A rich chocolately flavor and brownie-like texture make this cake a staple for birthdays, holidays, and "just because" dessert. This is an old family recipe from a cousin of my grandmother, adapted to be gluten free. The end result is indistinguishable from the "wheated" version - it has a great soft texture, and fudgey chocolate taste. It is also pretty easy to make! Win-win.

You can top and decorate this cake with any sort of icing - buttercream, whipped cream, store-bought... but the standout choice is italian meringue. Italian meringue icing is fluffy and tastes like a layer of marshmallow draped over the cake. My entire family demands it every time I make cake.

The best recipe for gluten free chocolate cake

There is something so good, so satisfying, about a made from scratch cake. Nothing against box cakes, but there is something to be said for being able to exactly tailor the sweetness and flavor of a cake. So at the beginning of my gluten free baking journey, I realized that I would need a go-to white cake recipe, and a reliable chocolate cake recipe. Any flavor of cake I might want to make could probably be derived from those two.

I tried a lot of chocolate cake recipes before finally settling on this one. It won out over the others because it is pretty straightforward to make, and comes out good every time.

The secret to the rich chocolate flavor is the inclusion of coffee in the batter. Ok, maybe is isn't a secret that chocolate and coffee go together. Maybe its more like a rule for making chocolate cake.

In praise of small cake pans

You might notice that this recipe calls for baking the cake in two six inch cake pans, when the standard is a nine inch cake pan. You can use a nine inch cake pan if you want - the recipe will make one cake instead of two. But you should absolutely get yourself some six inch cake pans.

Nine inch cakes are huge. That might be wonderful if you are trying to write a message on the top, but what if you want layers? What if you want a tall elegant cake? What if you...gasp... don't actually want a mountain of cake?

One single layer six inch cake is a great dessert for 2-4 people. No leftovers. No guilt. Two layers gives you a nicely proportioned "tall" cake, with 8-10 servings. Add a third layer if you really want to make a "grand" statement.

The choice of flour

I make this cake with Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour. It is a blend of chickpea flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sorghum flour, and fava bean flour. The result is a flour blend that has the same amount of protein as standard "white flour," but far more fiber. It has no xanthum or guar gum added. That works great for this cake, which is held together just fine by the eggs. If you use a flour blend with xanthum or guar gum instead you may get a slightly gummier cake.

And finally, some inspiration...

This cake recipe is a great base for any sort of icing and filling combo. I like to pair it with an italian meringe icing, but you can frost and decorate it with buttercream, whipped cream, fruit, flowers, cookies... the list goes on.