Chocolate Cake — Coconut Flour Continued
Yes, I continue to roll out the coconut flour recipes. This time it's Gluten Free Chocolate Cake. I am having a great time experimenting with this unique flour. I have been doing so for almost two years now and have created a small stockpile of recipes that work well with its light and fluffy texture.
This gluten free, dairy free chocolate cake (nut free too) is a family favorite, with a thick, yummy vegan chocolate frosting.
¾ cup coconut flour
, sifted¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 eggs
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 ½ cups agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon orange zest
- In a small bowl combine flour, cacao, salt and baking soda
- In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, blend eggs, oil, agave nectar, vanilla and orange zest
- Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend
- Oil (2) 9 inch round cake pans and dust with coconut flour
- Pour batter into pans and bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes
- Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans
- Frost and serve
1 cup dark chocolate chips 73% cacao
½ cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch celtic sea salt
- In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and grapeseed oil
- Stir in agave, vanilla and salt
- Place frosting in freezer for 15 minutes to cool
- Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand blender until it is thick and fluffy
- Frost over cake
- Serve!
This frosting recipe is one of my all time favorites --I have been known to eat it by the spoonful and like to spread it on crackers.
The chocolate vegan frosting above is a nice complement to my vanilla cupcake recipe (made from almond flour) recently featured in the Denver Post. Go ahead and see for yourself on your next special occasion or for no reason at all!
Posted on March 18, 2008 in desserts by Elana
other entries you may like: Vegan Chocolate Frosting
or A New German Chocolate Cake
or German Chocolate Cake
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Before you leave a comment...
"Check out Elana's FAQ page for info on substitutions -- there are just too many possibilities so she can't answer all of these : ) But the Forums are an excellent resource and I highly recommend posting your substitution questions there; everyone is friendly and helpful." -Katie
Very interesting, I have never heard of coconut flour before... I must try it some day... great blog!
Margot
Hi Margot,
Thanks for stopping by, I am so happy you did because now I have found your site CoffeeandVanilla.com!
Elana
The cake looks yummy! I bought some coconut flour because it's high in fiber but not many recipes call for it. I will have to add this to my list to try. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Beth,
You are so welcome. Did you see the coconut flour recipe for blueberry muffins as well?
Elana
Hi Elana,
I just took a look at the blueberry muffins recipe. I've made some muffins with coconut flour too. It's pretty amazing the ratio of flour to eggs used with coconut flour isn't it? These recipes probably have a lot of protein.
Beth
Beth- Yes, the coconut flour recipes are both high in protein and fiber!
Wow! My husband made this for my birthday and it was amazing!!!! Thanks!
I'm dairy-free (definitely highly sensitive, possibly allergic) and interested in gluten-free, and I'm finding myself on many specialty diet websites like yours which are amazing & inspiring. But, I'm still new at this. I am a HUGE fan of almonds (almond milk is to die for- I want to see if I can create almond milk ice cream). My question to you is can you use Almond flour cup for cup of wheat flour? I am trying to find ways to alter my current cookbook recipes as I learn new recipes. If you have any other tips for adjusting recipes to dairy-free or gluten-free without always defaulting to soy, I'm happy to take the advice!
Thanks for your time. I have much to learn from you.
-SMudGe
Hi Elana!
My brother is sending me some (Bob's Red Mill) coconut flour! Three quick questions before I jump in and make this:
- how crumbly is the cake?
- is there a crumb to this cake or is it more fudgy?
- how moist is this cake? I hate dry cakes.
It's so good to see a pareve cake that doesn't rely on margarine. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah --Happy Birthday! Glad you liked the cake.
Smudge --Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words. I am glad to be of help. I don't have good conversions for wheat to almond flour. My FAQ page goes into it a bit more. I plan on posting some good cashew milk ice cream recipes this summer --stay tuned...
~M --Always nice to see your ~. The cake is not all that crumbly. It is cakey --not crumbly and not so fudgy, it is somewhat light. Very moist, to me at least, I do NOT like dry cakes at all. If you make it, let me know your opinions as compared to mine, thanks.
The coconut flour arrived just in time! Whew! Do you think it would work to prepare this cake in advance, say Thursday evening for Saturday, or would it get too dry? It would really help my cleaning efforts to smell something chocolaty baking in the oven while I clean tonight! If so, how would you wrap it and store it (in fridge or room air)? Would you frost it in advance? As always, thanks Elana and take care!
~M -74 matzo balls and 100 servings of charoset later, I reply to your comment. My apologies and I don't know if you will get this since it's Shabbos. I having been cooking non-stop for the past two days in preparation of my son's school seder --100 people will attend.
In terms of the cake, I let it cool for a couple hours (sometimes even overnight) before I frost it. If I were to make it a couple of days in advance, I would frost it (after letting it cool) and then place it in the fridge before serving. Normally, though, if I'm making this for Shabbos, I bake it Thursday night, frost Friday am or afternoon and serve Friday night (with no fridge storage), then I do place the leftovers (if any) in the fridge after Friday night dinner. I hope this helps and have a lovely seder!
Hi Elana,
I hope that your seder went well. It's so generous of you to offer to help at your son's school, especially during this hectic time of year.
I didn't get around to baking this until Saturday morning, since I've been so busy. Like I said, I prepared this cake with Bob's Red Mill brand coconut flour, and used 1 cup agave and 1/2 cup honey (ran out), but otherwise followed your directions to a T. I used 9" springform pans. I needed to bake the cake for 10 minutes longer than normal and it seems somewhat spongy. Next time, though, I'd only bake 5 minutes longer than called for. During baking the middle rose more than the sides, but it fell to be the same height after cooling down. I needed to keep the frosting in the freezer longer, and I would also make 1.5x the amount of frosting since I didn't have enough to frost the sides (or maybe use raspberry jelly between the layers instead and just frost the top and sides). Last, I would try to find two matching silicone cake pans, since the cake stuck a bit to the greased and floured springform pan sides.
Both the cake and the frosting were a huge hit. Everyone was so impressed that I made my first layer cake on Pesach! Thanks so much for answering all of my questions and for posting such a delicious recipe. Mmm, leftovers sound good ... you know, if you can't eat bread, you might as well have cake. And chocolate for breakfast = yummy!
Hi ~M,
Hope your seder was lovely. We had a wonderful time. Per the baking time, I'm not sure if honey works the same way, so that might have altered it somewhat. I will make a note for the next time I bake the chocolate cake to check the amount of frosting the recipe calls for --thanks for letting me know about that. I will also check on the cakes sticking to the pans, I don't recall that happening here, though will make a note. I am so glad that the cake was a hit and enjoyed by all. Yes, a piece of this for breakfast with a cup of tea --YUM.
Hi Elana!
I hope your summer is going well. Things are very busy over here - I'm in the throes of bar study crunch time, wedding planning (my mom is a huge help with this though), arranging for movers, and finding a new home in Chicago. This holiday weekend, however, was a breakthrough - we found a unit and are about to sign a lease! While my fiancé thinks the best part is the in-unit washer/dryer (he does the laundry), I am convinced the best part is the electric range stove (no more obnoxious coils)! :) I figured we deserved to celebrate with chocolate!
Anyways, I wanted to convert this recipe into cupcakes since a layer cake is just too much cake to have around for two people. I made 2/3s of the recipe (except we added extra orange zest) and made the normal amount of frosting, which made for 12 large and heavily frosted cupcakes. I baked for about 30 minutes, I think. Yummy success - this translates very well into cupcakes! I really adore the combo of coconut flour and cocoa powder; the cocoa powder really helps with the structure/crumb and flavor. Thanks again for such an amazing sugar-free recipe!
~M,
Thanks for the update, things sound busy, though if anyone can handle it, you surely can.
Thanks also for the report on your conversion of this cake into cupcakes. I'm so glad you liked it!
Elana
Thank you, At 41 I just discovered I have wheat allergies and I love cake and baking. I thought there was no hope to enjoy cake again. I feel I now can look foward to eating cake again.
Ana -Thanks so much for your kind words and feedback; they are much appreciated. Cake is such a good thing!
Elana
OK here is a challenge. I am trying to eat a grain free diet and don't tolerate bean flours well. So do you think that coconut flour could make egg noodles??? I so love and miss pasta and I am sorry but zucchini ribbons just don't fill the gap. I follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
Kathleen -That is indeed a challenge. I have not ventured into the pasta making realm as of yet, nor do I plan to in the near future. Maybe if you posted this question in the forum, someone else might give you a better answer.
Elana
Hi Elana,
Sure glad i stumble apon your website
have tried the choc chip cookies and the easy bread.
i did add cranberries and raison to the bread
was very good
Thanks Lorraine
Lorraine-
So glad you stumbled on us over here! Thanks for reporting back on the recipes you've made and for letting us know your additions to the bread --sounds delicious.
Elana
Kathleen in MT, I did some research for you and it looks like you can make pasta out of Almond Flour. I found a site that had a recipe, but it used sugar. Although, you may be able to use other natural sweeteners. Good Luck.
This looks very good. I am wondering how the cake would taste with coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil and if it would work the same. I've never used grapeseed oil before and I have plenty of virgin coconut oil. Would the coconut be overpowering? Perhaps a combination of the two? Also about substituting coconut oil in the frosting. Thanks.
Eileen,
Please see my faq's for more info on substitutions.
Thanks,
Elana
I just made this frosting...it is sooo yummy! I'm going to put it on a banana cake and I'm going to use the coconut frosting for the filling. I can't wait to eat it all together!!
I did add about 2tbs coconut milk to the chocolate frosting while I was blending it. It made it a bit thicker and added a creaminess I was missing.
Thanks for the great recipes!
Sarah,
Your cake/filling/frosting combo sounds AMAZING!
Thanks for stopping by and for letting us know about your adjustments to the chocolate frosting.
Elana
hi has anyone a resipie for coconut flour pasta???
im on liter life and your allowed no carbs but on maintance its low carbs all the way
Yum!! I only put in a half cup of agave nectar and replaced the rest with grapeseed oil since I really have to limit my sugars. I made cupcakes and a small bread pan of the cake. I also made a chocolate pudding to serve over it. Thank you for the recipe!!
Elana- I have to admit, I was a little skeptical never having used coconut flour before... the chocolate cake & frosting was AMAZING!!! I substituted half coconut oil for grapeseed oil so the frosting was stiffer than perhaps with just oil, it was fantastic. Our family has some pretty hard to beat chocolate cake recipes but my teenage daughter said this one was the 'best ever!'. Thanks!!!
Hi Elana,
I had a little trouble with the cake and was wondering if you had any suggestions. It toke much longer then 40 minutes for it to be completely done. It was till liquidy in the center at 40 min.? And then I had trouble getting it out of the pan so I had to scrape it out and then it was all broken. What do you use to oil your cake pans? It tasted fabulous though I just want it to look as pretty as yours. :)
Thanks,
Abby
Hi Abby,
Be sure to generously oil the pans (I use grapeseed oil) and dust them thoroughly with coconut flour. I would also recommend purchasing an oven thermometer
to make sure your oven is working properly. We just made 6 of these the other night in a cooking class I taught and they came out fabulously. Also make sure you allow the cake to cool completely before you remove it from the pan --which can take up to a couple of hours.
Hope this helps and please let me know how it goes if you try it again :-)
Elana
Elana-
I made this for my daughters 2nd birthday and it was/is amazing!!! I wish I could figure out to send you a picture...
So, I followed the cake recipe, used the vegan chocolate frosting on top, though I poured it on top while it was still semi-liquid to get a nice, smooth surface with which to decorate. Then I used your Cream Cheese Frosting recipe and put that in the middle, between the layers and decorated the cake with that as well. I made my own food coloring out of beet juice and blackberry juice and added that to the cream cheese frosting to decorate the cake (that is my daughters favorite part!)
We have no dietary sensitivites, but that didn't stop me from making this cake- so delicious! My husband is very picky about his cakes, and he requested this one for his birthday, which is in a few weeks.
I still had issues with the cakes sticking to pans, despite generous oil and flour (and non stick pans), and letting them sit overnight, but I can't bake anything without it sticking... I am baking-challenged in that regard.
This recipe was wonderful- I will be recommending it a lot! Thanks for this amazing recipe, Elana!
Hannah -This combination sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing it with all of us :-) Happy Birthday in advance to the hub.
Elana,
Thanks so much for the heads up on this recipe. I have to admit that I have never heard of or used coconut flour! Can't wait to find some (!?) and try this out.
Deana
Hi Deana, just click on the word "coconut flour" in the recipe and you will be taken straight to the source (for purchase). Hope this helps :-)
I made this cake last night for my youngest daughter's birthday. It was delicious! Everyone devoured it. I have to admit, I cheated and made icing with Amish butter, organic powdered sugar, cocoa and raw milk :) Made my cane sugar free stomach hurt, but the kids and hubby were loving it!
Sheryl, oh my goodness! That sounds amazing.
Hi Elana! I was wondering if you had ever tried to make a cheese danish from almond flour (the kind you have when you are little and Starbucks sometimes sells them) with the cream cheese on top? I have been searching endlessly for a recipe, can you please help!?
This recipe is fantastic! I made it yesterday and it is moist and the flavor is delicious. I served it to people who eat wheat and they said they would never have known it was gluten free unless I told them. They loved it!
I used turbinado sugar instead of agave in the batter at same ratios and it came out great. In the frosting I used raw honey instead of agave and it was out of sight!
I am very excited to try this cake! I am allergic to wheat, cane sugar and dairy and have been missing cake dearly.
I have suggestion for those whose cakes are sticking. Trace your cake pan to get the right sized circle on a piece of parchment paper and place it on the bottom of the pan after oiling and flouring the pan. It works well on traditional cakes. You can also use a clean grocery bag for this if you have no parchment paper.
I mean a clean PAPER grocery bag.
[...] made the chocolate cake made with coconut flour. Oh my goodness! This cake was so moist and flavor rich. I even brought it over to my parents [...]
When I made this cake, I followed the directions exactly (just added a bit more of zest!), and was thrilled when it first came out of the oven. The middle had risen more than the sides, but otherwise it looked great. About 30 minutes of letting the cake sit outside in the cool, I took it out of the pan. A big surprise awaited me... the middle was still gooey! It tasted fine, so I just left it, stacked the two layers, let it cool some more, and then frosted it. I expect now (I haven't eaten it yet!), the middle will be sort of like a fudge filling, which I dont mind, but I was just wondering what could have gone wrong? I didn't want to bake it any longer after puling it out, because the sides looked just a little dark, and I was starting to smell burn.
But other than that, the cake turned out beautifully and I know the whole family will love it! :) Thank you for another great recipe!
Hi Elana,
I hope you had a great Holiday Season!
Sadly, the holidays did a number on me. I have been suffering from sugar overload, and even a major slip-back into gluten foods.
Upshot: I am starting a Paleo Challenge on Jan 15, so I will be sugar, grain, legume, and dairy free very soon.
My birthday is Jan 23. In accordance with my Paleo requirements this recipe looks 99% perfect. The downside is the dark chocolate in the frosting (sugar). Do you have any ideas on how to create a frosting with cocoa powder?
Thanks!!
Eric
This frosting is absolutely delish! I'm not a frosting lover typically and this one was a home run for ALL in my family. Will definitely make again and have already shared it with a number of others! Mmmmm. Thank you!
This.cake.is.amazing.
Seriously, I just ate some pieces that got stuck to my metal pan (still came out pretty whole, just didn't oil the pan quite enough!); I could have sworn I was eating cake made with wheat flour!
The frosting came out amazing too; I added about 2 tbsp of whipping cream after it had frozen, and the texture is to die for!!! I just wish that I had used real 70% dark chocolate; never use the "dark" chocolate baking wafers that are found at bulk stores, as they are very sweet (definitely not 70%) and don't taste that awesome.
A bajillion stars for this cake recipe, Elana!
Melissa
Okay, so I just scarfed down my first piece of this cake; it was soooooo good! I enjoyed it more than any cake I've ever had (including cakes made with flour). Even with the low quality chocolate I put in the frosting, it tasted fabulous! I followed the recipe to a tee.
A few tips for anyone making this:
- If you're using a metal pan, make sure to oil it really well.
- If you're using a silicone pan, it takes an extra 10 minutes to cook (I used 1 metal, 1 silicone).
- Wait until the cake is completely cool before frosting it; I didn't, and the frosting was melting into the cake! Luckily, refridgerating the cake for an hour before continuing frosting the cake made it all better :).
- For between the two layers, I put about 1/4 of the frosting in a seperate bowl, added 3-4 tbsp of unsweetened flaked medium coconut, and added about 12 chopped maraschino cherries (and a spoonful of the juice). I spread this mixture over the bottom cake layer before putting on the top layer. It tasted amazing!
- Did I mention this is the best cake I've ever had?
Contemplating "sampling" a second piece...
<3 Melissa
I made this in the crockpot and it came out perfectly! I put it in a silicone bundt pan, took the liner out of the crockpot, put it in for a few hours with the lid on (I put a layer of parchment paper between the cake and cover) and it was perfect. It popped right out and everyone in the house thought it was regular cake (as in flour and sugar cake), lol! Wonderful recipe!