For years now, I’ve had one go-to gluten free chocolate cake (see Chocolate Zucchini Cake), and don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic, but chocolate cake is one of those desserts that can express multitudes of characteristics depending on the subtle notes of coffee, sour cream, cinnamon, and any other added complementary ingredients. So a goal of mine is to search for and develop a handful of favorite chocolate cake recipes, each of which will be best suited for a different flavor pairing (cherry and buttercream being one) and which allow me to show off new baking skills. This chocolate cake leans heavily on two ingredients to give it its elegant richness and delectable lightness – at once both sultry and ephemeral: sour cream and a cup of hot coffee.
Over the now 15+ years of trial, error, and correction that has informed my gluten free baking endeavors, I’ve found that desserts that fall on the denser, moister side of things tend to translate best to gluten free versions. This is especially true for cakes, cookies, muffins, or breads. Anything that includes fruits or veggies (see again, chocolate zucchini cake), or added wet ingredients (like coffee or sour cream) alleviates the stress of turning gluten free flour into the do-all super hero that it is not. So this cake does it all – it lets gluten free flour mixes shine in the way they’re capable: creating a starch and holding together decently well (with xanthan gum or other binders) that does not like to stand in the spotlight but instead share it with other stars.
This recipe uses a basic sour cream, coffee chocolate cake recipe from Simply Recipes, and modifies it to be gluten free. The construction of the cake – with cherry preserves and homemade chocolate cream cheese buttercream frosting – is entirely created by Sisters Sans Gluten. But don’t stop here! The great thing about the body of this cake is that it’s versatile. The coffee does not dominate the flavor – it only deepens the chocolate to produce more earthy, dark notes, which is the perfect base for any number of topping and filling combinations. If you like cake, you 1) are in good company and 2) should definitely try out these other recipes: Double decker banana cake, Lamingtons (think butter cake sandwiched with jam and dunked in chocolate and coconut), or any one of the Swiss Rolls (chocolate and coffee sound good?). Do what tastes good!
Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- Two 9-inch round pans
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix (check out our post on recommended 1-1 flour mixes)
- 1 3/4 Cups white sugar
- 3/4 Cup cocoa powder I use Dutched cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Cup sour cream
- 3/4 Cup canola oil
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Cup piping hot coffee
For the frosting:
- 2 sticks good quality salted butter at room temperature
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
For the additional filling:
- 1/2 Cup cherry preserves
Instructions
- Take the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge and set on the counter to bring them to room temp. Preheat the oven to 300° F and grease two 9-inch round cake pans with either butter or cooking spray. In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry cake ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt), and whisk to combine.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract until fully blended and creamy. Once combined, add in the dry ingredients and use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix. Fun step! Poor in that cup of piping hot coffee and stir until fully combined (it’ll take some working). Pour cake batter evenly into the two greased cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Take a breather while the cakes are baking, and once out, put them aside to cool completely. While the cakes are cooling, take your now-room-temperature cream cheese and butter and blend them together using an electric mixer. The mixture should be light and fluffy, give it a couple of minutes. Add in the cocoa and blend, then add in the sugar 1/2 cup at a time and taste in between (you can cut the sugar if you like it less sweet). Add in the salt and vanilla extract and blend. If the frosting is too stiff, you can add a tbsp of milk or cream.
- To construct the cake, I cut the two rounds in half (see the photos of the cake) to create a total of 4 cake layers. In between two of the layers, I put the cherry preserves, and in between one layer and on top I spread the chocolate cream cheese buttercream. Totally up to you and your creativity for this part! You can skip the cake-slicing step if that’s a bit daunting (I thought it was completely nerve-wracking but worth it), and just put cherry (or raspberry!) preserves in between the two layers and buttercream on top/on the sides.
- For a bit of extra pizazz, use a chefs or butcher knife to scrape a large bar of high-quality chocolate to create chocolate shavings to sprinkle on top!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
One Comment
Tristan
One of the ones that I really can’t believe is gluten free – it’s so good! And so moist – not like the dry gluten free stuff you find in stores a lot. The frosting is fantastic too