Moist Chocolate Cake (Gluten free!)

I’ll freely admit I’m not a fan of most cakes.  They tend to be dry, and boxed cakes often don’t have much flavor.  The good news is that a homemade cake isn’t much more complicated than a box recipe, tends to really impress people, and tastes wonderful.  This particular recipe is one of my all time favorites.  The rich and moist chocolate cake has a wonderful aroma, will stay moist for several days, and the flavor is outstanding.

There are a few tricks involved in this chocolate cake.  First off, the recipe uses a cup of coffee, but you won’t taste it in the finished product.  The coffee will help to accent and bring out the chocolate flavor, and decaf is perfectly fine.  Come to think of it, I’ve never tried this with a flavored coffee, so that might be next on my list.

I’ve always used the coffee hot, without any downsides.  Try it cold and let me know if it makes any difference.  And honestly, remember that you can bake this in any shape or size cake pan you want.  I like two round pans because I often use this recipe to make a layered cake.

I made this rich and moist chocolate cake recipe for years as a regular cake, until I was challenged to make a gluten free vegan cake, after agreeing on chocolate cake as a reward to some students for a large project at work.  The good news is that it works great with gluten free flour, and substituting applesauce for the eggs.

Let’s bake!

Ingredients for moist chocolate cake:

• 2 C sugar
• 1 ¾ cups flour (for gluten free, I used Krusteaz mix, but different flours will have different results)
• ¾ cup unsweetened coco powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 C. Buttermilk
• 1 C black coffee
• ½ C vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F, and prepare two 9” round cake pans.  Lightly grease the pans, and then dust with flour.  Tip: it’s much more fun to dust with cocoa powder, and your finished product won’t have white areas from the flour.

Step 2: In a medium sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients of sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix these lightly – a spoon is fine, or you’ll launch fine cocoa powder into the air.

Step 3: Add the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla, and beat on medium for about 2 – 3 minutes.  The batter will look extremely thin, more like a liquid than most cake mixes, but hang in there, that’s part of the beauty of this recipe.

Step 4: Pour the batter into the two 9” pans, and bake in a fully preheated oven for 30 – 35 minutes.  For gluten free, I found the time was just under 30 minutes.  The cake is done when a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Step 5: Remove the pans from the oven and allow them to cool for about ten minutes, before removing the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.  If you properly oiled and dusted the pans, the cake should come out clean.

For decorating and frosting, my favorite go-to on this cake is a layer of raspberry jam between the two chocolate cake layers, a chocolate buttercream frosting, and decorate the top with fresh raspberries and chocolate sprinkles.  But of course, go with your own favorites! And if you need a frosting recipe, check out my chocolate buttercream recipe, it’s my go-to for cakes!

Enjoy!