With a wonderfully moist crumb, this gluten-free chocolate bundt cake feels at home on a birthday party table or simply sitting on the counter for guests. The recipes doesn’t use any dairy; so it’s ideal for those who follow a gluten-free and dairy-free diet.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Bundt Cake: To Ice or Not To Ice?
Beautiful cakes often require a big investment in time and effort. Thankfully, there’s an alternative for those occasions when you want a pretty cake but don’t have the time to make one: a bundt cake. There’s a ton of REALLY pretty bundt pan shapes available, from swirls to roses, the pan takes care of the decorating for you. As much as I love those pan, I still use the pan my mom gave me. It’s the traditional bundt pan shape and I think it’s lovely.
Almost as lovely as the method for this cake. It’s a, um, “dump cake.” (Let me apologize for using the word “dump” in a baking post.) The method for this cake couldn’t be any easier—you dump drop all the ingredients into one bowl, whisk, bake, and you’re done.
For this cake, I wanted to make something deeply chocolaty. So I relied on an old baker’s trick: I boosted the chocolate flavor, not by adding more chocolate, but by using coffee as my liquid. You’d think coffee combined with the chocolate would make the cake taste like mocha. It doesn’t. It tastes simply of chocolate. Of course, if you don’t like coffee or are allergic to it, you can replace it with milk or a dairy-free milk replacement.
The resulting cake turned out so chocolaty and moist it almost begged to be served with a hot cup of coffee. Since it’s a bundt cake, you don’t need to do anything to finish it. The pan takes care of the decor for you. Still want to ice it? I’m not going to stop you! If you feel like it, gild that lily. Or, you know, glaze that cake!
Two icings work really well. For something rich, finish the cake with a chocolate ganache—if you’re dairy-free, use full-fat coconut milk instead of heavy cream. If you want something a little lighter, whip up a quick confectionery glaze of powdered sugar and water. To flavor the icing, add a little vanilla extract or a little lemon- or orange-oil (I’m partial to the citrus oil myself).
Whether you ice this cake or not, you’ll be rewarded for your (very little) work with a classic chocolate cake that’s as easy to eat as it is to make!
Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- For the Cake
- nonstick cooking spray
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces; 297 grams)
- 1 cup finely ground white rice flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder, natural or Dutch process (3 ounces; 85 grams)
- 1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 57 grams)
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch (1 ounce; 28 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 1/2 cups strong black coffee, cooled (12 ounces; 340 grams)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
- 2 large eggs, whisked (about 4 ounces; 100 grams, out of shell)
For the Chocolate Glaze
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream or full fat coconut milk
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (4 1/2 ounces; 127 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Orange Glaze
- 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (5 1/3 ounces; 150 grams)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons water (1 1/4 ounces; 35 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon orange oil or lemon oil see note above
Instructions
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Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
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In large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, white rice flour, cocoa powder, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Add coffee, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until batter is smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
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Bake until a cake tester comes out with a few damp crumbs clinging to it, about 55 minutes (If you tap the top of the cake, it should feel firm.)
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Allow cake to cool in the pan for five minutes and then turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool. (The easiest way to do this is to place a small wire rack upside down on to the cake pan. Carefully invert the cake and the wire rack. Slowly lift the cake pan off the cake. Ice as desired with chocolate glaze or confectionary glaze.
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For the Chocolate Glaze: Set cooled cake on a plate. On top of a double boiler, combine heavy cream and chocolate. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Allow to cool for two minutes. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour chocolate glaze evenly over cake. Allow to set for 15 minutes before serving.
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For the Orange Glaze: Set cooled cake on a plate. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, water, and vanilla extract. Stir with a fork until smooth. Icing should be thick but pourable; if the icing is too thick, add a little more water. Pour icing evenly over the cake and allow to set for 15 minutes before serving.
Warden says
Was initially excited to read, “Gluten Free Chocolate Bundt Cake” then as I reviewed the recipe, there is no actual chocolate IN the cake itself. Just coffee.
I think this is misleading. Maybe the title should read COFFEE Bundt cake with chocolate glaze. I don’t drink coffee and having it in cake is even more disgusting so this was a huge disappointment for me.
If you have a recipe that is for an actual CHOCOLATE cake that is gluten free, I’d love to try it
Elizabeth says
Warden–
I’m confused by your comment. There’s 3/4 cup cocoa powder in this recipe making for a very chocolatey cake. And as the recipe states, the coffee is optional. ” Of course, if you don’t like coffee or are allergic to it, you can replace it with milk or a dairy-free milk replacement.”
Mary Van Dyke says
Your recipes are amazing! Thank you! My grandson is terribly gluten-intolerant. I used to believe that gluten intolerance was merely the current “rage” in the U.S. But what I soon saw was how serious his moods change after eating wheat based products. Your recipes give me the joy of cooking “grandma” treats while also finding bread and other recipes that are delicious for ALL of us 🙂 What a blessing!
Elizabeth says
Glad you find the recipes helpful!
Alene says
All I seem to have is sweet rice flour and brown rice flour. I have everything else. May I switch the plain white rice flour with my brown rice flour? Since the cake is chocolate anyway, I’m not worried about the color of the cake! Thank you!
Elizabeth says
That should work! Brown rice flour tends to be a little grittier than white rice flour. If you’re okay with that, the recipe will be just fine!
Jeanne says
Can’t I use regular gluten free flour with
Xantham gum already in it?
Elizabeth says
That should work! I like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour.
Emily says
If I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour, do I still need to use the white rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch and xanthan gum? How much of each? Thank you Elizabeth! I can’t wait to try this one.
Elizabeth says
No, if you want to swap Bob’s 1:1 for the other flours and starches, you omit them along with the xanthan gum. This cake when made with Bob’s turns out a bit denser than when made with the custom blend.
Hope that helps!
Kitty says
I just made this for my son’s birthday cake, (he just turned 18), and it turned out awesome. Didn’t use all the called for coffee…just one cup. My batch used white rice flour, tapioca starch and fine oat flour. – Kitty, May 1, 2021.
lea says
Hello,
I have baked the gluten free chocolate cake that is done with 2 eight inch round pans. The recipes are similar. I was wondering if I could use a bundt pan for that cake. Thanks for your support. Recipes are delicious.
Elizabeth says
I think you could use a bundt for the chocolate cake recipe. Bake time will be longer. I’d check it at 45 minutes.
Erica says
Looks like this is the Serious Eats recipe (and you plagiarized the description). Why not give credit where credit is due?
Elizabeth says
I appreciate you being concerned about this. However, I wrote the piece for Serious Eats and gave *them* permission to post it along with the photo on their site.