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Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting

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If you’re craving a chocolate cake that’s a bit lower in sugar and has delicious coffee flavors, then make this Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake (it’s vegan too!)

If you're craving a chocolate cake that's a bit lower in sugar and has delicious coffee flavors, then make this Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake (it's vegan too!) | thefitcookie.com #glutenfree #vegan #cake

This allergy-friendly cake is made without refined ingredients and is a rich indulgence that kills chocolate cravings. While this is an allergy friendly food, it is not a low-calorie recipe.

If you're craving a chocolate cake that's a bit lower in sugar and has delicious coffee flavors, then make this Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake (it's vegan too!) | thefitcookie.com #glutenfree #vegan #cake

If you want to make a lighter version of this cake, use less oil, and less sugar (replacing with more Truvia). Make a 1/2 batch, (1 9-inch layer), and use a thin layer of frosting  (if any). This cake definitely qualified as my weekend baking indulgence (more on that later).

We adapted this recipe from a cake recipe in Living Without Magazine (which became Gluten Free and More magazine). The original recipe is no longer available for us to link to.

Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake

If you’re craving a chocolate cake that’s a bit lower in sugar and has delicious coffee flavors, then make this Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake (it’s vegan too!)
Whole Grain, Vegan, gluten-free; Free of: dairy, soy, nuts, eggs, yeast, corn, white sugar
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cakes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten free cake, mocha cake, vegan cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 175kcal
Author: Adapted from a recipe in Living Without Magazine

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2, 9-inch cake pans (or 3, 8-inch cake pans) by spraying the sides with oil and placing a parchment circle in the bottom of each pan.
  • In a bowl, whisk together the coffee, cocoa powder, hot water, applesauce, oil, vanilla, sugar, and the Truvia. Mix well and set aside.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Mix well.
  • Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into the prepared cake pans and bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Remove from the cake pans and let cool completely before frosting.
  • Frost with Mocha Buttercream Frosting (below) or Fudgy Ganache. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 301mg | Potassium: 288mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1.6mg
Did you make this recipe?Share a photo on Instagram and tag us @TheFitCookie!

Mocha buttercream frosting with Homemade powdered sugar

Mocha Buttercream Frosting (Vegan)

If you're craving a chocolate cake that's a bit lower in sugar and has delicious coffee flavors, then make this Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake (it's vegan too!)
Makes @ 1 ½ cups, moderately frosts a 2 layer cake. Makes about 12 servings, 2 Tablespoons each  
Vegan, gluten free; Free of: dairy, eggs, yeast, soy, corn, white sugar
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cakes, Desserts
Cuisine: American
Keyword: dairy free frosting, mocha buttercream frosting, vegan buttercream frosting
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 118kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Make your powdered sugar: in a blender or magic bullet, place the raw sugar, Truvia, arrowroot starch, instant coffee, and cocoa powder, and pulse until a fine powder forms. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, beat the palm shortening or coconut oil until creamy. Add in the the powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla, and beat again until creamy. Use to frost a cake. Store in the fridge.
  • * You can replace some of the palm oil with SunButter or other nut/seed butter for a “Peanut Butter” flavor frosting. 

Nutrition

Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Potassium: 2mg | Sugar: 8g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Did you make this recipe?Share a photo on Instagram and tag us @TheFitCookie!

Mocha Buttercream Frosting

Makes @ 1-1/2 cups, moderately frosts a 2 layer cake. Makes about 12 servings, 2 Tablespoons each  

Vegan, gluten free; Free of: dairy, eggs, yeast, soy, corn, white sugar

  • 1/2 cup raw sugar (or raw date or coconut sugar)
  • 1/3 cup Truvia
  • 2 Tablespoons arrowroot starch
  • 1-2 teaspoons instant coffee powder/granules
  • 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • Dash salt
  • 1/2 cup palm shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

  1. Make your powdered sugar: in a blender or magic bullet, pulse the raw sugar, Truvia, arrowroot starch, instant coffee, and cocoa powder until a fine powder forms. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat the palm shortening until creamy. Add in the homemade powdered sugar mixture and vanilla and beat again until creamy.
  3. Frost the cake with this once the cake has completely cooled.
  4. You can replace some of the palm oil/shortening with SunButter or nut butter for a PB type frosting if you want.

13 thoughts on “Gluten Free Mocha Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting”

  1. We are making this for my daughter’s birthday party this weekend. I just looked at the Truvia ingredients and realized it has cane sugar. She is allergic to cane sugar. Any suggestions for a replacement for the Truvia? We are considering Lakanto’s Monkfruit sweetener (erythritol and monk fruit extract) and xylitol. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Hi Christa! You could try using the Lakanto, or the baking Stevia powder, although the baking stevia powder might make it slightly dry. You’ll probably get good results with the Lakanto or the xylitol. Let me know how it turns out for you!

      Reply
  2. This looks amazing! Two questions:
    1) Would it work with cassava flour?
    2) Any idea the bake time and temp for a cupcake version?
    Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Hi Christa! I’m not sure if cassava flour would work in this recipe since we used a whole grain flour and I don’t know that this recipe would convert well to using cassava flour. If you were making cupcakes, you’d bake them at the same temperature but for only about 17-18 minutes.

      Reply
    • Hi Eileen, thank you for letting me know! Something is going wrong with my recipe cards and I’ll contact the developer to fix it. In the meantime, I’m writing out the recipe for you at the bottom of the post.

      Reply
  3. 5 stars
    Sending sweet thank yous for your amazing recipes. My house is now filled with cakes cookies and muffins and my 3 year old boy who is allergic to dairy eggs gluten and corn can eat to his hearts content….amazing!!!

    Reply
    • Thanks so much for sharing that Anna! It means a lot to me to hear my recipes are helping people <3 If you have any favorite recipes you want to see re-made, let me know!

      Reply
    • A good gluten-free alternative to rice flour in this recipe would be sorghum flour or gf oat flour. You can try other flours, but the amount of liquid you will have to add might change. For example, buckwheat flour is very absorptive, so you may need less flour or more liquid. All in all, sorghum or oat flour would probably yield the best results.

      Reply

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