Amazing Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting
This chocolate cake is life-changing! Super moist and ultra-decadent, you’d never know it was gluten-free!
This cake has taken over my mind and soul since I spied it on Sally’s blog. Sally promised me it would be lifechanging. That it is super moist and absolutely rich and decadent.
The thing that intrigued me the very most about it, though, is that it is made with quinoa.
No flour! Just quinoa and a bunch of other basic cake ingredients. Quinoa? In a cake? No flour? Huh? Nothing against gluten-free cake recipes but usually they call for special flour mixes that I never have on hand and can’t access in my small town; I’ve never seen one with cooked quinoa as a base.
But since this cake was calling to me and I always have quinoa in my pantry, I decided to do an experiment. I made this lovely cake one Saturday afternoon when Brian was entertaining the kids.
None of them knew I was frolicking in the kitchen blending up quinoa and eggs for a cake of all things. Brian and the boys kept sneaking glances at the finished masterpiece (because, while rustic since I didn’t frost the sides, it was quite the impressive piece of chocolate decadence) begging for a taste.
Shockingly it stayed safe for an entire night, and Sunday afternoon, I pulled out the beauty, divvied up the slices and we all dug in.
The Secret Ingredient
After a few bites (of which I was completely overwhelmed with utter chocolate cake bliss), I said to the crew, “So I’ll give you a second piece if you can guess the secret ingredient.”
We play this game a lot so I wasn’t surprised to hear guesses like “coconut oil” and “spinach” and “black beans.”
With a smug smile (mostly smug because I was going to get to claim the second piece as my own) I told them the cake was made with quinoa, and seriously, Brian almost fell off his chair. I really should have had a video camera going as I’m sure I could have won a lot of money on AFV for his reaction.
How it Works
Instead of mixing up a traditional cake batter of wet ingredients + dry ingredients, in this recipe, cooked and cooled quinoa is blended up with the milk, eggs, vanilla and butter until it is ultra-smooth (I use my Vitamix). Cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, and salt are whisked in and the batter is ready to bake!
Quinoa replaces the flour to add structure to the cake…and I actually think the quinoa contributes to how crazy soft and moist the cake is. This gluten-free chocolate quinoa cake is definitely one of the most decadent, rich, moist cakes I’ve ever tasted!
FAQs for Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting
A lot of people in the comments have easily made this cake dairy free with substitutions – so read through the comment thread for details. One commenter, said: I made these into dairy free cupcakes by subbing 1/4 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup earth balance margarine for the butter and did a chocolate coconut cream whipped frosting. Oh. My. Delicious!!!
Yes, it freezes great!
Yes, and it works beautifully! It made 24 and I baked them for about 15 minutes. They don’t have the pretty domed top like bakery cupcakes, but even though they are kind of flattish, they still taste incredible.
I always use white quinoa.
My only attempt at making this chocolate gluten-free cake into a yellow cake was a total disaster. However Nadja commented below: “I just tried to adapt the recipe so it would be a yellow cake version. I simply added the same amount of gluten-free flour instead of Cocoa-powder. It turned out beautifully!!! The only thing to note is that without the cocoa, you can taste the quinoa much stronger, so I will experiment with some more flavors to make it less dominant.”
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Decadent Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (see note)
- ⅓ cup milk
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (170 g) salted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (85 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 2 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 ¼ cups (213 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
- Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Process just until combined. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter. Blend well until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the contents from the blender and mix with a wooden spoon or whisk until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake on a rack in the middle position for 28-30 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto cooling racks (remove the parchment paper stuck to the bottom of the cakes).
- For the frosting, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan until it gently simmers. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let the mixture sit for five minutes. Whisk to combine until it is glossy and smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled and cold (2-3 hours). You can speed up this process by placing the bottom of the bowl in an ice water bath and stirring until cool. When fully chilled, use an electric mixer (stand mixer or handheld) to whip the mixture to soft peaks.
- Place one cake layer upside down on a serving platter or plate. Top with a generous portion (about half) of the whipped frosting, spreading to within 1/2-inch of the edge of the cake (it will press to the edge when the top cake layer is put on).
- Gently put the other cake layer upside down on top of the frosted layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake. You could definitely frost the sides, too, but I like the more rustic look for this cake – frosting just the middle and top.
- Chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving to let the frosting set up a bit.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: cake from Good Dinner Mom (love Sally!) and frosting adapted from Sips and Spoonfuls
I have made this cake several times from a Pin that I accident,y deleted…. believe it is the same, although I never made the whipped cream icing because my daughter is food sensitive to dairy? Instead I used whole coconut cream (Thai brand is excellent!), whipping it up and adding chocolate chips. No one knew there was Quinoa nor Coconut whipped cream.
It is a favourite of the family’s! I plan to make it for my daughter’s birthday this weekend.
This recipe is so good. I have celiac and live a gluten free diet. However I remember what good cake tastes like and both people who eat gluten and those who don’t will love this recipe. Thanks!
Love this recipe! I’ve been asked to do a wheat free/dairy free cake, do you think I could substitute the milk for coconut milk and butter for vegan butter?
You could definitely try! I haven’t made those same substitutions so I can’t say how they’ll work out exactly.
Suggestions on how to make a white/vanilla version of this cake? Obviously removing the cup of cocoa powder leaves a huge gap in ingredient ratios. More quinoa? Less egg, milk and butter? I have one chocolate-loving little girl and one vanilla-only little girl, so I’m trying to make both happy. 🙂
Hi Sarah, I’ve tried this and so have other commenters, and it’s been a bit of a disaster. Sorry! I don’t have a great method right now until I further test it out.
Perfect Recipe for a gluten free chocolate love! Thank you
I made this chocolate cake – as instructed- and it was amaze bomb! GF & gluten eaters alike loved how moist & delicious this cake was.
We are a GF family so I am going to try to make this in a lemon variation by using GF flour blend in lieu of the cocoa powder & then add lots of lemon juice, zest, etc. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for sharing such an amazing recipe!
Did you make the lemon version??? How did it turn out?? I’d love to try a lemon version 🙂
Best chocolate cake ever! Super moist and not too sweet makes this a perfect cake. Oh, and it’s gluten free. No changes to the recipe. I’ve made it 3-4 times, perfect every time.
I made this recipe yesterday but in cupcakes. Absolutely amazing!!!!!! They all loved them. Thank you for a brilliant recipe.
I was searching to see if anyone had made cupcakes w this recipe. How long did you cook them?
This cake is so yummy ! I’ve made it a couple times in a row already! The chocolate whipped cream was a hit in the family because when refrigerated, it becomes like a chocolate mousse on the cake. I’ve also tried the cake with coconut whipped cream and it tasted good too.
Yum! I think I lacked a touch of sweetness because it turns out I was out of granulated sugar so I used mostly powdered sugar. It tastes pretty good with my whipped coconut cream, though. Also, I’m not sure if it was the coconut milk in the batter, but my quinoa mixture seem to start to solidify after I blended it very thoroughly. The mixture was quite a bit thicker than I thought it would be. But it baked up nicely, and the batter tasted great.
I refrigerated it because I thought it might be best for the coconut whipped cream I used, but I don’t think the fridge did this cake any favors. Sad.
My sister-in-law served this at a family gathering and my boys loved it! No one could tell it was gluten free. As soon as we got home from vacation, my husband asked me to make it again. We aren’t GF, but we have many friends and family that are. It has become my new go to for gatherings! Or just for us when we need a great dense chocolate cake! This recipe is easy to follow and makes a great cake. Thank you!!
We have a GF and dairy free friend I would love to make this for. Do you know a good substitute for the milk in the cake? I figure I can always frost it with something else.
Just wondering, if I use a buttercream frosting do I have to refrigerate the cake? I normally don’t but I just wanted to make sure it’s this type of cake. I’m making this today for a friend and can’t wait to try it!
I only refrigerate if it’s really hot/warm. If it’s nice and cool, I leave it out
Hi Mel! I have a question about the frosting. I’m making this cake for my daughter’s birthday but she wants blue frosting. Do you think I could use white chocolate instead so that I can just add blue food coloring to it? Obviously it won’t be as good as bitter or semi sweet but it should still work okay right?
Actually, I’m not sure it would work. White chocolate has completely different properties than regular chocolate. You might want to give it a test run just to experiment. Good luck!
Incredible! But be sure to cook the quinoa 3C water to 1C quinoa and for about 45-50 minutes.
All my GF people adore this cake! I use a chocolate ganache frosting instead of the whipped cream: Microwave 1/2 c. sugar, 1/3 c. half and half, and 1/2 stick butter until sugar melts (several minutes). Quickly stir in 1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips until smooth. Amazing combination! You can chill the frosted cake until the icing sets then freeze whatever you don’t eat right away.
SO AMAZING! Thank you 🙂
I adore this recipe. I use it for my kids’ birthdays every year. It’s super moist and not fussy to make, and it’s always a big hit.
I can’t speak to the frosting, though. I keep putting chocolate buttercream on it.
Can you do this as cupcakes too?
I’ve only ever made it as a cake but many have commented they’ve tried as cupcakes.
This cake is delicious! It’s already on the request list. Do you know it the cake ( without frosting) will freeze well?
Can I leave the chocolate whipping cream covered in the refrigerator overnight and whip it up tomorrow? I am short one egg so my cake is going to have to wait until tomorrow but I already mixed the chocolate and cream before I realized I didn’t have all the ingredients!
Yes, that should work!
Coming back to report that the chocolate cream whipped up just fine after almost 24 hours of chilling in the fridge. Now my problem is that I don’t know how much of that frosting is going to last to frost the cake once it cools! I’ve been helping myself to spoonfuls of the stuff! I’ve always been a sucker for whipped cream, but the chocolate took it to a whole new level and I can’t resist!
Glad it worked, Mel! Thanks for the report back! I agree, that stuff is pure decadence.
I loved it! I used dark chocolate cocoa, I love dark chocolate. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Can’t wait to make this chocolate cake. It sounds Devine!
This cake is absolutely delicious. As a seasoned baker and cake decorator who has recently been told by doctors to go gluten-free, this satisfies my cake fix perfectly. I’ve made it a few times now, as a cake, mini-cupcakes and regular cupcakes.
But everytime I’ve made it, it falls in the middle. Not as noticeable with a cake, but definitely with cupcakes. It still tastes divine and I just fill the dips with frosting (more frosting is always fine by me!), but I’m wondering if you have any tips to avoid that?
Thanks!!
Do you live at high altitude, Jess? I wonder if the leavening could be adjusted to compensate, if so. Sometimes too much leavening can cause a cake to fall in the middle. Maybe next time try cutting the baking powder back to 1 teaspoon to see if that helps. Also, try to avoid opening and closing the oven to check on the cake while it bakes. Good luck!
Jess have you found a solution to this problem? I’ve had the same issue – I don’t open the oven during baking and don’t live at high altitude.
This cake is absolutely amazing! I make it for every birthday party and big event. Now anyone who has had it before requests it. Everyone has loved this cake and asks me for the recipe. They can’t believe it doesn’t have flour in it.
I don’t know what I did wrong but this turned out terrible for me. I cooked the quinoa and used my kitchen aid paddle attachment to mix until smooth. Should I have blended?? How long do you blend for?
I guess I should say that it was chunky, didn’t rise well, and took forever to bake. I’m sure I did something wrong and it wasn’t the recipe! Help! I really want to make this cake because of the great reviews!
Yes, you definitely need a blender (or food processor, but most people report a blender works best) for this recipe otherwise the quinoa won’t incorporate properly into the recipe.
This cake is great! If you didn’t know that there was quinoa in it you would never guess. This cake was pretty easy to make. I recommend this cake to everyone, you don’t have to be gluten free to enjoy this cake.
Hi Mel!
I only have 9 inch round pans. Do you have a suggestion on how to adjust the cooking time?
I’d probably start checking right around 22 minutes.
Hi! I was wondering if you could use other mild tasting grains like farro or something instead of quinoa. If you’re blending it in a good processor would the consistency be about the same? Has anyone else tried this?
I made this last night because I was just too curious about turning quinoa into a cake. I followed the directions exactly as written (including leaving the cream in the fridge overnight before whipping) and it was fabulous. So, so good. Everything turned out so amazing, even though I was totally doubting the whole time (not doubting you, Mel, just my own abilities 🙂 Thanks! I will make this for all the GF peeps in my life!
Not sure what I did wrong. The cake is delicious but my quinoa turned into the consistency of tiny pebbles, even though I cooked it soft in the pot. Had to buy a dollar store cake mix to use the frosting. Might try again but not sure what I did wrong.
Fabulous cupcakes!!! Baked for 18 mins at 350. Just perfect. I used almond milk and coconut sugar as my substitutions. Worked like a charm. Thank you!!
I made this as an Easter dessert and I was surprised at how delicious it was! My mom is GF and was SO happy that she got enjoy cake for the first time in years. Everyone was shocked when I told them the secret ingredient was quinoa. I had to be extra careful when transferring the cake to the plate, as some large paces of the cake look like they wanted to break apart.. but the frosting helped keep it all together. I will definitely be making this again!
We love this cake and have made it several times! Today, I doubled the cake recipe and baked it in a cookie sheet at 350 for 36 minutes. It worked really well! Just wanted to report in case anyone else will be feeding a crowd. We love that this recipe is delicious and allergy friendly, both for wheat and easily substituted dairy!
That’s awesome – thanks for the report!
Do you mean a 9×13 pan or a 1/2 sheet? I was going to make 2 cakes to feed everyone, but this would sure be easier!
Mel, I would love to know if you can figure out what I did wrong with this recipe. After all the rave reviews, I was so intrigued and eager to try it. But I had a colossal fail! It looked great in the oven but once I took it out, it collapsed into a heavy, soggy layer of what looked like a brownie but tasted awful! (I baked it in a 9×13 pan.) I made a couple of substitutions that I’m wondering were the culprit(s)! Since I am lactose intolerant, I used half almond milk and half heavy cream in place of milk. This is normally a safe substitute in recipes. I also used Swerve and Coconut Palm sugar instead of regular refined sugar. Again, this is normally not an issue, but perhaps in this recipe it made a difference? Can you tell me what you think may have gone wrong? In addition, my cream would not whip after chilling it so I ended up with thick chocolate cream instead of icing. Big, bad flop all the way around!!
Hi Pam, because the base of this cake is quinoa and not flour (gluten free or regular), I think any substitutes have the chance to alter the result. I haven’t made those exact same substitutions so I don’t know for sure, but because this cake turns out so delicious as written, I am guessing those may be the reason. Sorry!
Thank you, Mel! I assumed it had something to do with the substitutions.
I hated to waste the ingredients, so I decided to try to “repurpose” the flop. I cut them into “brownies” and then sliced them in half so that they were quite thin. Then I baked them at 300 degrees for a couple of hours until they were dry and crisp. Made quite good “brownie brittle!”
Look at you! That’s so inventive!
I made this for my gluten-free friend two years ago for her birthday and not only could no one tell it was gluten free but they thought it was the best chocolate cake they had ever had! I make this now every time someone needs a chocolate cake and am making two for a party on Thursday! Best cake ever! My only note is that I cannot get the quinoa smooth enough on its own so I add the wet ingredients to the blender until it’s completely smooth. Best ever!
Haha. Now that I’ve read the instructions again I see that you say to do that!
Do you think this would possibly work in mini cupcakes? I have made it before and love it. Now I have a wedding shower for my niece who absolutely loves this as well, but we were planning on doing small bites.
I can always make a batch, but thought I’d get an opinion first….
I believe others have made this in cupcake form with great results (and reported back in the comment thread). I haven’t, but I think it’s worth a try!
Oh drats – I wanted to post a picture of a slice of the cake I made with my mom a few weeks ago! I know I’m super late to this recipe, but it’s amazing and comes together perfectly with minimal hurdles or areas of worry. The only issue we ran into was when I overwhisked the frosting before putting it in the fridge. It was still perfect, and the cake itself is so, so dense!! I never knew a good way to make cake that had a fudgey and thick texture while still being pliable and rich, and this is it – with an added bonus of being free of gluten!
You’re AMAZING for posting this!!!
I’m bummed that this didn’t turn out for me. I think you need a high powered blender and to make sure the quinoa is cooked well, almost too soft (if that’s even possible?). We dubbed this bird seed cake as it had crunchy bits of quinoa throughout.
This cake looks amazingly moist! Is it too moist to make it three layers high?
You could definitely try, but I think it’s a bit too fragile to try 3 layers.
I made mine in three 8” layers. They are thinner, but I wanted more frosting to cake ratio and it turned out great. Adjust cooking time accordingly, of course.
Love, love, love this cake!! Has saved me from Celiac depression! Can you tell me how to adapt it to be a yellow / vanilla cake? Or has anyone sucessfully done that? Thanks!
My one try at a vanilla cake ended in disaster so I haven’t attempted it again. I think the quinoa method is best suited for a chocolate cake. Sorry!
This cake was absolutely amazing! My family loved it as well and they are not found of GF foods or desserts. I loved how you didn’t have to use 6 different gf flours to make and it was simple. This will def be my go to GF cake! Thanks for sharing this recipe! 🙂
The cake was delicious! I made just one mistake by adding a layer of ganache. The cake was rich enough as it is. A lighter icing would have been better.
Hello Chrystal – Mel doesn’t have access to internet right now so I’m helping her out with comments for the next few days. Thank you for reporting back. Yes, I bet that was very rich! If you try it again, hopefully you will find just the right amount of sweet.
Is this cake best stored in the fridge?
Yes, I store it in the refrigerator.
I’ve made this twice. Well worth the effort. Frosting was a bit too sweet for us so I toned it down the second time.
Okay so the first time I made this is was PERFECT! And I literally told everyone I knew to make it asap!
I made it again today and the cake is too crumbly (but still moist) to even take out of the pan. It just cracks and crumbles. Needless to say I’m eating it with a fork because I can’t let it go to waste!!
BUT what did I do wrong??
Hi Jessie – honestly, I wouldn’t be able to guess what went wrong without more details. Is it possible the cake was overbaked at all?
I have celiac disease and gave had gluten free chocolate cake beifre but within a day it’s dry and crumbly. I have to say this is one of the best cakes I have had and can not believe its only bi ding ingredient us the quinoa. The icing is amazing and I felt that the longer it sat the better it tasted. I made this cake for a couple of friends for their birthday…they loved it and thought it was moist and delicious!
This looks amazing!
Have you tried using coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar (I’m assuming that you’re referring to typical white sugar here) and if so, how did it turn out?
Thank you!
I haven’t tried that substitute but it would probably work pretty well.
Love this cake! But do you have Any suggestions on making this as a vanilla cake?
I don’t, sorry! The one time I tried it, it was awful.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I have already made it twice and making it a third time this week! I just have one qustion dose rise good in a 9×13 pan?
I haven’t made it in a 9X13 so I don’t know for sure but I believe others in the comment thread have if you want to read through to see their results.
I am going to have to try this. Ironically, I have everything on hand. Looks like cake baking is in order for tonight.