This Decadent Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake is a treat that all your guests will enjoy, just in time for the holidays. Sponsored by The Hershey Company.
Are you starting to think about holiday baking? I am. I don’t bake much during the rest of the year, but once the weather turns cooler and the holidays start coming around, I start baking more. Tis the season right? One of the biggest challenges I faced several years ago when we discovered my son had a wheat allergy was converting baked goods recipes to gluten-free recipes. This was particularly tricky during the holiday season since there were so many sweet treats around, and the last thing I wanted was my child to feel left out of the celebrating.
A few years ago when we hosted a Christmas party, there were several guests that were gluten-free, so I made sure to make some gluten-free treats that everyone could enjoy. I can’t tell you how appreciative they were that they could partake in the holiday festivities. The key is to make sure whatever you serve tastes as good as the regular stuff. In fact, when I serve gluten-free desserts, I rarely point out that they’re gluten-free except to my gluten-free guests because people who aren’t gluten-free sometimes have pre-conceived notions that it’s going to taste different.
Fortunately, there are a lot more allergy-friendly products available these days so converting holiday baking recipes to allergy-friendly ones is a lot easier. When I visited The Hershey Company this past summer, I learned that Hershey has gluten-free products, sugar-free products and kosher products that are labeled to make it easier for folks to find products that meet their needs. Allergens are clearly labeled on their products too, so if you are baking for someone with food allergies, read the labels carefully. And if there’s ever a question about what an ingredient is or why it’s used, you can find them in Hershey’s online ingredient glossary. Whether you have celiac disease, are gluten-intolerant, diabetic, or are looking for kosher products, Hershey offers products that can make baking during the holiday season enjoyable for almost everyone.
I first sampled this gluten-free version of the famous Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake over the summer in the test kitchen at The Hershey Company. It was one of the most decadent, fudgey chocolate cakes I’ve ever eaten, and I made a mental note to make this for the holidays this year. This chocolate cake is super rich and yes it is very chocolatey, living up to its name. Of course, the chocolate frosting just takes this over the top. I used Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix in the recipe and I can honestly say there was no grainy texture, just pure fudgyness. I also made a few substitutions, such as organic sugar, organic milk, olive oil and organic butter from the original recipe.
Just a little bit of this cake goes a long way, so all you need is a little slice to get your chocolate fix while spreading the joy around.
For more gluten-free holiday treats, check out Hershey’s Kitchen’s gluten-free recipe index. It’ll make your holiday baking plans so much easier.
Gluten-Free Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups organic sugar
- 1-3/4 cups gluten free all-purpose baking mix be sure to use one that has leavening
- 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup organic milk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
- 1/2 cup 1 stick organic butter
- 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
- 3 cups organic powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup organic milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round baking pans; dust with cocoa.
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Stir together sugar, baking mix, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into prepared pans.
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Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING.
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Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
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Frost cake with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING.
Recipe Notes
Inspired by Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake Recipe
Disclosure: This blog post was sponsored by The Hershey Company as part of my participation in their Food Ambassador program. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I never used to do much baking over the holidays, but I’m glad that’s changed up! This looks delicious! <3
SO lovely!! You did a great job!
Jeanette,
I didn’t know Hershey’s had gluten-free products and sugar-free products?! It’s really fabulous if you think about it. . the number of brands and companies now that have GF products. . it’s really wonderful. . I have a number of friends who are GF and now they don’t feel so limited with what they can eat and make! and LOVE this cake!!! Looks so moist and delicious!
You can never go wrong with chocolate cake!
I really don’t bake desserts…ever…just maybe for Christmas and T-Day. I am just not a “dessert” person!
Jeanette, this cake is simply divine! Each layer of cake looks so moist! I love this chocolate on chocolate cake!
This cake looks amazing! I think it’s best not to advertise healthy recipe substitutions because I agree that people assume it will taste “healthy”. Definitely pinning this one!
Wow Jeanette – this cake looks so amazingly moist! So luscious and decadent!
This chocolate cake looks so very moist and divine!
Never ever seen the word decadent used to perfectly. Pinning! This looks sinfully delicious!
Agree it was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve had!! Wish I could eat yours : )
Wow! What an amazing looking cake. I just want to dig right in.
Chocolate cake is always the right answer!
This looks DIVINE! What is your favorite gluten free flour mix? I just started using gluten free flour and I don’t love the one I have (Pamela’s Pancake and Baking Mix)
Katie – I use King Arthur or Pamela’s. I also use almond flour or oat flour as a gluten-free flour substitute. Depending on whether I’m making cookies or a cake, the results can vary. For this recipe, I used Pamela’s and I was happy with the results.
Is there a different temperature if I use this recipe for cupcakes? I obviously assume the baking time would be less.
Tammy, I haven’t tried this recipe making cupcakes. I would guess the temperature would be the same, but the baking time would be less, maybe 20-25 minutes?
Can I use all almond flour with this cake? I’m allergic to rice which is in gluten free flour mixes.
Hi Toni, I haven’t tried this recipe using almond flour so I’m not sure how the consistency would be. Searching for other almond flour cake recipes, it looks like you might have to add more eggs, perhaps for leavening.
Holy cow, Jeanette, that is one SEXY cake!!!! Good grief… xo
OH MY GOSH…I have made this twice so far and am making it again since we are having company. I am pretty sure that I prefer this to the traditional flour recipe cakes! It is so moist and amazing, plus a total surprise since the batter is so thin when pouring it into the cake molds. My husband can’t even tell it is gluten free!
Carlee, so glad you’ve been enjoying this cake – it is so rich and delicious, no one can tell it’s gluten-free
Can I use almond milk in this recipe?
Yes, almond milk should work fine as a non-dairy substitute
Hello! I wanted to make a vanilla gluten free cake, do I need to adjust any of the ingredients when omitting the cocoa? Or would I be able to just omit the cocoa and follow the recipe exactly? Thank you!
Maria – I have not tried converting a chocolate cake recipe to a vanilla one. I would suggest finding a good vanilla cake recipe and substitute a gluten-free flour mix for any flour called for in the recipe.
That looks so good ???? you did an excellent job!!
You did such an amazing job.
???? your the queen!!
I’m making GF chocolate cupcakes for a friend and have never made anything GF before. I’ve been reading up on it and a common thread in a lot of recipes is xanthan gum, and that isn’t an ingredient in this cake. What makes that a necessity in some recipes and not others? This cake looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it. Thank you!
Yvonne, this cake is very rich and dense, so it doesn’t need xanthan gum. I’ve found xanthan gum helps hold more delicate gluten-free baked goods together (since there is no gluten to bind the ingredients).
Perfect! Thank you for the response.
So you use GF baking mix? Or GF flour? I have both. We are very new to this and need this cake to work out for a bday party.
Hi Melanie – the GF baking mix should have some sort of leavening in the ingredients, e.g., baking powder, baking soda. This is a very rich cake, but leavening is needed in the recipe.
Am I understanding correctly that you use the baking mix which already has leavening agents and also add more leavening in separately?
Oops…I just read your reply below
Hello! I use pamela’s baking mix all the time and I’m excited to try this. Do you still need to add the additional baking soda/powder to this recipe since pamela’s already has it included?
thanks!
This is a dense cake, so I did use additional leavening even though the mix I used had leavening in it. This is the company’s test kitchen recipe.
What can u use as a substitute for the baking mix…will sr flour work?
Hi Skye – I’ve never tried this with self rising flour – I assume you are talking about regular self rising flour? If so, here is the regular recipe from Hershey (not gluten-free).
Have you ever made this the day before? If so does it need to be refrigerated?
Sorry Wendy, I have only made/served it on the same day. I would probably refrigerate it if you make it ahead.
Can I use coconut or another oil rather than olive?
I plan on making this the night before and refrigerating it and frosting it the next morning. I will let you know how it turned out.
I think coconut oil might be too heavy – from my experience, it has a “greasier” feeling to it.
Best GF chocolate cake ever!! So easy to make and so moist. Thank you
Natalie – I’m so glad this turned out well for you! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
Perfect
Has anyone figured out if coconut oil works in place of the olive oil? or maybe just melted butter instead?
I do not use olive oil as a rule…only coconut, macadamia nut oil and butter.
If someone has tried another oil in place of the olive oil and could let me know that would be fantastic, as I want TO EAT THIS CAKE ASAP!!!
Coconut oil and avocado oil will be fine, it’s all I use
Hello! Would I be able to make these as cupcakes? What adjustments would you suggest?
This is a pretty rich and dense cake, so I’m guessing it would make a very decadent cupcake.
Hi
I just wanted to know the Hershey cocoa is It unsweetened? I’m from Australia and that’s all I can find is the unsweetened one
Hi Jayna – yes I used unsweetened Hershey cocoa.
Hello! about the amount of flour is it 1 cup plus 3/4 cup or is in between 1 cup and 3/4 cup?
Hi Adela – it is 1 plus 3/4 cup flour.
I wanted to leave a comment, as I have used this recipe multiple times for cupcakes, and give my changes.
It will take 18-23 minutes usually at 350 degrees to make these into cupcakes.
Second, I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour when I bake. I always need to add extra leavening to the recipe to get these to rise correctly. I use 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda to get these to rise. And only fill 3/4 the way! I can usually get 2 dozen cupcakes using these changes.
This can be made dairy free easily with your choice of dairy-free milk. I always use unsweetened vanilla almond milk when I bake. And I always use canola oil when baking my cupcakes as well as it is a very neutral oil.
Hopefully this information is helpful for others! It is a great recipe and I have had so many people rave about this cake!
Trisha, thanks so much for sharing your modifications to this recipe for cupcakes!
Has anyone made this without eggs? I was going to substitute applesauce but just curious if anyone else had tried it.
Hey Jeanette! This looks really good and exited to make it for my 3 year Olds birthday! Just wondering if I can substitute sugar for stevie?
Thanks so much,
Erika
I haven’t used stevia much, but I believe you should be able to use a sugar substitute that is cup for cup.
I do a lot of baking and love chocolate cakes. Sorry to say I will not make this one again. My daughter in law has just been diagnosed with Celiac disease so I was hoping this would be something we would like. It’s looks delicious but there’s just something about the texture of gluten free baked goods. I was somewhat disappointed with it.
Hi Sharo, gluten free baked goods do have a different texture than regular baked goods. Some gluten-free flour mixes work better than others. It takes a while to come up with one you like, but once you figure out which one appeals to you, hopefully baking will get better. I found baking gluten-free very frustrating in the beginning too.
Can i used ordinary flour also can i used butter instead of oil and how many stick or sticks
Hi Christine, here’s the original recipe for this cake: https://www.hersheys.com/kitchens/en_us/recipes/hersheys-perfectly-chocolate-chocolate-cake.html
I haven’t tried using butter, but you should be able to – 1/2 cup butter is usually 1 stick of butter.
Could you make the cake layers ahead of time and freeze them? Both of my daughters, my grandson as well as myself have to eat gluten free. When they all come for a visit I don’t want to spend all my time in kitchen. I try to make as much as possible a head of time.
Hi Patsy, I have not tried freezing this cake, but I think it should freeze ok if wrapped well.
Jeanette I just found your recipe. I’m in Kroger and I have found gluten-free one to one baking flour which is Bob’s red Mill. It does not have leavening. Can I use this in your recipe?
Hi Bobbie, the flour I used had leavening in it, so if the one you purchased does not, you will need to make some adjustments to the recipe.
Hello, can I bake this with Bob`s Red Mill Gluten free flour 1 to 1?
You should be able to use any gluten-free flour mix as long as it has leavening in the mix
Looks amazing!! Any reason this would not be suitable for a layer cake??
I actually made this as a small layer cake – it is very rich and decadent, but great for a special occasion!
Loved it!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Bess! Thanks for letting me know