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Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe – Vegan

By alittleinsanity 34 Comments

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Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe - Egg Free & VeganMy oldest son’s 10th birthday was approaching so I asked him what kind of dessert he’d like at his party. He answered “Mommy, I’d like a TALL chocolate cake with chocolate frosting & writing on it like the ones at the store.” With much emphasis on the ‘tall’ part. With his sensitivity to all kinds of foods, including an allergy to eggs, I knew the cake had to be both Gluten Free & Vegan – and not too sweet. Thankfully I had the perfect recipe!

The best part about this Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe is that it has an excellent rise & a moist texture similar to a devil’s food cake. Plus, it’s completely Vegan and made with whole food ingredients for an even healthier option vs. the store bought kind. I filled the 4 layer cake with homemade chocolate frosting & strawberry filling… Then topped it off with another thin layer of chocolate frosting & wrote his name on the top.

The big #10 birthday came & my son was delighted with his ‘tall’ cake… and it was promptly devoured by the nearly 20 attendees with no one wiser to the ingredients (or lack thereof).

If you’re looking for a totally Grain Free Chocolate Cake Recipe using Almond Flour & Eggs… It’s over here.

The Tools & Ingredients Used in this Recipe:



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Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe – Vegan

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: A Little Insanity - Erika
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 2 8" Round Cakes 1x
  • Category: Gluten Free
  • Cuisine: Dessert
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Description

This delicious Gluten Free & Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe is both moist & perfect for birthday cakes, cupcakes, mini cakes & donuts! Made with Whole Food ingredients


Ingredients

Scale

WET INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 Cups (or approx. one 13 ounce can) Unsweetened Coconut Milk – not the low fat kind
  • 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 1/4 Cups Unsweetened Applesauce
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

DRY MIX INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 1/4 Cup Erika’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix
  • 1 1/3 Cups Sugar (you can add extra sugar if you find this isn’t sweet enough for you)
  • 1 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Lightly spray (2) 8″ Round Cake Pans or (1) 9 x 13 Rectangular Pan with nonstick spray & Dust with cocoa powder. Use cupcake liners if making cupcakes. Set Aside
  3. Whisk the Coconut Milk & Apple Cider Vinegar together in your mixing bowl or stand mixer with whisk attachment and set aside while you gather your other ingredients.
  4. Add in the Applesauce, Coconut Oil & Vanilla Extract & beat until mixture is a bit foamy.
  5. Whisk together all of your Dry Mix Ingredients & gradually add to the the wet ingredients while mixing.
  6. Beat on Medium-High Speed until no lumps remain – It should be smooth and pourable.
  7. Divide batter evenly between your cake pans.
  8. Bake 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I generally cook my Gluten Free Baked Goods until they register 210-220 on my digital thermometer. Trust the temperature & toothpick over the actual time cooked since every oven & pan cooks differently.
  9. Let cool completely before frosting.

Notes

I’ve used this recipe to successfully make Cupcakes, Donuts, Mini Cakes, Sheet Cakes & a 4 Layer Birthday Cake!


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Slice
  • Calories: 270

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @aLittleInsanity on Instagram and hashtag it #aLittleInsanity

It may not have been the prettiest cake, but my son was happy at how tall it turned out. Time always flies when you’re in love… How is he 10 already?!
Gluten Free Birthday Cake Recipe Egg Free & Vegan

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785 shares
  • Share230
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Filed Under: Birthdays & Parties, Dairy Free, Dessert, Egg Free, Gluten Free, No Artificial Colors, Recipes, Recipes by Kitchen Tools, Recipes by Meal Type, Recipes by Special Diet, Recipes for Meal Planning, Stand Mixer, Vegan, Vegetarian, Whole Food Tagged With: all natural, coconut milk, dairy free, dessert, dye free, egg free, Featured, gluten free, homemade, kids, vegan, vegetarian, whole food

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Comments

  1. Beth

    February 26, 2015 at 7:40 am

    Can you substitute pear sauce for the apple sauce? Also is there a way to make this a plain cake instead of a chocolate one? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Lisa Merkosky

      March 1, 2020 at 2:10 pm

      Why is there a picture of Almond Flour? I don’t see almond flour in the actual recipe ingredients.

  2. Sonia

    March 12, 2015 at 3:43 am

    Hi thank you so much for your recipes and knowledge on GF recipes. I’m trying so hard to get on hoard with this to see if it will help me with mist my ailments. I was wondering what is your recipe for your Choc Frosting to complete this delish cake recipe. Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Helen

    April 20, 2015 at 9:58 am

    What frosting did you use? Was it vegan too?

    Reply
  4. jOSEPH

    September 13, 2015 at 1:53 am

    Thank you so much for this recipe. We followed the instructions, and it turned out great. cooking for a gluten free vegan and general health nut pretty much the only thing we eat are vegetables , so we had none of the ingredients on hand. Meaning to get started after making the Erikas gf flour( which truly is the best) and the other ingredients cost around $45 us dollars. However we have a lot left over for additional baking ( about 18 cups of gf flour).As for the cake it was a definite Hit and easy to make. Being able to bake again for special occasions is definitely priceless. So again thank you. And we look forward to your other recipes (especially the tortillas). side note my mother who is not a vegan or gluten free and general chocolate cake aficionado said the cake was good and wanted another piece.

    Reply
    • jOSEPH

      September 13, 2015 at 2:04 am

      As for the frosting we googled vegan chocolate glaze and found one we really liked. most frostings are or can be made vegan pretty easily its finding one you like that can be tricky. and everyone is different

    • Erika

      September 26, 2015 at 11:47 am

      Thanks for the kind comment Joseph! So glad the cake turned out well for you and that you are enjoying the gluten free flour blend. I have an amazing Vegan Buttercream Frosting Recipe that I am working on right now – keep your eyes peeled for it soon! =) God Bless! ~Erika

  5. Lillian

    January 19, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    Lobbed onto your site and am so looking forward to trying so many of theses recipes – will pick up ingredients for the flour this week. Reading comments, a frosting I tried uses, 5.5 Tablespoons plain Yogourt, 5.5 Tablespoons cream cheese and lemon zest from one lemon (I have to do dairy free, soya and casein free, but fortunately we have a product made here in Canada, by Daiya Food Products and the US would most likely have a similar product for your food compromised readers. I keep the frosting in the fridge and put it on a piece(s) of the cake when serving. Stays fresh in the fridge. Thanks again for all the wonderful information. May be in my next life I will be in possession of a Vita Mix unit – meantime, it’s all good!!

    Reply
    • Erika

      January 20, 2016 at 11:22 am

      Hi Lillian! Thanks so much for the comment & sharing your frosting suggestion… it sounds really good! =) God Bless! ~Erika

  6. shakira

    January 27, 2016 at 2:38 am

    Hi this is an absolutely fabulous website. In south africa im finding it very hard to find sweet rice flour. What can i substitute it with? Thank you

    Reply
    • Erika

      February 2, 2016 at 3:54 pm

      Hi Shakira! The sweet rice flour is really essential to the GF flour mix and can be found online at Amazon or under the name ‘mochiko’ in different sections of your grocery store (it’s often in the Asian food section here). Hope that helps. God Bless! ~Erika

  7. Teener

    January 30, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    Wow! I decided to make this cake this morning for a birthday party tonight. I hoped it would turn out good, and it so exceeded my expectations! This cake was delicious! It was moist, cakey, fudgey and OMG so good! I made it in 2 springform pans (9″) with parchment on the bottoms. Bake time was little over 35 minutes. I left the 2 cakes whole (didn’t split them into layers) I placed one cake on a serving plate, frosted it with a mixture of coconut oil, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and coconut milk to moisten. Added a sprinkle of chopped roasted filberts between the layers, put the top layer on, then finished frosting the whole cake. Decorated with whole roasted filberts (hazelnuts) and served with Cocowhip and fresh raspberries. My first GF and Vegan cake ever and it was spectacular.

    Reply
    • Erika

      February 2, 2016 at 3:42 pm

      Hi Teener, What a great idea to use the springform pans… and the frosting/toppings sound SO good! Glad the recipe turned out & that you enjoyed it! =) God Bless! ~Erika

  8. Teener

    January 30, 2016 at 9:07 pm

    Oh. I forgot to mention – I used Bob’s Red Mill “1 to 1 gluten free baking mix”

    Reply
  9. Stephen

    April 25, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    Sounds like a great recipe . You forgot to include the amount of unsweetened applesauce . Can you let us know ASAP . Thank you.

    Reply
  10. Stephen

    April 25, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    NEVER MIND . SORRY.

    Reply
  11. stephanie

    April 26, 2016 at 7:25 am

    In your recipe it calls for apple sauce and apple cidervvinegar. My daughter is allergic to apples, is their something else I could substitute for those ingredients?

    Reply
    • Erika

      April 27, 2016 at 11:45 am

      Hi Stephanie, Can she eat eggs? If so, you can sub the applesauce for eggs. Or you can also try mashed bananas, pureed pineapple, etc… although the texture may be a bit more dense. As for the ACV, you can try using just regular vinegar in its place. Hope that helps. =) God Bless! ~Erika

    • Sarah

      September 15, 2016 at 7:07 am

      Stephanie, did you try making it with eggs, as one of the suggestions? I don’t have any apple sauce, and I don’t want to go out to buy any, so I’m interested in making this with eggs. Wanted to know what the texture turned out like.

  12. Lynette

    May 12, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    How well would this cake freeze. We will be making it a few days before the birthday and hoped to freezr it until party day.

    Reply
  13. Maggie

    July 19, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    How can I make this cake without cocoa?

    Reply
  14. ann

    July 31, 2016 at 6:59 am

    What can I use in place of cocoi butter and coconut milk?

    Reply
  15. Marie

    February 24, 2017 at 4:37 pm

    Ahhh…. so close, but it still has one of our allergens – coconut. Looks really good though!

    Reply
  16. MELODY L HARRIS

    March 22, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    i absolutely love your gluten free sandwich bread – you have made my husband very very happy. I want to make him a carrot cake. Can I use your flour mixture as I would any other all purpose gluten free flour for a cake?

    Reply
  17. Sylvia Mohabir

    August 8, 2017 at 12:18 am

    Hello,

    Does anyone know these measurements in metric?

    Thanks,
    Sylvia

    Reply
  18. Cathlin

    November 14, 2017 at 2:46 pm

    Hi! If we want to sub eggs for the applesauce, how many eggs do we need?

    Reply
  19. Sarah

    April 22, 2018 at 2:21 am

    Hi,
    I love this recipe, it is one of the best that I’ve tried however, it came out too gooey. How could I get it just a touch less fudgy? (I know- a crazy request) but I cooked the cake forever and it was still too fudgy.

    Reply
  20. Cindy

    October 26, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    Just made this recipe into cupcakes… I followed the cake recipe exactly & they turned out perfectly! if you’re wondering, it made 21 standard sized cupcakes and they dont even taste like coconut (i was concerned about that). I baked them at 350 degrees F for approx. 22 minutes. thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  21. Alexia Zaia

    November 1, 2018 at 7:43 am

    I made this yesterday for Halloween as the base for my graveyard cake that I made and it was PERFECT!! Such a tasty & moist cake. I even cut some up & gave some to my neighbor. He & his wife loved it!!! Great recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  22. Dori

    June 11, 2019 at 5:53 am

    Hi Erika, do you add the coconut oil for its hardening properties, or would using canola oil instead run the risk of ruining it? I need to limit coconut oil wherever possible, that’s why I ask. Thank you for all your efforts. I just recently found out I need to get rid of wheat in my diet, and it’s really great to be able to have access to solutions wonderful people like you have already discovered.

    Reply
  23. Cindy

    April 12, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    Cake is in the oven now, and has been for 35 minutes, and it’s still almost liquid… I am at high altitude, so I know it might take a little longer, but I’m getting worried… Any thoughts?

    Reply
  24. Lori

    May 12, 2020 at 7:54 am

    I made this recipe along with the chocolate icing for a client. They said this was the absolute, hands down best vegan/gluten free cake they ever had. They told me that people who were not vegan said it was the best chocolate cake they ever had.

    I highly recommend the recipe. Thank you for creating/sharing this recipe. It was simply amazing.

    Reply
  25. brigitte

    March 18, 2021 at 7:10 am

    hi can i use coconutpalm sugar or maple syrup or a combination of both thank you

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Shannon. Newlywed, Serial Immigrant, Recipe Creator, Theater Enthusiast... Here you'll find my collection of Gluten Free Recipes, many of which are adaptable for many Special Diets including: Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan & more, using Whole Food Ingredients whenever possible.

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