Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with cherries

I am still pretty new to the gluten-free baking world, but I am having  a lot of fun figuring it out. I am starting slow, using tried and true recipes and pre-made flour blends, but I am getting ready to dive in and make my own blends...just as soon as I clear some space in the ol "pantry". This go-round was a classic recipe from Amanda Hesser, the Chocolate Dump-It Cake. I made a few swaps in the recipe, mainly buttermilk for the milk/vinegar combo she suggests (I assume for ease, because not everyone keeps buttermilk on hand) and I also added a bit more salt and some espresso powder to pump up the chocolate flavor. The result is a super tasty gluten-free chocolate cake that is pretty indistinguishable from a traditional chocolate bundt.

Amanda's version also has a simple frosting made from chocolate chips and sour cream, but I wanted to do something a little brighter with this cake. Enter this light and delicious whipped yogurt cream with cherries, which honestly would make an amazing breakfast, with a bit less sugar added in, of course. If you aren't a yogurt fan, a bit of  whipped cream or ice cream would be fab too. Choose your own chocolate cake adventure!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with cherries

Adapted just slightly from Amanda Hesser's Chocolate Dump-It Cake

Makes one, 9-inch bundt

This is a super-simple chocolate cake fit for just about any occasion. It comes together quickly, with minimal dishes and no electric mixer necessary which is just the kind of cake I like to make in the summer. The cherry topping is totally optional. Check out the link above for the original frosting recipe.

2 cups (400g) sugar

4 ounces (225g) unsweetened chocolate

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (or instant coffee powder)

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan

2 cups (260g) gluten free flour blend (I used Cup4Cup) or all purpose flour plus more for dusting the pan

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cherries

1 cup full fat or 2% Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup heavy cream

2-4 tablespoons sugar, to taste

1/2 cup chopped cherries

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extractPreheat the oven to 375ºF and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan. 

In a 2- to 3-quart pot, mix the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter, espresso, and 1 cup of water together. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients have melted and are mostly emulsified. Let cool slightly off of the heat.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. 

When the chocolate mixture has cooled a bit, whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs. Gently whisk in the dry ingredients, being careful to not overmix.

Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

Just before serving, whisk the yogurt, cream, sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Fold in the cherries. Taste the mixture and add a bit more sugar if desired.

Let the cake cool completely then slice and serve with cherries if desired.

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These cherries were sent to me by Hood River Cherry Company, but they didn't pay me for the post. The cherries were unbelievably good.

A Very Simple Chocolate Cake

We are hitting the point in our New York tenure when it feels like everyone is starting to migrate to greener pastures, literally. They are leaving for new jobs, and new cities, because their visas ran out before new ones could be processed, for a change of pace, or more space to raise their babies alongside backyard summer tomatoes and chickens. We went to two going away parties last weekend, and I’m sure there will be more to come as more babies are born and circumstances change. While I am not quite ready to write my own “why I’m leaving NY” thinkpiece (which has become it’s own subgenre of internet writing) I read them often and nod in agreement. This city is too competitive, too expensive, too dirty, there is not enough space, and on and on…Sometimes it feels like everything is just a little bit, or a lot harder than it needs to be to live here. I understand when people decide to call it quits. 

I made this cake a couple of weeks ago for some friends who were packing up to head out of town for good, and packing up an old life to start a new one is an occasion that requires at least a little chocolate cake. I am always on the hunt for treats that can easily survive a trip on the subway, and this cake is perfect for just that because you can frost it in the pan, shower the top with enough sprinkles to make it look festive, slap a plastic wrap or aluminum foil lid on, and you are ready to go. Better yet, bake it in a cute pan and it would make a perfect housewarming gift for some friends settling in to a new place.

A Very Simple Chocolate Cake

adapted very slightly from Smitten Kitchen’s The ‘I Want Chocolate Cake’

This is a simple cake, a weeknight cake. Something that you could throw together in a fit of chocolate desire after dinner. 

Cake

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (145 grams) firmly packed dark or light brown sugar

2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons strong coffee (or 2 tablespoons water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup (170g) sour cream

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (40 grams) cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting

2 ounces (55 grams) unsweetened (or bittersweet) chocolate, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoons milk, plus more if necessary

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

fat pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Butter and flour the paper and exposed pan.

Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and coffee then add in the sour cream.

Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined, then use a spatula to spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until puffy and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Set the cake on a rack to cool.  While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.

Add all of the frosting ingredients to a large bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy, add a bit more milk if necessary. Alternately, Deb makes the frosting in a food processor.

Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake and decorate with a shit-ton of sprinkles. Enjoy immediately! This cake keeps for a couple of days, covered at room temperature.