An easy and delicious gluten free Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe. Safe for Coeliacs, although no one will ever know it’s gluten free. Can also be made dairy free.
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Chocolate Fudge Cake – So easy a child can make it
This particular Chocolate Fudge Cake first appeared on Gluten Free Alchemist back in 2017. In fact, it was one of a number of delicious bakes made by our daughter (Miss GF)…
Not only is it incredibly delicious, but it was made when she was just 11… with no help whatsoever. And yes… that does reflect that she is a great baker… But it also reflects just how easy this cake is to make. So, whether you are simply a Coeliac who loves chocolate cake or a gluten free newbie getting to grips with a whole new set of ingredients… This recipe for Chocolate Fudge Cake is worthy of a place on your table.
The credit for this Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe
Miss GF’s Chocolate Fudge Cake is fractionally adapted from one found in a lovely gluten free cake book called Cake Angels (Julia Roberts). It’s one of my earliest gluten free cook book buys. And remains a favourite here at GFHQ. The recipes are pretty straight forward and can all be made dairy free as well as gluten free.
The adaptations made were simply to use ingredients available in the larder. Miss GF also used our Gluten Free Alchemist Flour Blend A, to which she added baking powder to make it ‘self-raising’.
Other than that, this is the original Julia Roberts version and all credit goes to her for its creation.
Is this recipe safe for people with Coeliac Disease?
Yes. Absolutely. Because the original recipe is written to be gluten free (and thus safe for people with Coeliac Disease (Celiac)). For best results, be sure to use a good, balanced and trustworthy gluten free cake flour blend. The original recipe does not specify the combination of individual gluten free flours, so I am assuming a standard blend such as Doves Freee (or whatever you have available where you live) will work fine. Like I said, Miss GF used my Gluten Free Alchemist White Blend A and the results were fabulous.
As the recipe includes xanthan gum, be sure to adjust the ingredients if the flour blend used already contains xanthan.
Equally… As with all gluten free baking, be sure to check ingredient labels for any unexpected or hidden gluten or ‘may contain’ warnings.
How to make this Chocolate Fudge Cake dairy free as well as gluten free
The Cake Angels Chocolate Fudge Cake is as delicious dairy free as made with standard dairy products. We know, because we have tried both!
To make it dairy free, simply sub any milk, butter and chocolate for good dairy free/vegan alternatives.
Tips for the best Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake
Having made this cake several times now, here’s our top tips for getting the fudgiest, most perfectly risen and deeply chocolatey sponge…
- Follow the recipe… That may sound obvious. However, when I get contacted because things have gone ‘wrong’, it is almost invariably because the baker went ‘off piste’ with either the ingredients or the method.
- Break down any lumps in the dry mix before adding to the cake batter. Either rub the mix between the fingers or crush with the back of a spoon.
- Beat the eggs lightly… A fudgy texture is supported by a more controlled rise. Too much beating may just result in too much air. So, beat the egg with a whisk, but only to the point of ‘lightly airy’.
- Make sure the homemade ‘buttermilk’ is cooled before adding to the egg mix… Adding when it is too warm will result in scrambled egg.
- Beat the chocolate mixture into the batter by hand! While it is tempting to use a whisk (as I found out to my peril), it will result in a crusty and uncontrolled top.
- Cook low and slow… For the perfect texture.
Ready to make Chocolate Fudge Cake?
And there we have it… Lots of tips to get the best out of this gluten free Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe (which is found below). I hope you enjoy it. Do let me know if you make it with a comment or social media tag. you’ll find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter #glutenfreealchemist
And for everything else, head over to our Gluten Free Recipe Index where there’s literally hundreds of recipes to have you drooling.
Happy baking
More Yummy Chocolate Cakes you’ll love…
Chocolate Fudge Cake – Gluten Free
Key equipment
- oven + hob
- small and large saucepans (one of each)
Ingredients
Chocolate Sponges
- 75 ml/g milk dairy or dairy free
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp instant espresso coffee powder
- 125 ml/g cold water
- 200 g good quality dark chocolate – cut into pieces (dairy free as required)
- 200 g unsalted butter (or dairy free alternative) – cut into small pieces
- 170 g gluten free plain flour blend I use GFA Blend A (see NOTES)
- 1 tsp baking powder check gluten free
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs At room temperature (UK large = Canadian ‘Extra Large’; Australian ‘Jumbo’; and US ‘Extra or Very Large’)
Chocolate Butter Icing
- 125 g good quality dark chocolate chopped (dairy free as required)
- 120 g unsalted butter or dairy free alternative softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180 g icing sugar confectioners/powdered sugar
- ½ to 1 tbsp milk dairy or dairy free
Decoration
- icing sugar to dust
- grated white chocolate to decorate dairy free as required
Instructions
Chocolate Sponges
- Base-line 2 x 8 inch (20 cm) round loose-bottomed non-stick cake tins with baking paper.
- Pre-heat the oven to 160 C/320 F/Gas 3.
- Start by making the 'buttermilk' – Gently warm the milk either in a microwave or in a small saucepan over a low heat until almost simmering.
- Take off the heat and add the lemon juice, stirring until the milk thickens and looks curdled. (This is the 'buttermilk'). Set aside to cool.
- Mix the coffee powder with the water in a medium saucepan and add the chocolate and butter to the pan.
- Heat, stirring frequently, over a medium heat until just melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, bicarbonate of soda, sugars and cocoa powder in a large bowl, making sure the mixture is well blended and all lumps are completely broken down. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a whisk until blended. Be careful not to over-beat however.
- Add the cooled 'buttermilk' mixture to the eggs and mix through to blend.
- Pour the egg mixture and the chocolate mix into the flour and stir with a large spoon or spatula until you have a well blended and smooth batter.
- Pour the mixture evenly into the two tins.
- Bake for 1¼ to 1½ hours until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out just clean.
- Leave to cool in the tins for at least 30 minutes, before loosening the sides with a spatula and turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Butter Icing
- Place the chocolate in a small glass bowl and melt in the microwave on medium setting, 30 second bursts, stirring well between each until smooth (or in a heatproof bowl set above a saucepan of lightly simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with a little of the icing sugar and the vanilla extract until smooth and light.
- Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar, the melted chocolate and enough milk to ensure a thick, creamy, spreading consistency, beating between each addition. (if the icing seems a little too loose, keep beating until it thickens).
Putting the cake together
- When the sponges are cold, place one onto a serving plate and spread the buttercream in a thick, even layer across it.
- Place the second sponge on top and dust with sifted icing sugar and a sprinkle of grated white chocolate.
Notes
Nutrition
© 2019-2023 Kate Dowse All Rights Reserved – Do not copy or re-publish this recipe or any part of this recipe on any other blog, on social media or in a publication without the express permission of Gluten Free Alchemist
We loved featuring your awesome post on Full Plate Thursday, 580. Thanks so much for sharing with us and come back to see us soon!
Miz Helen
Thank you so much Helen. It’s been a tough week so I really appreciate the feature x
Ooh I remember this one and how impressed I was with Miss GF’s chocolate cake. Every cook needs at least one chocolate fudge cake up their sleeve.
Ha ha yes! I’m still working my way through all of those old posts 😂. But it’s really nice to be making them again. This one was really good xx
I just saw this recipe and suspect that you didn’t have your flour blend B when you originally wrote this. I would love to make this asap, as my husband’s birthday will soon be here. He is the ultimate chocolate person. So I think I will use B and see what happens. Lol! I’m doing that alot lately. That no rice thing presents lots of problems. Thank you!
You are absolutely right Alene! My Blend B came later. But it should work absolutely fine for the recipe.
I think you have now been appointed my chief Blend B tester! Thank YOU!
Do let me know how it turned out… I saw the cake on Instagram (I think that was you?) and it looked fabulous! Diod it taste as good as it looked?
Kate xx
Oh gosh, how very scary for you both. How lucky you turned up when you did. It sounds like a lesson learnt anyway. Not that I'm sure I'd have known what to do. Well done Miss GF for the stupendous cake and thank you for sharing it with We Should Cocoa.
Thanks Choclette. It was rather a timely entrance. Let's hope the lesson was learnt……
The cake though was amazingly yummy…. Too good not to share xx
That's the sort of cake I would forgo dinner for just for a slice! I do remember when my brother was teenager he decided to do some cooking while the rest of us were out. My mum didn't notice anything untoward until she opened the freezer later to see some of the plastic packaging in there melted. My brother said he had put the frying pan in there to 'cool down'!
Ha! Kids! It's quite scary what they get up to when we aren't there. Still if there are cakes like this at the end of it……. xx
Wow Kate! What a week and what a bake! I'd be so happy to have produced a cake that looks as gorgeous as your daughter has. It really looks delicious.
I too didn't know that the guidelines for dealing with a fire on the hob had changed – I would have used a wet teatowel too. Thnkfully the old method worked for you.
Angela x
Thanks Angela. The week had its ups and downs for sure. Thank goodness for cake! x
What a great young baker you have in your family! She is really really good. I love this cake and gluten free too. x
Thanks Alida. She is pretty amazing! x
Oops – forgot to say, thanks for sharing it with #CookBlogShare 🙂 Xx
Oh my goodness, that sounds scary! Though probably a better lesson in fire safety than you could ever get any other way – it will certainly be remembered! I had no idea coconut oil was so unstable. Whilst the wet tea towel trick may not be the 'correct' way to do it any more, it is at least easily doable – easier than searching for a lid or reaching for the non existent fire blanket! And woah – what a cake. I can't believe Miss GF did that all by herself – impressive stuff!! Eb x
Thanks Eb. It was one of those moments when my timing was perfect!
The cake was pretty amazing though. x
And breathe! Well done Miss GF, looks great. Kate, with all the hoo ha going about again about arsenic levels in rice, do you think if I swapped rice flour for something similar, things might still work?
Thanks Dc. The arsenic concern has been around for a while. It is always good to experiment with flours and substitution is always possible. Perhaps switching out some rice flour for sorghum/buckwheat/chestnut would be a good starting point?
There are a couple of rice free flour blends on the market – Free From Fairy blend (available from Vicki's website) and also Bobs Red Mill has a rice free blend. Both cost a lot more than the rice-based blends because the flours they contain are (frankly) better, and both blends are completely different in the flours that they use. As you have probably become aware, I prefer to blend my own flours at home, and I plan to play with some blends myself as soon as I have a bit more time to spare. x
Wow that sounds like exciting times in your kitchen – glad you got the fire out quickly and were there on time – now I am going to check on the fire blanket I think we have but have never had cause to use it. That cake looks superb – and I am impressed with Miss Gf's baking and her restraint in decoration – when Sylvia decorates she wants to throw every sprinkle in the house on a cake!!!!
Ha! Thanks Johanna. It was pretty scary for a moment there!
I think restraint with cake decorating comes with age. It is only recently that she has been able to manage a 'less' approach and not wanting to cover a cake with every possible decoration she can find. The lengths I have gone to in the past to hide stuff! x