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.”
One Year Ago: Skillet Cilantro and Lime Fish Tacos
Two Years Ago: Grilled Steak Burgers
Three Years Ago: Savory Spiral Stuffed Rolls
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 was told about this recipe 4 years ago when we were giving my son a very exclusive diet to determine what issues he was having. It took me a couple months to make it, but when his birthday came around I pulled it out and made it. It has been a favorite in our house ever since! It’s my husbands favorite cake and he requests it even though he has no allergy or food issues, it’s just that good!
It does turn out a bit different every time, probably due to my lack of consistency at following directions and quinoa cooking times . But it’s always amazing!
Thank you!
This is our go-to chocolate cake. It is wonderful! I have left the chocolate out and used warm spices (cinnamon, cloves, etc) and used the mixture to make waffles. They come out beautifully!
This cake had delicious flavor and OMG the frosting! But I need some help – why was my quinoa chewy in the cake?
Hi Sandy – sounds like the quinoa needed to cooked longer and/or blended longer.
Hi Mel! Can you freeze this cake prior to frosting like you would for a regular cake?
Yes, it freezes great!
can you make this gluten free cake into cupcakes?
Many people in the comment thread have done that with good results!
Yes
This was so delicious. I made it into 20 cupcakes and cooked them for 15 minutes at 350F. I think I might like this better than a normal cake (and it lets me conserve my flour for delicious bread). Thank you!!!
this has become my go to chocolate birthday cake!
EVERYONE loves it and its too moist and delicious. thank you so much for sharing! YUMMY!!!!!
Readers: if you’re wondering if you should make this cake. get to the kitchen and make it!
So found this recipe and have been hanging on to it for awhile. Yesterday I decided to make it and sooooo glad I did!. I read every comment and made some reference notes as well as added notes on my own throughout the process. I decided to make the frosting first and then let it sit overnight in the fridge. It was very thin and I thought it was ruined, but it turned out great after whipping it with a hand mixer for a couple of minutes. I ended up cooking 3/4 c. of quinoa with 2 1/2 c. water for 25 minutes and it was perfectly done. You could easily get by with 1/2 c. quinoa (which I made a note to do the next time) as I had a lot left over. I decided to use my blender instead of the food processor since the blender is more narrow and I felt it would blend the quinoa better. I have an older Kitchen Aid blender and I used the Mix cycle first then the Liquefy cycle . I then checked with a spoon to see if I could see any clumps, which I didn’t, then did the Mix cycle again. I did each cycle for about a minute. I used 9″ pans and checked the cakes after 22 minutes. They were not quite done so added another 5 minutes. Followed the instructions as stated and I could not be more pleased! The cake is very moist and not overly sweet. My husband was impressed and we look forward to making this for a get together (when the crisis is over) for our GF friends. I can’t wait to tell them, after I have them guess, what the main ingredient is. This is truly a great cake and a keeper!
It’s almost midnight, but I had to come home and write this comment tonight! I’m not sure how this recipe has hidden from my eyes for the nearly 7 years it’s been on here. It is delicious. One of the best chocolate cakes I’ve made, and I have made many, many cakes over the years! It’s moist and flavorful, and the frosting is like chocolate whipped cream. The frosting is light, but has a great chocolate flavor, not just whipped calories. I took it to a girls’ night tonight and no one guessed quinoa; they wouldn’t have known it was GF either. It got rave reviews.
I have a very high bar for desserts, and am extremely nitpicky about my own results (friends and family can attest). I ate a piece and even admitted to myself that it was a hit. I will probably use this recipe for any occasion when I am not doing a “decorated” cake. I plan to make it for my GF mother in law when she visits close to her birthday next month, she will be over the moon to have something this delicious that’s GF!
I made it as an 8” three layer cake for more frosting-to-cake ratio, baking time adjusted. Following others’ comments, I cooked the quinoa extra long and blended til smooth. I melted the chips/cream a day ahead of making the cake, and made/assembled the cake a day before serving. I don’t know what day 1 would have tasted like, but day 2 was heavenly! Thank you for this one!!
Thank you for this! You’re right – I am now obsessed. We have a family brownie recipe that calls for 1/2 cup flour and I’m hoping you can tell me what the substitution equal would be with cooked quinoa – I’ve tried Googling it but had no luck! Thanks again!
I haven’t tried subbing quinoa in for other recipes (like brownies) so I’m honestly not sure – sorry!
How to make sweeter?
So I made this cake and LOVED the texture. However, everyone in my family thought the cake part was too bitter. I used Nestle cocoa. I actually didn’t make the chocolate frosting because we thought that would make it too sweet, and we did simple vanilla whipped cream for the frosting based on another review. Do you know (or anyone) know, how I can increase the sugar in the cake and decrease something else so the texture doesn’t change?
Hi Kathy – I haven’t tried adapting the sugar amounts but you could try adding another 1/2 cup sugar to see if that helps
Hey there! This recipe caught my eye and I made it today. I didn’t have 8 inch round pans, and so baked in a 13×9. My toothpick test after 25 minutes at 350 still showed lots of goo, so I bumped the heat up to 375 and baked another 15 minutes. Toothpick test came clean after 40 minutes so perhaps those who want to bake in a 13 × 9 should tweak for a hotter oven and bake a little longer. I’m curious for the taste, especially after waiting a few hours to whip up this amazing frosting …patience may not be my strong suit.
I made this cake today, and it definitely came out like brownies. Awesome taste, but not like cake at all. I’d like to try again and see if I can get it more like a regular cake. I cooked the quinoa in a rice cooker with extra water so it would be nice and soft and blend easily. I made it the day before and put it in the fridge, so I’m wondering if cold quinoa was part of the problem….I also substituted almond milk and vegan butter to make it dairy free…..Any suggestions?
Vegan butter and almond milk would be the issue!
I was wondering if you could make this recipe using quinoa flour? I just came across it at a store. If so the measurements?
I have made this cake recipe 3 times already only to get rave reviews….. and I am no means a baker. The recipe is that good!!! Thank you for sharing, you are an amazing chef!!
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure – sorry!
Oh my goodness. I made this yesterday for a large group and everyone loved it! No one could believe quinoa was the secret ingredient.
Seriously amazing!
Mine came out pretty flat and broke apart, so I just made a trifle- broke up the cake and layered cake and whipped cream and then topped with cacao nibs. It was delish! Everyone loved it!
I’ve made this cake about ten times, and although they’ve all been very delicious, the texture has varied considerably among the cakes. I think there are several variables at play, at least for me. I found that cooking my quinoa with a bit more water than required and a bit longer than required, and then ending up with a “mushy” quinoa makes the best texture–most cake-like with very few, if any, crunchy bits. I use a blender and blend like crazy, too, and if I don’t blend enough, then that affects the texture as well.
Today I made “fluffy” quinoa following another recipe (because I can’t find your directions for making quinoa over the stove on your site for some reason, Mel!), and since my trusty blender had broken, I used a stand-by blender which wasn’t as powerful. Two mistakes on my part: even though my cake is still in the oven (smelling awesome, by the way), I could already tell the cake will be crunchy, because I could feel the hard bits in the batter.
A big bummer, because this is supposed to be a birthday cake for my best friend, who LOVES this cake.
She’s still getting it, just with a “crunchy: be warned” caveat.
I’m not a gluten-free person, but I made these for my daughter’s bridal shower to accommodate gf guests and was totally amazed at how good these were! Thanks again, Mel, for another superstar recipe!
I made this for the first time last night, but decided to experiment by using millet instead of quinoa for three reasons: I have lots of millet that needs to be used up; millet is more neutral-tasting than quinoa; I have a recipe for yellow cake that uses millet (but also some flour). The cake turned out incredibly moist and delicious. If using millet, cook one cup millet in three cups water so it’s nice and moist. The downside is that millet takes longer to cook than quinoa (30-35 minutes). The frosting was so incredible that I could just eat it for dessert! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you so much for leaving this detailed review, Ann! Awesome that millet worked just as well as quinoa!
I made this marvelous cake! I must say that words can’t express how great this cake taste! I’ve never heard of baking a cake without flour, but you can’t tell that you used the qunoia as a substitute. The cake is so moist and delicious!!!
I’m new to eating quinoa. I want to try this recipe. Could you tell the best type of quinoa to use for this recipe. Thank you, Susan
I use white quinoa.
Thank you. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi! I just made this cake this morning and it is absolutely decadent, as you say! It just might be the most moist, dark chocolate cake I have ever made, and that is right up my alley! I just had one little problem. I could feel the texture of the quinoa in the cooked cake–not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. Is this normal? It was still delicious, and didn’t bother me much, but I would prefer the texture to be smoother, like regular cake. This was also my very first time time cooking quinoa, so I followed the package directions, which said to boil water, add quinoa (2 cups water : 1 cup quinoa) and then simmer for 15 minutes. I blended the batter quite well, or at least I thought I did. Do you have any suggestions for improvement? How long do you cook your quinoa and how long do you blend the batter?
Hi Alison, next time, try adding another 1/2 cup water and cooking it for 4-5 extra minutes.
Best chocolate cake ever! The quinoa component makes this cake incredibly moist and delicious. For the yummiest of chocolate cakes look no further this one is perfect!
For people new to having to be gluten free, read the lable on your quinoa, not all quinoa is gluten free because of processing practices (like oats, corn meal, rice, etc). Make sure it says gluten free on the package. I made a lot of mistakes by not reading ingredient labels close enough which resulted in horrible stomach pains. Anyway I haven’t tried this cake yet but definitely plan on it, I just wanted to maybe save someone from the pain of making the same mistakes I made when first going gluten free. Thanks for sharing the recipe it sounds delicious.
Hi Mel!
This looks delicious! I would love to do this cake as a smash cake for my babe. Is there a way to use something else to sweeten the cake other than granulated sugar? Like raw sugar, applesauce, or maple syrup?
Also, do you think that maybe I could get away with almond milk rather than cow’s milk?
Thanks Mel!
Justine
I haven’t made either of those substitutions, but many people in the comments have tried subbing a variety of things so you might read through to see. Good luck if you experiment!
my family has used this recipe for years!
Hi there, do you think I could use quinoa flour itself? I have a ton on hand already!
I honestly have no idea since I haven’t tried it – sorry! You could definitely experiment but I’m not sure what to suggest on amounts since the blended quinoa has a totally different texture.
I’ve made this a few times now and non gf people love it too. I’ve just been requested to make it for someone’s gf wedding cake! I mix up the frostings, sometimes add raspberries in the layers…great recipe!
Would this frosting work well with your best chocolate cake? Also, which size cake pan do you use most often? I noticed your best chocolate cake says 9″ but this one is 8″.
It really depends on the recipe and the amount of batter – but I probably use 9-inch pans a bit more frequently than 8-inch pans. Yes, I think this frosting would work well on any chocolate cake!
Anyone know if this recipe freezes well? Particularly as cupcakes? Don’t think my GF daughter needs to eat a whole batch in the next few days. (Although I would be more than willing to help her destroy these delicious treats!)
It does freeze well! I just made it for a birthday cake and froze it for a week wrapped well. The cake was so moist and delicious!
This cake is wonderful! And super easy!
Delicious!!!!
Delicious!!!!
I’ve made this multiple times and no one can believe it’s made out of quinoa! It’s delicious.
Hi, I made the cake for a friend today. I used 100 g of puffed quinoa which I ground for the cake.
It worked really well. Everybody laughed the cake.
This is great. We are dairy free so I gonna try sweet potato choc frosting ,sweet pot, coconut sugar, coco powder, nut butter ,sea salt and nondairy milk, and vanilla it works for us. I can’t remember where I saw this receipt
I made the original recipe into chocolate cupcakes and they turned out amazing. I love this recipe. The cupcakes cooked at 350 for 18-19 minutes. I attempted to do a vanilla version. I did a half recipe since I knew there was a high chance of failure. In place of cocoa powder I used vanilla whey protein powder. In place of sugar I used coconut sugar. I used a little less than half the amount of coconut sugar since the protein powder is already sweet. It didn’t turn out well unfortunately.
How many cupcakes did you get from the recipe?
I just made this again today and happened to see this reply to my reply a couple years ago.
Today I did cupcakes. I got 17.
350 for 20 minutes
I just made this. I made it with a maracuya buttercream frosting instead of the posted frosting. This was only because I didn’t have any whipping cream or chocolate chips, but I did manage to have passion fruit sitting around. ♀️ My cake fell, but it’s because I live at 9,000 feet. I always have to play around with leavener until the cake is perfect. But, this is a recipe that I won’t mind making over and over again. Thanks!
Hi Mel,
I have made this cake severally with much success…. I was wondering – do you think the recipe could be adapted to make a vanilla version? Maybe use an extra cup of quinoa to replace the chocolate powder? Thanks as always
I’ve tried it…and so have lots of others in the comments and I don’t think anyone has quite gotten it to work yet. Mine was a gummy mess. Sorry!
I wonder if it would work if you substituted vanilla protein powder?
This cake fit what I was looking for perfectly. Gluten free, no crazy ingredients and looked and tasted awesome. Turned out perfect, I will admit I was nervous about making it, but I will definitely be making again.
This was absolutely amazing!!! I made this for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. I made 2 batches so that I could do one batch of cupcakes for taste testers. They did not disappoint and I most definitely could not taste the quinoa!! PERFECTION!
I just recently went gluten free for Hashimotos. My husband tried a cupcake tonight and loved it! He still doesn’t know that quinoa is an ingredient in this recipe! Thanks so much!!! This recipe is life changing for many people who cannot have gluten.
Hi Molly – how many cupcakes did this make? Thanks!
I got 23 cupcakes from this recipe and baked them for 19 minutes.
Absolutely fantastic!!!! Honestly this is better thank any regular chocolate cake let alone any gluten free cake recipe I’ve ever tried before! This is NO joke! I made this chocolatey, moist, mouth watering, and decadent bliss last night. And I was not disappointed. This is absolutely mind blowing. I am new to the gluten free club. As we all know most gluten free items are obvious. They dissolve or fall apart before they even make it into your mouth. Not this chocolate glory! I swear the angels sung when I put a bite of this in my mouth. All it leaves me wondering is can a vanilla version of this be made? I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this cake. If you are looking for a gluten free sinful dessert to make that absolutely no one will know it’s not the real deal than this is the “REAL DEAL”!!!!! You will not be disappointed! I’m still shocked at how great this recipe is! Thank you so so so much Mel!!! ❤️❤️
Amazing cake! It’s soooo good!! I also sprinkled some mini chocolate chips between the layers. Substitutions if anyone is interested: I used coconut oil and coconut sugar, coconut milk, and special dark cocoa powder. Also, I used regular cocoa powder and coconut sugar to make the chocolate whipped cream. Start with a TBSP, blend, and add to taste!
Did you also sub coconut cream for the whipping cream, or just coconut milk for the milk?
This cake was soooo amazing. I wish I could give it 10 stars.
I’ve made it twice in one week for two different parties. The only things I changed was to use coconut sugar instead of white sugar (we don’t use white sugar), add a sprinkle of espresso powder and to use 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 bitter sweet for the frosting.
No one at either party could guess that the main ingredient is quinoa. Thanks for a great recipe.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and it’s awesome!!!
Would making this with a regular chocolate frosting instead of the whipped one be too chocolaty with the cake?
I think it would work just fine! A lot will depend on the frosting – the cake is so light that a really heavy frosting might weigh the cake down.
I’ve made this lots of times for two GF family members and now everyone requests it, even my daughter for her birthday cake. I’m dairy intolerant and it is super easy to sub cashew milk and coconut oil for the dairy ingredients. The frosting is fantastic but problematic for dairy intolerance but I often make this as cupcakes so I just leave the frosting off for me.
Added 1 tsp almond extract in addition to the vanilla – WOW!
Also – cake was too hot to frost when it was time to go to the potluck, so I labeled the bowl of whipped cream frosting as “Cream Spread” and let people put a blob on by themselves.
I only have a whisk to make this cake, is that going to be okay?
If you don’t have a blender to process the quinoa mixture, it won’t produce the same results.
Best cake ever!! Not just GF. Ever!! I made it because it’s gluten free and fell in love. I take it parties all the time and no one can tell it’s GF and it’s always a hit. Two points to know : It is crumbly because it’s so moist & it only keeps 2 days. Then the quinoa becomes crunchy
I guess I should note I make it using a Cruisinart and I usually cook it in a bunt pan. Make sure ur Quinoa is not old. It will turn out a little crunchier or gummy.
I have made the frosting-yummy- but not usually. I have dusted w powdered sugar, made a marshmallow frosting and topped with coconut, just butter cream. There’s no going wrong.
I’m super excited that you made this in a Bundt pan. How long did you bake it?
I made this for my friend with celiac and all of the gf and non gf people loved It… even the kids. No one could tell what the secret ingredient was!! So good I am making It again for my family just because even though we don’t normally eat gf.