free flour mix
1/2 cup of unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup oil
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Spray an 8x8 or 9x9-inch pan with non-stick spray and set aside. Don't use “baking” spray. Baking spray contains flour, so it's not gluten free.
In a small bowl, measure out the milk. Add vinegar and set the milk aside, so it has time to sour.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine gluten-free flour mix, cocoa powder, sugar, Xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and vanilla. Add oil and sugar; stirring combine. Fold in soured milk and applesauce.
Slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring until the batter is nice and smooth.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick tests clean. Be extra-careful not to overbake the cake. An overbaked gluten-free cake will be quite dry, even if you used superfine rice flour.
Move the baked cake to a cooling rack and let cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to keep it moist. Allow the cake to finish cooling before frosting.
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Spray an 8x8 or 9x9-inch pan with non-stick spray and set aside. Don't use “baking” spray. Baking spray contains flour, so it's not gluten free.
In a small bowl, measure out the milk. Add vinegar and set the milk aside, so it has time to sour.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine gluten-free flour mix, cocoa powder, sugar, Xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and vanilla. Add oil and sugar; stirring combine. Fold in soured milk and applesauce.
Slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring until the batter is nice and smooth.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick tests clean. Be extra-careful not to overbake the cake. An overbaked gluten-free cake will be quite dry, even if you used superfine rice flour.
Move the baked cake to a cooling rack and let cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to keep it moist. Allow the cake to finish cooling before frosting.
Moisture will gather under the plastic wrap. That's perfectly normal!
Unlike the cake batter, gluten-free chocolate frosting comes out great when you use a kitchen stand mixer. Plus, it's easier because the mixer does all of the hard work for you!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup softened butter
Gluten-Free Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Unlike the cake batter, gluten-free chocolate frosting comes out great when you use a kitchen stand mixer. Plus, it's easier because the mixer does all of the hard work for you!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup heavy cream, or more
2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Place butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl) and beat until nice and fluffy. If you don't have a stand mixer, just use the hand-held type of beater. Add salt, vanilla, and cocoa powder and beat until completely smooth.
Add heavy cream and beat for a couple of minutes, until mixture is very smooth.
Add powdered sugar a little at a time, and beat well after each addition. Add more cream if needed to make a smooth consistency.
Once your cake has cooled, you can frost it.
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup heavy cream, or more
2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Place butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl) and beat until nice and fluffy. If you don't have a stand mixer, just use the hand-held type of beater. Add salt, vanilla, and cocoa powder and beat until completely smooth.
Add heavy cream and beat for a couple of minutes, until mixture is very smooth.
Add powdered sugar a little at a time, and beat well after each addition. Add more cream if needed to make a smooth consistency.
Once your cake has cooled, you can frost it.
How Long Will this Gluten-Free Applesauce Cake Stay Moist?
When tightly covered, the cake will stay moist sitting on your kitchen counter for about 3 or 4 days before it starts to dry out. Generally, the cake will be moister the following day, so it's fine to make the cake a day ahead if you need to.
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