I finally cracked it! I’ve been struggling to make a gluten free chocolate cake that I was really happy with, but finally hit on a winning combination yesterday. This beautiful gluten free chocolate bundt cake has an incredible chocolately interior, lovely soft, succulent cake with chocolate brownie vibes.
The inclusion of ground almonds in this bake help to ensure it stays really moist and will keep well for a couple of days. There’s also a lotttt of chocolate chips in this sponge, in addition to cocoa powder to give it an amazing chocolate flavour. Chocolate cakes should be decadent and the ultimate treat, in my opinion, no one wants a dry sponge with a whiff of cocoa.
My secret ingredient in this cake is…ricotta! Sounds mad but think of it like using cream cheese, yoghurt or sour cream (without the tang) and it makes this gluten free chocolate cake wonderful.
Ricotta is a pretty neutral-flavoured Italian soft cheese, often used for cooking and it appears in many Italian cake recipes. It helps add moisture to the cake without making it soggy, yet you’d never guess it had been included in the recipe. My husband was a bit perturbed when I told him I would be baking with ricotta, but he LOVED the results and is now a complete convert to its use in cakes. Trust me, it just works perfectly.
To finish, I drizzled my cake with melted white and milk chocolate then sprinkled with chopped pistachios. You can decorate it however you like! Perhaps go super decadent with a cream cheese frosting and chocolate shavings. Or a grown up dark chocolate and orange zest version. Or a kids party cake with white chocolate and sprinkles, or chocolate buttons and sweeties. It’s such a versatile, delicious gluten free chocolate cake base.
As for where to get great gluten free cooking chocolate, I use Callebaut Belgian chocolate both for the chocolate chips and the drizzle. It tastes AMAZING and you can pick up bulk packs on Amazon, which work out brilliant value in the long term. They also sell some smaller packs if you are short on cupboard space.
If you don’t have a bundt tin you can pick one up on Amazon for around £12.00. Otherwise you could try making this cake in normal round cake pans (there is enough cake batter for two pans). The cooking time will likely be slightly shorter, so give them a check after 40 minutes and keep baking until your test skewer comes out clean.
I’ll be sure to give it a try in cake pans soon too and then I can give you some accurate guidance. I also want to try it in cupcake form or even as mini bundt cakes. Watch this space I am officially obsessed with my new gluten free chocolate cake recipe.
Speaking of the recipe, let’s get to it! Scroll on down for the method, plus some recipe pictures to show you what you need to achieve at each stage of the baking process.
Gluten Free Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 250g ricotta
- 3 medium eggs
- 225g unsalted butter
- 40g cocoa powder
- 100ml water
- 150g gluten free plain flour OR rice flour (FREEE by Doves Farm) (plus a couple of tsp extra for flouring the tin and coating the choc chips)
- 100g ground almonds
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 300g caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp xanthan gum
- 150g chocolate chips (I used a mix of white and milk chocolate, but you can use any variety)
To decorate:
- 50g white chocolate, melted
- 50g milk chocolate, melted
- 20g pistachio nuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the over to 170C (fan) and prepare your bundt tin by spraying it lightly with oil (or greasing with butter) and then lightly flour the tin. This will help to ensure you cake does not stick to the tin after baking.
- Drain any excess liquid off the ricotta and add to a mixing bowl, use a an electric or handheld whisk to lightly beat it until smooth and free of lumps. Now add the three eggs and whisk until just combined. Set aside.
- Add the butter, cocoa powder and water to a small saucepan and heat over a low heat to melt the butter. Once melted, whisk the ingredients together until you have a nice smooth ganache. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, ground almonds, bicarb, baking powder, xanthan gum and sugar. Give them a good mix with a wooden spoon.
- Add the ricotta egg mixture to the dry ingredients (flour etc) and stir to combine. Then pour HALF of the ganache from the saucepan into the bowl, stir to combine, then add the remaining half and stir. Mix well with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth cake batter, with all ingredients fully incorporated.
- Coat the chocolate chips in a light dusting of flour (this will prevent them from sinking straight to the bottom of the batter). Then add them to the cake batter and mix them through.
- Pour the gluten free chocolate cake batter into the bundt tin, using a spoon to gently level the top. Then place into the middle of oven to bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour. To test whether baked through, test the middle of the cake with a skewer - it should come out clean.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes (don't leave any longer than this else it will start to get soggy round the edges). Then carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack and allow to cool fully.
- Once cooled, decorate with the melted chocolate and chopped nuts. I melt my chocolate in the microwave (use 30 second blasts, stirring in between, until melted) then drizzle over the cake using a fork. Or use whichever ingredients and decorations you prefer!
You can either serve this cake straight away or it will still be good as new the following day, ideal if you need to bake in advance. Store in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.
I hope you all love this gluten free chocolate cake as much as me! Why not try some of my other bakes too, here are a few recipes you might enjoy:
Happy baking! x
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