July 4, 2018
Gluten & Dairy Free Chocolate Cake!
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A two layer gluten free and dairy free chocolate cake for everyone to enjoy! Fudgey, chocolatey, and DELICIOUS.
Gluten and dairy free
Dairy and gluten free chocolate cake – woohoo! So recently I decided to try a gluten AND dairy free diet at the same time, to see if it was maybe both of these things that I am intolerant to… but, I stopped it pretty quickly as I just craved chocolate too much, so I will try it again in the future. I basically have no self control, but I will get back to it. Maybe.
However, in the short week I tried it, I got really upset about how there was basically NOTHING sweet I could eat, that I actually wanted. Like, there are things in the supermarket that you can buy that are either naturally gluten free and dairy free, but I tend to find they aren’t the things I want. Or there are things that have been manufactured to replicate things which do contain them, but they’re often just a bit rubbish in my opinion.
I love chocolate and bread
I love all things chocolate, and all things dairy. I love all things bread, and all things gluten. It’s only when you suddenly can’t have something, that you realise just how much you love it! Or, how many things either one appears to be in. Some random pieces of food such as cool original Doritos contain milk?! What?! Why! I obviously can’t say why.. thats how they get their delicious taste, but is damn annoying.
I know I only tried this diet for a week so far, and I am not doing it to lose weight or anything, I’m purely trying to see if its a cause of my stomach issues. For those who have to do this permanently, who are allergic.. I’m sure you’ve got used to it! I do feel sorry for you though. As soon as I couldn’t have dairy, all I wanted was a chunk of Galaxy chocolate!
Gluten free baking
I’ve dabbled slightly in gluten free baking before with my gluten free double chocolate cookies and gluten free chocolate cupcakes and a few others, and I’ve done one dairy free recipe so far with my dairy free brownies, but I haven’t done both before. I was like oh yeaaahhh it’ll be easy! But yeah, its something you do have to think about. You have to check every single ingredient first, which I made a mistake with before and it was a little odd.
Chocolate
The best thing about this cake, is you can still use real chocolate… but it has to be dark chocolate. You do have to still check the dark chocolate because some still contain dairy in small quantities, but most of them are naturally dairy free. For example, in this I used a mash up of Tesco value dark chocolate, and a bit of ‘Hotel Chocolate’ as well because its what had in my cupboard.
Flour
The gluten free part is actually quite easy, because all you really HAVE to do is swap the flour to a gluten free one. I did go a little step further with this cake however after some experimenting and I used some xantham gum in this cake. I didn’t use it in my gluten free chocolate cupcakes as they’re small, and its maybe not necessary. However, with a larger cake the sometimes more crumbly texture of a gluten free cake is a bit more problematic.
Xantham gum
It’s not an essential ingredient, but its designed to help bind the cake in a way, that gluten would do if you could use it. It prevents the crumble and more dusty texture of gluten free. Doves Farm (branding shown in photo above) do both the gluten free self raising flour, and the xantham gum in most supermarkets, and this is the brand I would choose hands down!
Butter
The other part of this cake, other than the chocolate which we have covered, is the butter. Butter is something that is important to a cake, other than in a recipe such as a gluten free carrot cake for example. The best thing product I have found to replicate butter, is the Stork for baking & cooking. It’s the one wrapped in foil. Not the various tubs, the foil one.
I prefer this above other dairy free ‘spreads’ for cakes, but you can give whatever a go. The Stork is still designed for baking, but more for biscuits then anything. The good thing is, it still works in cake! It is a little softer however, so the buttercream that you make with it is a tad softer as well… which is why I slather it on.
Tips and advice
I know most people will shun the idea that this cake is still a very delicious and fudgey and glorious chocolate cake, but it honestly is. It’s not ‘healthy’ by any means, because its still a cake, but its gluten free and its dairy free. You can see form the images that it looks like a perfectly normal cake, and it tastes INSANE! The buttercream is super chocolatey, and just moreish. Not going to lie, I did eat a few spoonfuls of it on its own. The cake as well, its just lovely.
If you want the cake to be dairy free, but you don’t mind about gluten.. just use regular self raising flour. Or if you are the opposite and you can’t have gluten, but you don’t mine dairy… use regular unsalted butter in the cake and frosting! If you need an Egg Free cake as well – check out my vegan chocolate cake and swap the flour for GF with added xantham gum! Enjoy! X
Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Cake!
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 300 g dairy free butter (Stork in foil/vitalite)
- 300 g light brown sugar
- 300 g gluten free self raising flour (Doves Farm)
- 6 medium eggs
- 3/4 tsp xantham gum
- 200 g dark chocolate
Buttercream Ingredients
- 250 g dairy free butter (Stork in foil/vitalite)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 400 g icing sugar
- 200 g dark chocolate
Decoration
- 12 Strawberries
- Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line two 8"/20cm springform cake tins with parchment paper.
- Melt your dark chocolate in the microwave in short bursts, or in a bain marie. Leave to cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, add your dairy free butter, and light brown sugar. Beat together until light and fluffy.
- Add in your gluten free self raising flour, eggs, and xantham gum, and beat again until combined.
- Add in the cooled melted dark chocolate, and fold until combined.
- Split evenly between your tins, and bake for 35-40 minutes. Start checking the cake after 30 minutes, if its looked baked. A skewer should come out clean!
For the Buttercream
- Melt your dark chocolate in the microwave in short bursts, or in a bain marie. Leave to cool to room temperature.
- Make sure your dairy free butter is supple enough to mix first by leaving it to warm on the side for a bit.
- Add your dairy free butter to a bowl, and beat on its own for at least a minute to loosen it up.
- Add in the icing sugar and vanilla extract, and beat again. Add in the melted dark chocolate, and fold through.
For the Decoration
- Get your first cake, and and slather on half of the buttercream.
- Add on the second cake, and slather on the rest of the buttercream.
- Add a fresh strawberry for each slice, and sprinkle over your favourite sprinkles!
Notes
- If you need an egg free cake as well - check out my vegan chocolate cake and swap the flour for GF with added xantham gum!
- I recommend DOVES FARM gluten free flour brand for this recipe!
- I also recommend DOVES FARM xantham gum for this recipe - although, the xantham gum is optional. It just helps bind the texture.
- I used the Stork found in foil, which is mainly made up of vegetable oil, and is dairy free. You can use any dairy free spread such as Vitalite, but some are softer than others, and the Stork one is designed for baking.
- This cake will last for 3 days once baking, and should be stored at room temperature.
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J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
First time making this cake this morning and WOW. So tasty and light!
Yet to try it easy to make. Will be icing in the morning. My cakes had a crust not over cooked I checked at 30 mins not quite ready so cooked for 35.? It had a flaky outside layer which I removed. Any idea why it went like that? Followed recipe to the tee.
It sounds like their could have been too much air in the mix if you created a flaked outside x
Hi Jane, I made cupcakes using this recipe and they were delicious. Would now like to make a 9 x13 traybake.
I assume the ingredients would need to be increase by a quarter to 8 eggs, 400g butter, sugar, flour etc. etc
My question is would I still use temp of 160c fan and roughly how long would you suggest baking for.
Any advice gratefully received. Thank you
Absolutely wonderful cake – thank you! I was wondering, would it be possible to add walnuts to the chocolate cake? If yes, how much would you recommend? Thank you!
I made this cake for work and it was a hit! People told me it was the best chocolate cake they’ve ever had (including Non- GF!) people were asking me for the recipe and said the cake was divine! Thanks Jane! X
Made this today for my gluten free colleague at work but omitted the dairy free bit. It was amazing and by the far the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made either gluten free or normal. My friend couldn’t believe it was actually gluten free. I can’t wait to make some of your other gluten free recipes. Xxxxxx
Hi Jane, donI need to make any adjustments to use this recipe to make cupcakes?
Thank Andrea
Hi Jane,
Absolutely love your recipes. I make them all the time. I am gluten and dairy free and wondered could I make this as a plain sponge? Do I just take away the dark chocolate? Thanks x
Hello I need the gluten free side of this cake, will the recipe work if I was to add normal butter instead of dairy free? And do you have to use xantham gum?
Hiya! Yes you can do this, and yes I would recommend using xanthan gum. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane
I have purchased the flour recommended in your recipe, but have noticed it already contains Xanthan Gum. Silly question, do i still need to add more?
Thank you
Frankie
Hiya! You don’t have to if you don’t want to! Hope this helps x
Same question as the user “Maddie”, you make mention of cocoa powder in the comments, like it’s in the recipe – but there isn’t any cocoa powder mentioned anywhere in the recipe…. Am I missing something?
Also, to add some color and more chocolate oomph, could I lower the flour and add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder? Or too risky? Thanks
Hiya! Yes you can do this! However cocoa powder may just slightly dry the sponge. Hope this helps! x
Hi, I’m baking this as 3 tier cake, 8”, 10”, 12” could you help me with the extra measurements for the 2 larger cakes, I’m struggling with the maths of it! This cake was a massive hit last time!! Thanks
Hi Jane,
I have made this cake before and it was amazing but I never know quite how much xantham gum to use and some cakes have been more successful than others. It says 3/4 teaspoon in the recipe but is that three quarters or 3-4 teaspoons? any chance you could give it too me in grams?
I am a huge fan of your cakes, keep up the great work.
Hiya! By this I mean 3 quarters yes! Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane,
Is there a way to actually make this cake dairy free. You use dark chocolate which has dairy in it?
As mentioned on the post, not all dark chocolate has dairy in it – you need to use one that doesn’t.
Hi Jane I’m making a dairy free abs soy free cake. Do you know if this recipe contains any soy please? Thanks Ellie x
You need to check the ingredients that you buy to check for soy!
Hi Jane, if I were to make this as a 3 layer cake, how much xantham gum would I use? Xx
Is there a reason you use melted chocolate in this sponge instead of cocoa powder? Is this due to GF flour being drier than ordinary flour?
Hiya, I found it prevented the cake from drying out better, yes x
How is this dairy free when it contains eggs and what can I replace the eggs with?
Eggs aren’t dairy. For a vegan bake, you need to look at my vegan chocolate cake recipe.
😱 since when the eggs are dairy ? 🤷🏻♀️
Hi, how far in advance can I make this cake?
Hello! Potentially a very silly question here but is it “three quarters tsp” of xantham gum, or “3 or 4 tsp”? Thank you!!
it means three quarters x
Fantastic recipe, I have made it a couple of times- struggled to find a container it would fit in as it rose so beautifully! This time made it in a tray bake- perfect, beautiful sponge😃
Hello, would you have any idea of how many slices per cake (average size) and also how many calories per slice? Thankyou xx
Just tried making the sponge and it’s a really pale colour almost mottled with chocolate bits it doesn’t look nice at all and with the buttercream it went from being super soft to super thick within seconds. Not sure what I did wrong :/
Followed the recipe and the result is delicious!!
Hello I am baking this cake but it’s needs to be vegan what could I use instead of eggs? And what amount? Thanks 🙂
I have no idea im afraid – it may be best to follow my vegan chocolate cake recipe and make that gluten free instead x
This cake was out of this world! Super moist and delicious! I used regular butter for the buttercream. It was super rich. Recommend icing the cake per the photo unless you really want chocolate “overload.”
Hi Jane, can we use normal butter instead of the dairy free version? And can I use this receipe for a 6 inch cake?
I love your receipes by the way x
Yes! if you just want the gluten free side of it, you can use normal dairy products! And usually I say you should use about 2/3 of the mix for 6″ tins x
Used this recipe recently for wedding cup 🧁 big success thanks so much thought they’d be a disaster but turned out beautiful 😃
This recipe is incredible. I followed all the correct ingredients and it was amazing! I made it for my friends birthday as she’s gluten free and it went down amazingly. I have even baked it 3 more times since then, it is better than any chocolate cake I’ve had!
Hi Jane!
I’ve only recently discovered you (today I made your toblerone brownies to impress at a picnic tomorrow!) And I’m just ogling your other recipes.
I tried a low fodmap diet a few months ago, not to lose weight but to try to understand my allergies, but I seriously feel you on the gluten/dairy cold turkey front. When I eat gluten free I’m always so hungry and cranky! I fell off the wagon but am thinking of starting again soon. I know this is an old post so I hope you’ve found your allergies now, but if not, try the fodmap thing!
Finally, THANK YOU for sharing these recipes and keep your fingers crossed for the brownies tomorrow! ❤️
Jane I made this at the weekend for my best friend’s 40th birthday and she was gobsmacked that I’d managed to make a cake that was both gluten and dairy free. Not only that, it really tasted delish. Slightly crumbly which is to be expected with a lack of gluten, I wonder maybe if I didn’t add enough xantham…….the “butter” cream was really wonderful and tasted like there was butter in it. FYI, it’s also pretty awesome heated for 40 secs in the micro and covered with vegan squirty cream 😊
And for anyone wondering, I used green and blacks organic dark chocolate, which is naturally dairy free xxx
Hi! I have made this delicious cake before and it was perfection! I unfortunately I am out of gf self raising flour but I have gf plain flour and gf baking powder. Can I use these instead and what would you suggest for amounts?
Many thanks! Xxx
Hey! I’m assuming it works in the same way that regular flour does – where you use 2level tsps per 150g of plain flour! x
Hi Jane
i love your recipes and have been asked to make a diary free chocolate for my friends daughter but she would like the cake covered in fondant as she would like a Elsa themed cake , would this recipe ne suitable to cover in fondant
many Thanks
Denise
Hey! Thank you! I believe it should – but naturally dairy free buttercream is softer, so it would be best to refrigerate it/freeze it for a little while before covering so it’s nice and firm!
Hi Jane
If I wanted to make this in x2 6” tins would I half the recipe? Or would that make the sponge too thin?
I would use 2/3 of the recipe to get roughly the same depth x
Hi, I was wondering if you think this cake would hold up well if made a week ahead and frozen? I like to make the cake in advance and decorate it from frozen, but haven’t made this recipe before and am a little unsure with GF baking!
Hey! Yes, it should be absolutely fine!! Make sure to protect the sponge well in the freezer to prevent any freezer burn!
Hi Jane! I was just wondering if fresh strawberry would work inside the cake ? If so would it be 150g like raspberrys would to the amount of ingredients?
I haven’t tried it with this cake – and theoretically it should be okay if you still use the xantham gum to help bind the sponge. Without it may fall apart slightly! And yes I would say max 200g! x
Hi Jane,
Just wondering if these could be cupcakes instead? If so, would I need to change anything?
Thank you, Lucy x
I would half the recipe for 12 cupcakes – baking them for about 20 minutes!x
Hi Jane,
If I just have one cake tin, would I just half the recipe? Thanks!
Hey! Yes that would work!
Hi Jane, I absolutely love your recipes and love that you’re branching out to free from food! One of my oldest friends turns 17 soon, so I thought for her birthday in lockdown I would bake her a cake to leave on her doorstep (she lives around the corner so can drop it on my daily dog walk!). She is Dairy-free, and I was hoping to make a 3 layer cake (and cover it in icing with a dark chocolate drip around the side). Do you have any suggestions on the adaptations I would need to do in terms of ingredients, quantities, etc to make this? Sorry I know it’s a big/long request I just really want to make her birthday as special as it can be given the circumstances and don’t want to risk messing it up!
Hey! Ah thats cute. For a three layer cake, you could easily just add on another half of the mix, and bake into a third tin! Or follow the steps of my other three layer drip cakes, but use dairy free alternatives like the stork block! x
Absolutely LOVE this recipe! My son is GF, DF & EF but he goes ok when egg is cooked in baking! I served it to everyone at his birthday party and they couldn’t believe it was GF & DF! It’s my “go to” choc cake recipe now! Thanks for an incredible recipe 🙂
Ahh that’s amazing!! I’m so glad!!
Stupid question time 😂
You said about stork in foil…. I have stork in a tub is that still acceptable to use please
Have a look at the ingredients of the stork… the foil wrapped block one is dairy free, the tub ones aren’t.
If i was wanting to make this as a victoria sponge, or even a caramelly cake would i just take out the chocolate? Amd obviously change the filling
Yes, you need to up the flour though in place of the cocoa powder!
Hi,
Can you just exclude the chocolate to make this into a plain sponge?
LOVE your recipes
Kelly
Yes, you need to up the flour though in place of the cocoa powder!
Hi Jane! I wonder if you can help me. I am planning to make your gluten and dairy free choc cake for a friends birthday on Friday. I’ve had a trial run of the sponge today and it looks a lot lighter than in your photos. Having looked at your comments I notice a couple of them you say about replacing the cocoa powder with flour to make it not a chocolate cake, however in the recipe I don’t see any cocoa powder. Have I missed something or should there be cocoa powder in there? Thank you x
It will just be the chocolate you have used (but also comparing photos isn’t always the best because of lighting in a photo if that makes sense) – the colour of the sponge shouldn’t matter as long as it tastes good! x
Hi Jane, I make majority of your recipes and in love, my boyfriend is gluten free so he doesn’t get to eat anything I bake so thinking of making this for him minus the dairy free stuff, but wandered if can change the dark chocolate to milk chocolate at all? As he’s not a huge fan in dark chocolate
Hiya! You can do for the buttercream yes, but in buttercreams the dark chocolate just makes it nice and chocolatey, the icing sugar takes away the bitterness of it! x
Hi, just wondered if you knew how much to adjust the amounts if you were going to make a 3 layered version?
I would use 1/3 more x
Hi, just wanted to know if this is ok for someone with a nut allergy
That is up for you to check – you need to check ingredients.
Hi
Would this be suitable for covering in sugar paste for a birthday?
Thank you
I wouldn’t use as much buttercream, as it’s very soft – but it would be worth a try! Most cakes I cover have a stronger structure such as Madeira cake, but that’s difficult to achieve with GF and DF! X
Hi Jane!
I have made this cake a couple of times now and it is so nice! My friend wants me to make the gluten free version for her, it doesn’t need to be dairy free so could I use in the cake Stork instead of butter? I will use butter for the buttercream as usual but I just wanted to check about the cake. Thank you! 🙂
Yes you can use Stork for the sponge, and unsalted butter for the buttercream and keep the rest as is! xx
Hi there,
I only have one spring form tin (square)
Could I put the whole amount in one & just cut it into 2 once baked or is there a risk of it not cooking properly with so much in one tin? I want to make this at the weekend for my sons birthday 😬
It depends entirely on the size of the square tin, as a 9″ square = a 10″ round roughly, which is 2/3 bigger than the 8″ rounds I use. x
Hello,
Can I use ordinary caster sugar instead of the light brown or will it make a difference to the taste?
It will make a difference to the taste, but you can still use caster sugar if you prefer.
Thank you, great recipe!! I separated the eggs and added the beaten egg whites at the end and the cake turned out real nice and fluffy… 🙂
Hello!
I’m making a gluten and dairy free cake for a birthday and want to try your recipe, but I was wondering if the Xantham Gum an essential ingredient? I’ve never heard of it before and don’t actually know what it’s for.
If so where could I buy it from?
Thanks 🙂
Thanks
As mentioned in the post it’s not an essential ingredient, but it helps bind it and make it more cake like. Most supermarkets sell it in the freefrom section. x
Hi ya, I’m absolutely loving your recipes, just lush!! Can I ask a silly question,i want to make a special birthday cake for my partners birthday, his mum is gluten and dairy free. Could I double the butter cream and cover the cake and decorate with chocolates? Would butter cream hold? X thanks Anna xxx 😀
Personally I haven’t tried it yet, as this buttercream is naturally quite a bit softer due to being dairy free. You could definitely try it, but I would say it could easily slop down a bit so might be safer to have a tester if you can x
I made this yesterday for a friend. Not being used to gluten free baking, the sponge felt unusual, a bit dry. It was actually ok on tasting, but I added a drizzle which worked really, really well. I used cherry brandy and caster sugar, same quantities as for the drizzle on the elderflower and lemon cake. I guess the black currant cordial would also work in place of the brandy, if you were aiming for alcohol free…..
The texture does seem different, but if you eat it normally its just as good as normal cake 🙌 if it was dry it might’ve been slightly overbaked, but the drizzle sounds delish!
Hi Jane!
I made this cake today and totally agree with you- it is so chocolate! It’s a definite winner!
I’ll definitely be making this again!
Thank you!
Paula
Ahh yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!
I know this may sound ridiculous but but I know you said you can swap for ordinary flour but I like the recipe so much that do you think it would be okay with normal flour and normal baking spread? I really like the taste so do you think it would work?
I wouldn’t use normal baking spread for the buttercream, I would use actual unsalted butter because normal baking spread is a lot softer than even the dairy free one. And you don’t need to use the xantham gum either. But you can make it into a ‘normal’ cake easily! x
Thank you! It was more for the cake as it’s so nice 🙂
Great recipe!
I was eagerly reading your blog post, loving the sound of it… Then I scrolled to.the ingredients list…. Gasped in horror…. 6 eggs… those horrible little.things that will make me need my epi-pen… Arghhhhhhhh
Oh well I hope everyone else enjoys it, it looks fantastic
It’s advertised as Gluten Free and Dairy free, not egg free… but thank you, its very tasty 😊
Is it possible to use an egg replacer for this recipe and still get the same results? I made this cake before and absolutely loved it but i have a few vegan friends who id like to make this for.
I have no idea I’m afraid!! x
what sprinkles do u use
Little bronze crunch sprinkles from Waitrose