Nana's Gluten Free Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe is made with a delicious, moist almond flour/coconut flour chocolate cake mix and is topped with the most rich, chocolatey ganache. Make this to bring for any fun special occasion or a birthday!
WHY I LOVE Nana's Gluten-Free Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe
• This is the best chocolate cake and it is gluten and dairy-free!
• So rich and delicious, this cake is seriously addicting!
• Perfect for anyone who is a chocolate lover!
• Most decadent moist gluten-free chocolate cake and the ganache has a wonderful rich chocolate flavor
• This is so yummy, that you can not even tell if it is gluten or dairy-free!
• No need for dry ingredients like cocoa powder or oat flour, just the simple ingredients: a cake mix!
WHAT YOU NEED
INGREDIENT NOTES
Gluten-free cake mix: I used two Simple Mills Chocolate cake/muffin mixes because it is gluten and dairy-free with the best texture and ingredients (one of the best gluten-free mixes out there!). You can find this at Publix, Target, Walmart, or Amazon! Feel free to use your favorite gluten-free chocolate cake mix though! If you can have gluten, use a regular chocolate cake mix.
Eggs: The cake mix calls for six large room-temperature eggs (3 eggs for each cake mix).
Oil: Use your favorite oil for the cake mix. I used vegetable oil, but if you want to be a little healthier use avocado oil or olive oil.
Coconut Milk: I used Thai Kitchen coconut milk for the dairy-free milk substitute for the best consistency. Make sure you fully stir before using. You could also use heavy whipping cream if you can have dairy. Follow "The Best Football-Themed Cupcake for the Superbowl" recipe for the regular dairy chocolate ganache.
Chocolate chips: 16 ounces of your favorite dairy-free chocolate chips. If you can have dairy, use regular chocolate chips
Vanilla: Use your favorite pure vanilla extract for the cake and ganache.
HOW TO MAKE Nana's Gluten-Free Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease two 8-inch round pans. Prepare both of your cake mixes according to the instructions on the package and pour the cake batter into each cake pan. When the cakes are done baking, let them completely cool.
2. While the chocolate cake is cooling, make your chocolate ganache. Add dairy-free chocolate chips to a large glass bowl (or any large heat-safe bowl). Place coconut milk in a small heavy saucepan and heat on medium-high heat. Heat until the coconut milk starts to boil and bubble over. This should take about 5 minutes
3. Remove from heat immediately once it starts bubbling over and pour into the large bowl with chocolate chips. Immediately cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes or until chocolate chips are melted.
4. Stir chocolate chips and coconut milk together until combined. It will be soupy at first but do not worry, just keep mixing, and it will combine! Make sure fully combined and then let sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge or until set. You may need to stir every 5-10 minutes after the 30 minutes if it still isn't thickened.
5. Once thickened, pour some over the first layer of chocolate cake. Put the second layer on top and slather on the rest of the chocolate ganache.
6. Spread ganache around the top of the cake with an offset spatula. Fully cover the cake with ganache and make some frosting marks with your spatula to give it a messy cake look.
7. Slice and enjoy this rich chocolate cake! Store in the fridge for a week!
QUICK TIPS
Frosting ganache: Do not worry about the ganache looking perfect when you spread it on the cake. Just slather it on and cover the tops and sides of the cake! Make some swirls at the top with the offset spatula
Ganache: After mixing the chocolate ganache, you will have to refrigerate it for a bit to let it set. Make sure it is pretty thick, you will probably have to keep it in the fridge for 30 to 45 minutes. Once you take it out and it is thickened, stir it a few times with a spatula so it is spreadable.
Cake pans: For the cakes to come out easily after baking, spray the bottom of the pan and place a sheet of parchment paper cut to the size of the pan. Spray more non-stick cooking oil on top of the paper and around the sides of the pan.
Room temperature ingredients: Ensure your eggs are at room temperature for best results. You can do this by running them under lukewarm water for a few minutes until they are at room temperature.
Chocolate chips: Use dairy-free for this recipe or regular semi-sweet chocolate chips. Either works fine for the ganache!
Baked cake: Once the cake comes out of the oven let completely cool before frosting. This ensures that the ganache does not melt off the cake plus the cake will stay together better once cooled. Cool cake on a cooling rack to help it cool down faster.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I make the cake in advance? Sure! Once the cake is cooled, carefully take it out of the pans and wrap it fully in plastic wrap. Store the cakes in the fridge overnight or for up to 2 days to keep them fresh.
How do I store this cake? Store in the fridge for a week. Keep in a cake tupperware or wrap cut cake slices in plastic wrap to keep their freshness!
Can I make this recipe completely gluten-free and vegan? Yes! It is completely gluten-free and almost vegan, except for the eggs for the cake. Use a different gluten-free vegan chocolate cake mix that does not require eggs or replace the eggs with flax eggs or mashed banana as an egg replacer.
Can I make this cake from scratch? Sure! Use my gluten-free chocolate easter cake recipe! Just use the cake part of the recipe but double it and instead of bundt pans pour into two cake round 8 inch pans. I recommend Bob Red mills gluten-free flour blend if you are making a gluten-free cake from scratch
Can I make this as a regular cake with gluten and dairy? Of course! Use any store-bought chocolate cake mix and follow my Football Cupcakes ganache recipe. If you want to make the chocolate cake homemade, use my Aunt Emily's Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe.
Any tips for first-timers? This cake is easy to make and doesn't take any major baking skills, so do not worry if it is your first time making a cake!
Check out below for the recipe card and if you love gluten-free chocolate recipes like this one, check out below for more!
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Nana's Gluten Free Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 gluten free chocolate cake mixes, prepared according to package instructions We used Simple Mills Almond Flour Chocolate Muffin & Cake Mix (each box makes one 8-inch round cake)
- 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease two 8-inch round pans. Prepare both of your cake mixes according to the instructions on the package and pour the cake batter into each cake pan. When the cakes are done baking, let them completely cool.
- While the chocolate cake is cooling, make your chocolate ganache. Add dairy-free chocolate chips to a large glass bowl (or any large heat-safe bowl). Place coconut milk in a small heavy saucepan and heat on medium-high heat. Heat until the coconut milk starts to boil and bubble over. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat immediately once it starts bubbling over and pour into the large bowl with chocolate chips. Immediately cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes or until chocolate chips are melted.
- Stir chocolate chips and coconut milk together until combined. It will be soupy at first but do not worry, just keep mixing, and it will combine! Make sure fully combined and then let sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge or until set. You may need to stir every 5-10 minutes after the 30 minutes if it still isn't thickened.
- Once thickened, pour some over the first layer of chocolate cake. Put the second layer on top and slather on the rest of the chocolate ganache.
- Spread ganache around the top of the cake with an offset spatula. Fully cover the cake with ganache and make some frosting marks with your spatula to give it a messy cake look. Slice and enjoy this rich chocolate cake! Store in the fridge for a week!
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