Everyone’s Favourite Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Cake

Discover a simple, allergy-friendly recipe for this favourite chocolate cake. Rich and moist, this chocolate cake can be easily made gluten-free and dairy-free. Try it today and make it your new favorite!

“Mom! We’re supposed to take a cake to Youth Group tonight!” 

Has anyone else ever heard that phrase with a sinking heart, or is it just me? 

Or maybe, like me, you forgot to put the church potluck (school fair, dinner with friends…) in your diary and you realise the night before (or, worse, the morning of) that you have no offering to bring.

Well, I have good news for you! Here is the best chocolate cake recipe that is literally everyone’s favourite. What’s more, there is minimal washing up (1 saucepan, 1 wooden spoon and 1 cake tin), it can be made in 40mins (30 if you’re really in a rush – more below), and it uses standard ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry, so no mad rush to the shops ! And the cherry on the cake? (Well, there is no literal cherry on this cake because, as my family well knows, I am not a big cherry-on-cake fan 😉 ) I mean, the best thing of all, especially for our family dealing with food allergies? This recipe is 100% allergy-friendly – it is exactly the same if you use normal plain (all-purpose) wheat flour and butter, or all-purpose gluten free flour and margarine. It’s a like-for-like swap. Easy!

Check out this video to see how quick and easy it is to make this cake!

Everyone’s Favourite Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Cake Ingredients

200g dessert chocolate

250g un-salted butter (or dairy-free margarine for dairy free version)

4 eggs

160g sugar

110g plain (all purpose) flour (or all purpose gluten free flour)

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Chocolate

I would recommend 65% cocoa content minimum. Any less than that your cake will be too sweet and lose flavour.

If you are a big chocolate fan, you can use darker chocolat but you may need to increase the amount of sugar to get a well-balanced flavour.

I have also used chocolate chips in the past when I’ve really been in a pinch!

Just make sure that your chocolate is dairy-free if you are making the allergy-friendly version of this cake.

Butter or Margarine?

Using real butter makes a much richer cake, whereas using margarine gives a lighter texture. I actually think that I prefer the results with margarine. If you only have salted butter, omit the ¼ tsp salt.

4 eggs

I always use free range eggs, organic when they are on sale. The ones we get here in France are quite large. Using eggs that are at room temperature will give better results.

Sugar

White (caster) sugar is fine, I have used unrefined cane sugar in the past and that works too.

Flour

I use plain (all purpose flour). UK bakers might want to use self-raising flour, but I wouldn’t recommend this as the cake would lose its ‘gooey’ quality. If you do decide to use self-raising flour, omit the baking powder.

For the gluten-free version, make sure your all-purpose gluten free flour contains xantham gum and if it does not, don’t forget to add 1/2 tsp xantham gum at the same time as the flour, baking powder and salt.

Baking powder

When I first started making this recipe, I did not include baking powder and the result was a good texture but there were craters underneath the cake. Baking powder evens out the cake and the texture remains ‘fondant’ as they say in french.

Salt

I always add a small amount of salt as I find this brings balance to the flavour.

Everyone’s Favourite Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Cake Method

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease cake tin with butter or margarine.

Melt the chocolate and butter (or margarine) slowly together over a low heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Do not stir until everything has melted. Be careful to take it off the heat as soon as everything is melted otherwise the fat overheats, cooks the chocolate and changes the texture of the cake.

Leave to cool for around 10 mins. Sometimes, if I know I am going to make the cake later in the day, I will melt the butter and chocolate together and leave it for several hours until I am ready to finish making the cake.

Add 1 egg at a time, beating thoroughly after each egg. It is very important that the chocolate/butter (margargine) mixture is cool otherwise the eggs will cook.

Beat in the sugar.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps.

Pour into a 25cm diameter round (or ring) cake tin.

Put into the middle of the oven and bake for 18 mins. In a ring tin it takes longer, up to 23 mins but I usually check at around 20 mins.

You will know the cake is done when the centre is set (not liquid) but still soft. You want to have a gooey texture so it is important not to overcook it. The cake will also continue to cook slightly outside the oven while it is cooling down in the tin.

It is better to take this cake out of the tin while it is still warm (not hot) otherwise it will stick to the tin and be difficult to remove.

Serve warm or cold with a dollop of crème fraîche, crème anglaise, whipped cream or simply by itself. It’s delicious anyway!

If you’re in a rush but you still want chocolate cake

If you’re ready to head out the door and just don’t have time to wait for the chocolate/butter (margarine) mixture to cool before adding the eggs there are two solutions that might help.

1. Place the saucepan in a couple centimetres of cold water in the sink, this should speed up the cooling process. Just make sure you don’t get any water in the mixture!
2. Add the sugar before you add the eggs, this will bring the temperature of the mixture down. Check that the mixture is not still too hot before adding the eggs though. You really don’t want scrambled eggs in your cake!

What occasion is this favourite allergy-friendly chocolate cake good for?

This is our go-to birthday cake, literally everyone who likes chocolate loves this cake!

We also take it when we are asked to provide dessert at a friend’s house, or at a potluck. It works well for bake sales, for taking over to sick friends or postpartum mums or even simply to make my family smile on a weekday evening. It makes every occasion special! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Let me know in the comments if you make this recipe!

More like this:

https://candleinthekitchen.com/category/sweet-things

https://candleinthekitchen.com/category/gluten-and-dairy-free

If you are looking for good gluten free dessert and cake ideas, I suggest taking a look at https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/, I use recipes from here frequently.