Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
This Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect small chocolate cake recipe! The chocolate cake is a moist decadent one layer cake that is topped with a rich and luscious chocolate cream cheese frosting. It is the perfect chocolate snack cake for when you don't feel like spending hours making a chocolate layer cake! If that wasn't enough, this is a gluten free dark chocolate cake that happens be eggless, nut free and can easily be made vegan! It's a must try for all my chocolate lovers!
Servings: 12 small slices
Calories: 367kcal
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 1 ½ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use 2 tablespoons Natural Unsweetened and 2 tablespoons of Dark)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 7 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup cold water
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon water , room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and line an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the 1 ½ cups gluten free flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
- Using clean hands, make 3 wells in the dry ingredients for the wet ingredients to be poured into.
- In one well pour the 7 tablespoons vegetable oil, in the other well pour the 1 tablespoon white vinegar and in the last, pour the 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- Pour the 1 cup cold water on top of all the ingredients.Use a whisk to mix everything together until fully combined. If it gets too thick for the whisk, switch to using a spatula. Do not over-mix.
- Using a spatula, scoop the batter into a greased and parchment lined 8 inch cake pan and smooth the top with a butter knife.
- Bake the cake in the center rack at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes until the top is slightly springy when carefully touched.
- Let the cake cool almost completely in the pan for 15 mins before trying to remove. Then remove from pan and let it cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
- Once cool, if your cake has a dome top, you can take a thin layer off the top of the cake with a knife, to make a flat surface. You can leave it with a dome if you prefer.
For the Frosting
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the ½ cup butter and the 4 ounces cream cheese until smooth; about 2 minutes.
- Slowly add in the 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, the ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, the 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and the 1 pinch of kosher salt; beat until combined.
- Add in the 1 tablespoon of water...a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may not need to use it all.
- Using an icing spatula or a butter knife, frost the sides and top of the cake. To make pretty swirls or designs, use the icing spatula, the back of a spoon or a butter knife.
- Pipe swirls around the rim of the cake and top with sprinkles if desired.
Video
Notes
Vegan: Use a non-dairy gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, vegan cream cheese and vegan sprinkles.
All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 1.5 cups packed AP flour (252 grams), ¼ cup packed cocoa powder (29 grams) and 6 tablespoons vegetable oil.
Storing: Once the cake has been sliced, cut the entire cake into slices, wrap each slice in foil and store in a zip top bag in the fridge for 2 days.
When ready to eat, let the slices sit on the counter, in the foil for about an hour or until the cake is room temperature and soft. Or unwrap it and pop in the microwave for a few seconds. Be careful not to burn your mouth.
Freezing: Freeze the foil wrapped slices in a zip top bag for up to 30 days. To defrost, put the slices in the fridge the night before or leave them out on the counter for 2 hours prior to eating or until the cake is room temperature and soft.
Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Nutrition
Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 225mg | Potassium: 96mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 363IU | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg