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This chocolate gluten free bundt cake has tons of rich flavor from melted chocolate and cocoa powder, and a moist, tender, crumb. Don't skimp on the chocolate ganache glaze!
Why I love this recipe
Most chocolate cakes have either cocoa powder or melted chocolate. This bundt cake has both baked into the batter, for a true, rich chocolate flavor.
And because it's baked in a bundt pan, it looks beautiful without making a layer cake with frosting. A 2-ingredient chocolate glaze adds some extra rich chocolate flavor, and making a dramatic presentation in a snap.
If you're one of the many readers who has asked me if one of the other gluten free cakes recipes on the blog can be made in a bundt pan, this recipe is for you!
And be sure to read my expert tips to get the cake out of the pan reliably, every time, and delight your guests with this easy recipe!
What's in it
Recipe Ingredients
- Gluten free flour: A well-balanced all purpose gluten free flour blend with finely ground rice flours provides the backbone for this tender cake. Be sure to add xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already have it listed as an ingredient.
- Baking powder & soda: Add rise and help the cake brown in the oven.
- Salt: Brings out the other flavors and balances the sweetness.
- Butter: Adds richness, moisture, and tenderness. We use unsalted butter because it has less moisture than salted, and then we can control how much salt the recipe has.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar adds tenderness and sweetness.
- Eggs: Add rise, structure, and the yolks give the cake a tender crumb.
- Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor to your bundt cake.
- Cocoa powder: Dutch-processed cocoa powder gets mixed with hot water for a smooth, rich chocolate sauce.
- Chocolate: Baking chocolate in bars or disks (not chocolate chips, which contain wax to help them keep their shape) add lots of chocolate flavor. You can use semi-sweet or dark chocolate.
- Milk: Use whole or 2% milk, never skim, to add fat which enhances flavor and makes for a more tender crumb.
How to make a gluten free bundt cake
Make the cake batter base
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (gluten free flour with xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat together butter and sugar, then add eggs, and vanilla.
- In a medium size bowl, place cocoa powder and mix with hot water until smooth. Add melted chocolate to the same bowl, and set it aside.
- To the butter and egg mixture, add the dry mixture in 3 batches, and milk in 2 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
Finish the batter and bake
- Using the mixer or by hand with a mixing spoon or spatula, combine the chocolate mixture with the prepared yellow cake batter.
- Mix just until no white streaks remain. The cake batter will be thick.
- Grease a standard 12-cup light-colored metal bundt pan.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and spread into an even layer.
- Bake the cake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and glaze the cake
- Allow the cake to sit in the pan on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes.
- Pull the edges of the cake away from the sides of the pan. Slide a silicone spatula along the center hole to separate it from the cake.
- Invert the pan and wire rack so the rack is on the countertop, and tap the outside of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Allow to cool for another 30 minutes. Lift off the cake pan to reveal the cake.
- Allow the cake to cool completely. Once the cake has cooled, for a cake with an even bottom, use a large knife to slice off the dome of the cake to level it.
- Pour a simple chocolate glaze over the top of the cake, allowing it drip down the sides.
- Slice and serve once the glaze has set!
substitutions
Ingredient Substitutions
Dairy free
To make this cake dairy free, try replacing the butter with vegan butter sticks. My favorite brands are Melt and Miyoko's Creamery, and I've heard good things about Country Crock brand. You need a nondairy butter that is in solid sticks at room temperature, or you won't be able to whip it with sugar to form the cake base.
Try replacing the milk with unsweetened almond milk or your favorite nondairy milk. Avoid anything fat free, anything with added flavor, and anything that is thicker than cow's milk (like canned coconut milk).
For the cream in the chocolate glaze, try using nondairy whipping cream instead, or canned coconut cream. Make sure your melted chocolate in both the cake and the glaze is dairy free.
Egg free
There are 3 eggs in this relatively large cake, and they provide a lot of structure. I would try “flax eggs” because flax gel adds more structure than “chia eggs” and there is enough chocolate flavor in the cake to mask the flax taste.
My Pro Tips
Expert tips
Prepare your pan well for easy release
Bundt pans generally have nonstick coating, but you still must grease them well with softened or melted butter or neutral oil. Press or paint the fat into every crevice of your bundt pan with a cloth or a pastry brush. If your bundt pan has any scratches, or is just older, its nonstick properties will have faded over time. Avoid the heartbreak of a cake that doesn't come out of the pan in one piece!
Cool the cake in stages, for perfect release
After you've prepared your cake pan well, the next tip is to cool the cake and begin to release it from the sides in stages. Let it cool upright, out of the oven and still in the pan on a wire rack, for 20 minutes. Use clean hands to pull the sides of the cake gently away from the pan. Then, run a thin nylon or silicone knife or spatula between the center column of the pan and the cake next to it, so it doesn't stick. Invert the cake onto the wire rack, so the pan is facing you. Allow it continue to cool for at least another 20 minutes, and up to an hour total, until the pan is barely warm to the touch. Tap the outside of the pan with a wooden spoon, all around, and then lift the cake pan off the cake.
Not every cake can be a bundt cake
I'm often asked if one of our “regular” cakes can be made in a bundt pan, and the answer is usually no. A bundt cake like this one is super moist, but has a denser, tighter crumb than a classic chocolate or vanilla cake. That's what allows it to hold its shape in a formed bundt pan and still come out whole.
Level your cake
Since a bundt cake bakes upside down, the cake at the top of the pan becomes the bottom of the cake as served. Most cakes bake with at least a slight dome, and it will prevent the cake from sitting flush with the serving plate once it's inverted. To avoid this, after the cake is completely cool, and before you add the glaze, use a large knife to level the cake. You can also use a spoon to create a trench in the raw batter before baking to prevent it from doming.
Melt chocolate in a microwave or double boiler
You can melt the baking chocolate for the batter in the microwave in 20- to 30-second bursts, whisking in between, until melted and smooth. You can also melt it in a double boiler by setting a heat-safe glass or metal bowl over a bit of gently simmering water in a small pot. Make sure the bowl on top doesn't touch the water in the pot. The indirect heat will melt the chocolate without allowing it to seize and harden.
If you enjoy making delicious healthy desserts, try my gluten free dairy free chocolate cake recipe too.
FAQs
You can reduce the quantity of all of the ingredients by half to make it in a 6-cup bundt pan by reducing the yield in the recipe card to 6, from 12, servings. It should finish baking in about 35 minutes, but start checking for doneness at about 27 minutes.
A standard 8-inch round x 2-inch tall cake pan holds 6 cups of batter, and this cake is made in a 12-cup bundt pan. You should be able to divide the batter among 2 8-inch round cake pans and bake it for about 30 minutes. However, for a classic round chocolate cake, I would rather use our gluten free chocolate cake recipe and double the yield for a layer cake.
If you'd like to make a vanilla bundt cake, I recommend using our gluten free marble cake recipe, and skipping the part where you add the cocoa powder and hot water mixture to a portion of the batter.
You can try, but I don't recommend it. Chocolate chips are made with added wax or other ingredients to help them hold their shape even in the oven. We want higher quality chocolate that is made to melt and be baked in cakes and cookies. That's what I mean by referring to “baking chocolate” in the recipe. That can be in the form of disks or bars that you chop.
You can try using a sugar replacement like granulated monkfruit in place of half of the granulated sugar in this recipe. You may need to add more milk, though, since sugar replacements tend to be drying. Pay close attention to the raw cake batter, and add more milk by the teaspoonful to achieve a similar consistency. Coconut sugar isn't a great replacement for granulated sugar, since it's much heavier, and straight erthyritol in this quantity has a very strong, unpleasant cooling sensation.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage Instructions
This cake is very sturdy and dense, but also moist enough to stay fresh at room temperature for up to 2 days. Just be sure to cover it with a cake dome or tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
Freezing the cake
For longer storage, you can wrap the whole cake, cooled and unglazed, tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 3 months. Allow it to defrost at room temperature and then glaze and serve.
If you have leftover slices of glazed cake, wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow the slices to defrost at room temperature. Even with the glaze, you can speed up the defrosting by microwaving each slice for about 15 seconds at 70% power. The glaze shouldn't melt that quickly.
Chocolate Gluten Free Bundt Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Classic 12-cup cast aluminum bundt pan 10-cup bundt pan is okay, too
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 ½ cups (350 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, please click link for full info on appropriate blends
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons (168 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (60 g) unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch processed is best; natural works, too (plus 1-2 tablespoons more to prepare the pan if necessary)
- ⅔ cup (5 ⅓ fluid ounces) hot water, when it's just about to boil
- 4 ounces semisweet or dark baking chocolate, in disks or coarsely chopped, melted (See Recipe Notes for tips on melting)
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
For the chocolate glaze
- 4 ounces semisweet or dark baking chocolate, in disks or coarsely chopped
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream, plus more at room temperature, as necessary
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease very well a standard cast aluminum light-colored 12-cup bundt pan.
- If your pan is at all scratched or if it's older, scatter 1 to 2 additional tablespoons of cocoa powder to the pan. Tap the pan to distribute the cocoa powder all around to coat the greased pan, and discard any excess. Set the pan aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set the bowl of dry ingredients aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
- Add the eggs, and beat on medium speed until well-combined. The mixture should be smooth and silky.
- In a medium-size, heat-safe bowl, place the cocoa powder. Pour the hot water over the cocoa powder, and whisk until very smooth.
- Add the melted chocolate to the medium-size bowl with cocoa powder and water, and whisk again until smooth. Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool while you finish the base of the cake batter.
- To finish the base cake batter, to the butter and egg mixture in the stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk in 2 parts.
- Mix until just combined after each addition, beginning and ending with the flour, until everything is just combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl as necessary. The batter should be light and smooth.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the large mixing bowl with the rest of the batter. Mix until smooth and no white streaks remain, either by hand or in the mixer. The batter will be thick but soft.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared bundt pan. Be sure to spread the batter into all the corners of the pan.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating once halfway through baking (about 50 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow the cake, still in the pan, to cool upright on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
- With clean hands, pull the edges away gently from the side of the bundt pan. Slide a silicone, nylon, or wooden spatula or knife along the center hole to help release it from the cake.
- Place a wire rack on top of the pan, and invert the pan and wire rack so the rack is on the countertop, and the pan is facing you. Tap the outside of the pan all over firmly, but not with much force, with a wooden spoon.
- Allow the cake to cool for about another 30 minutes, or until the pan is no longer very warm to the touch. Remove the pan to reveal the cake.
- For a cake with an even bottom, use a large knife to slice off the very bottom of the cake to level it.
- Allow the cake to finish cooling completely before adding the glaze. If the cake is still warm, the glaze will slide right off.
Make the glaze
- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium heat-safe bowl or 2 cup measuring cup and set it aside.
- Place the cream in a small saucepan and bring it just to a simmer. Remove it from the heat as soon as it reaches a simmer. Pour it evenly over the chocolate.
- Let the mixture sit, undisturbed, for 3 to 5 minutes or until almost all of the chocolate has begun to melt.
- Gently stir the mixture until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes or until it's thickly pourable. The bowl with the glaze should only feel slightly warm to the touch. If it’s too thick, stir in more room temperature cream by the drop until it reaches the proper consistency.
- Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cooled bundt cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Allow the glaze to set at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this for my husband’s birthday. It turned out beautifully – tasted and looked great. We added rainbow sprinkles on top of the glaze to make it look more festive for a birthday. I always appreciate the thought and details behind your recipes. Thank you.
That’s so great to hear, Courtney. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I love the idea of adding rainbow sprinkles on top of the glaze. Then again, I think rainbow sprinkles make everything better. So glad you it was a success, and thank you so much for the kind words about my recipes. The level of specificity isn’t for everyone, and I’m so glad it’s for you! ❤️
Hi Nicole,
In the notes for “Dairy free”, it says:
You need a nondairy butter that is in solid sticks at room temperature, or you won’t be able to whip it with sugar to form the cake base.
I’m not sure I understand – does it need to be soft at room temperature, what does it need? And if i used country crock, is it better to use the avocado oil one rather than the olive oil one or it doesn’t really matter?
Thanks!
Hi, Alice, I’m afraid I don’t think I understand your question. You need block-style vegan butter, the kind that comes in sticks, not the kind that comes in a tub. As I state in the text of the post, the brands I recommend are Miyoko’s and Melt. I haven’t tried Country Crock sticks, so I don’t know how well it would work.