Last updated on January 31st, 2021
The BEST gluten-free chocolate cake topped with naturally pink ombre hibiscus cream cheese frosting. Light and tender cake with a moist crumb and rich dark chocolate notes that balance with tart hibiscus cream cheese frosting.
At this time last year, I was approximately 1 billion pounds heavier, awaiting the arrival of #cheesebabygirl. We’d just thrown one last “you probably won’t see us for a while” pre-baby dessert shindig (we were right). I spent an entire day baking for it and my feet were trying to quit my body. They were going on strike, swelling up like balloons, and throwing in the towel along with any hopes of homemade Valentine’s Day treats. With Zoella’s February 7th arrival and our unexpected week-long hospital stay, our Valentine’s Day dessert was a heart-shaped Whole Foods cheesecake shared over hospital trays with visiting friends and a snuggly soft baby that smelled like fresh laundry.
I’m making up for no homemade treats last year by getting a head start with this (naturally) ultra-pink ombre layer cake. I’ve waited months for the perfect occasion to share this chocolate cake – this is not any ol’ chocolate cake. The base is my absolute favorite chocolate cake EVER. I considered going as far as titling it “the best gluten-free chocolate cake in all the land,” but decided to tone down my intensity. But, in my not so humble opinion, it is just that.
I’ve been baking and tweaking this cake for years – this is the chocolate cake I baked for my birthday party two years ago that ignited a matcha + chocolate rampage. It’s the chocolate peanut butter layer cake I made for Father’s Day. In short, any time there’s a need cake or cupcakes (read: often), I turn to this trusty cake. For this iteration, I simplified the flours to just three and removed all the gums, which will be my new go-to recipe.
Between my blog and styling for The New York Times, Alanna and I have made a lot of baked goods last year. And thus, Lucas’s office has consumed a lot of baked goods last year. Enough that warranted building a PieBox-sized rack on the back of his bike. Even when we send the less than stellar flops, no one ever seems to complain – lovingly (and unknowingly) earning his office the nickname “the trough,” where no crumb is left behind.
This week, I sliced and packed up this gluten-free chocolate cake with hibiscus frosting. When Lucas inquired whether I intended it to go to the trough the next day, I said, “it could.” He quickly replied, “no, it can’t. It’s staying here.” (You hear that, trough? Lucas likes this cake more than he likes your happiness).
I don’t blame him though, this cake is light and tender with a moist crumb and rich dark chocolate notes that balance with tart hibiscus cream cheese frosting. Naturally pink hibiscus frosting adds bright notes and dresses it up for Valentine’s Day.
If a three-layer ombre frosted cake eludes you, I don’t blame you. Frosting a cake is no cakewalk – just look at mine! I’m going for the painted plastery look but mostly not by choice (just go with it, ok?). If you’d rather not fuss with smoothing frosting, halve the recipe and make 12 cupcakes! Either way, there’s not much more festive that this naturally hot pink Valentine’s Day chocolate cake.
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The BEST Gluten-free Classic Chocolate Layer Cake with Ombre Hibiscus Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- Scant 2/3 cup milk (2/3 cup minus 1 tablespoon, or 2/3 cup buttermilk and skip the vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (112g) sweet rice flour
- 1/2 cup (66g) gluten-free oat flour
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (56g) millet flour
- 3/4 cup (86g) unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted (I use Rodelle Organic Cocoa
- 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons (335g) organic cane sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons safflower oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use Rodelle
- 1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract (or 1/2 teaspoon more vanilla extract) (I use Rodelle
- 2/3 cup hot water
Hibiscus Frosting
- 16oz cream cheese
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use Rodelle
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ tablespoons hibiscus powder
- Optional: 3/4 teaspoon beet powder
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch cake pans or 2 8-inch cake pans by lightly oiling them, lining them with a round of parchment paper, then lightly oiling and dusting the bottom and sides with oat flour. Or, for cupcakes, line a muffin tin with 24 liners.
- Combine the milk and vinegar in a small cup and let sit while you measure the flour, at least 5 minutes.
- Whisk the sweet rice flour, oat flour, millet flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the milk and vinegar mixture with the egg, oil, vanilla extract, and chocolate extract together until smooth. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir lightly.
- Pour the hot water into the dry ingredients and mix until completely smooth, scraping up the sides and bottom to completely incorporate.
- Divide the batter among the 3 prepared cake pans and smooth the tops. (Or cupcake liners)
- Bake for about 33-37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs and the center bounces back when poked. In my experience, it's best to err on the side of an extra minute or two to be sure - this cake is very moist so it won't over bake very easily! (For cupcakes bake for 18-22 min)
- Let cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then overturn the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.
- Meanwhile prepare the frosting.
Hibiscus Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter over medium speed.
- Add the cream cheese and beat until completely smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar, in thirds, mixing on low speed until combined.
- Add the vanilla and salt, and beat on medium speed until smooth.
- For a purely pink cake, add the hibiscus powder and beat until smooth. For an ombre cake like the one shown here, divide the frosting into four bowls and add the hibiscus and beet powder as follows: Dark Pink: 3/4 cup frosting + 3/4 teaspoon beet powder + 1/2 teaspoon hibiscus powder - Medium Pink 1½ cups frosting + 1 tablespoon hibiscus powder - Light Pink: 3/4 cup frosting + 3/4 teaspoon hibiscus powder - White: 2 cups frosting + 1/2 teaspoon hibiscus powder
- To frost the cake, place one cake layer on the cake stand, spread 1/3 cup frosting (medium pink if making ombre) in an even layer. Place the second cake layer over the top and spread another 1/3 cup frosting (light pink if making ombre). Use the white frosting to create a very thin crumb coat layer and chill for 10 minutes. Frost the whole cake, smoothing with an offset spatula. For ombre, pipe 1-2 large rings of each color of frosting around the cake, as shown, finishing with white frosting on top. Smooth with an offset spatula, wiping after each use. Enjoy!
Amisha -
Stunning cake dear Sarah! I ofcourse love the ombre frosting! It is one of my fav styles of cakes! I forgot about hibiscus! haha! The color imparted by hibiscus powder is just so beautiful! That cake does look v moist and delicious! cant believe your baby is going to be 1 soon! Early birthday wishes to your sweet girl! :)
gerry @ foodness gracious -
This is beyond pretty!! That color is epic :)
Veronica -
So pretty! This looks scrumptious! Lucas is very hard to please when it comes to cake, so this lovely dessert must be out of this world!
Lily | Kale & Caramel -
Obsessed! Pink cream cheese frosting (by way of beet juice) was my mom’s signature, so this ombré beauty is giving me all the feels. Can’t wait to try with hibiscus!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen -
I would hoard this cake too, if I was Lucas! Too pretty and delicious to share! The ombre is just gorgeous and in my favorite color, no less! And happy *almost* birthday to cheesebabygirl!
Becky Winkler (A Calculated Whisk) -
This is beyond gorgeous! I cannot wait to try it.
Tieghan -
seriously so pretty!
Abby @ Heart of a Baker -
I kind of almost forgot about Valentine’s Day, so I’m glad you remembered with this pretty cake! I don’t make layer cakes often enough, so adding ombre frosting makes it that much prettier :)
Georgina -
This looks so beautiful and delicious. Definitely going to give your lovely chocolate cake recipe a try!
Allyson (Considering The Radish) -
This cake sounds fantastic, and it looks even prettier. I don’t know what you mean about not being able to frost a cake- this is one of the most beautiful cakes I’ve seen in a long time.
Traci | Vanilla And Bean -
Blink! Another year. Goodness, Sarah. Happy almost birthday to you and Zoe… it WAS just yesterday! This cake is simply stunning. I gotta get my hands on some beet powder asap!
Carla -
Remember almost a year ago when you had A BABY? That’s so crazy. We should make a cake to celebrate! (I know, you just did. Let’s do it again.)
Deliposts -
This looks in-sane! Seriously, I fell in love with it. Definitely worth to try
Gretchen -
Ohhh, I love everyeverything about this!!
Mackenzie -
Lovely recipe. In the instructions for the frosting it mentions powdered sugar and I was wondering how much?
Sarah Menanix -
Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry – what a terrible typo. It’s 3 cups sifted (just updated the recipe too – thank you for pointing it out!)
Maddie -
This cake is gorgeous! If you had to choose, would you use the buttermilk or the vinegar? Which makes for a better cake in your opinion?
Sarah Menanix -
Good question- I originally wrote this recipe with buttermilk years ago, but rarely had any on hand, so I’d sub in milk and vinegar. Now that I’ve made this recipe SO MANY TIMES, I’ve decided that I think the milk and vinegar makes a better, lighter cake. The buttermilk cake is just a bit denser but maybe has a slightly deeper flavor, but I prefer milk and vinegar cake!
Amanda Bevill -
Okay- GENIUS! can’t wait to try!
Jacquie -
This cake is so beatutiful! I need to make 3 9″ layer cakes to feed more people. Should I just multiply the whole recipe by 1.5x? And how long should I baje it for?
Sarah Menanix -
I’ve never baked it in a 9-inch pan, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Just based on the area of the pans (9-inch is 64 square inches while a 6-inch is only 28 square inches), I would multiply the recipe by 2.25x. As for the baking time, I’m not sure, but my gut says 45-50 minutes. The great thing about this cake is that it’s very hard to overbake and it’s easy to tell when it’s done. After about 40 minutes (I like to check early just because in this case, they’ll be filled to the same level in the pan), I would start checking every 5 minutes by poking the center with your finger (you want it to bounce back and not look indented at all) and inserting a toothpick into the center to make sure it comes out clean or only with a few dry crumbs. I always err on the side of a couple minutes longer with this cake and I’ve never had it turn out dry! Hope this helps!
Yasemin -
This cake looks amazing! Do you have a substitution for using GF all-purpose flour? or does it have to be the 3 separate flours you have above? Thank you!!!
Sarah Menanix -
I’ve never made it with an AP GF flour, but I think you could substitute the flours with something like Pamela’s AP flour or Bob’s AP baking flour and it’d work just fine!
Yasemin -
Thank you so much :)
Dolphia -
I tried the cake with 2 pans and frosted with espresso chocolate ganache – it was a huge hit!
Shambhavi -
This is gorgeous! Just two questions :
1) what is sweet rice flour? I have normal rice flour on hand, but not sure if that will work?
2) can this recipe be made with AP flour if I don’t need it to be GF?
Sarah Menanix -
1. Sweet rice flour is not the same as normal rice flour. It’s sometimes called “glutinous rice flour” or “mochiko” – common brands are Koda Farms Mochiko or Bob’s Red Mill. Sweet rice flour is the same flour used to make mochi and used in a gluten-free cake, it gives it similar sticky chewy qualities that you can find from AP flour.
2. Yes! I used to make a non-GF version of this cake before I needed it to be GF – you can find that recipe here. While I haven’t made it in 5 years, comparing the recipes, in this case, I would replace the GF flours with AP flour by volume (1.5 cups) as opposed to weight. If you make it with AP flour please let me know how you like it!
Macy -
Hi, I am looking forward to making this recipe for my son’s birthday coming up! I was wondering what cake pans you recommend using? I prefer nontoxic and realize there are many options to choose from and maybe cooking times vary!
Thank you
Sarah Menanix -
Absolutely! Here are the cake pans that I use (and have in every size) – Fat Daddio’s 6-inch cake pans
CRFM -
This is beautiful!
I’m wondering if you have ever frozen this cake recipe? I’d like to make it for the big finale to a family get together but don’t want to be baking while so many guests are in town.
Also do you think I could make my own hibiscus powder? I have a loads of “jamaica” which is culinary Hibiscus from Mexico used as a loose leaf tea.
Thanks so much for doing what you do!
Sarah Menanix -
I have actually! I baked it in advance – let it cool completely then wrap it completely in plastic wrap then store in a freezer bag. When you’re ready to serve it, pull it out of the freezer and frost it and by the time you’re done frosting it, it will be defrosted enough to serve (I actually find it’s easier to frost when it’s cold!).
You totally could make your own hibiscus powder – I would grind it up in a coffee grinder to get it fine enough (I doubt a food processor or blender would do the trick here). My only concern would be that color is the same as the hibiscus powder you can buy – is it vibrant hot pink when brewed? You should be able to tell if it’ll work to dye the frosting when you grind it up (see the picture above of my pink hibiscus powder). Hope this helps!
CRFM -
Yes! Really helpful and such a quick reply. I’m looking forward to doing a tester cake. Thank you
Deb M Nevsimal -
Can I use coconut sugar instead of the cane sugar?
Sarah Menanix -
I’ve never replaced the sugar with coconut sugar in this recipe. I suppose it would work if you replaced it by weight, but I’m not sure if it would affect the overall moisture of the cake or not. I have however, made the cake with almond and cashew milk before and it works great! I’d look for a refrigerated nut milk that’s free of carrageenan!
Deb M Nevsimal -
Also, my daughter is DF can I use Almond Milk?