Gluten Free Black Forest Cake

This Black Forest Cake is SO EASY and naturally gluten free — and no gluten lover would ever know the difference! Chocolate Cake is layered with real whipped cream and homemade cherry sauce!

So today is my husband’s birthday.

Not only is it my husband’s birthday, but it’s his “Champagne Birthday” (or Grand Birthday or Golden Birthday or Star Birthday according to Wikipedia), which means he is 31 on the 31st.

So let’s eat cake! Chocolate and cherry is one of his (and one of my!) favorite combinations, so I knew this would be a hit just like my Black Forest Icebox Cake!

I’m writing this before the actually day, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that to celebrate his birthday he will be waking up before the crack of dawn, probably leaving before the kids wake up, going to work 12-14 hours, coming back after they go to sleep. This is how our summer/fall goes.

There’s a saying my husband likes that goes like this: “Being self-employed is great — you only have to work half days. You get to choose which 12 hours of the day you work”. Now with both of us being self-employed, our schedules can get a little crazy!

Meanwhile, I’m single-momming it to two kids and trying not to lose my mind.

And as crazy as it is, it means that in the winter and the spring there are a few glorious months where all 4 of us are home together. It means that I can leave the house — ALONE — to go to the grocery store or just out. It means that we can spend more time together and have a lot more flexibility the rest of the year.

So this cake.

I actually made this cake a long time ago — months and months ago — to bring to a family dinner. My brother-in-law was diagnosed with Celiac disease (I know I say this with every GF recipe!) so it’s opened my eyes to gluten free baking options and I love to experiment with it.

This cake was something I just threw together to bring over. I probably used — GASP — whipped topping and canned cherry pie filling, and it went over extremely well! It is one of those things you can’t believe actually works, because it is SO good and can fool any gluten lover. But this time I wanted to bring you something really special, and there is nothing like real whipped cream and fresh summer cherries.

The cake recipe is based off of this Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake, and it is my favorite gluten free cake recipe to date! It is so simple and you don’t need any special ingredients (other than certified gluten free oats if you’re serving someone with Celiac disease).

Feel free to mix up the toppings as you like — there’s so much room to experiment with this cake base!

Also, my apologies for the 6 photos! Cherries are just so dang pretty.

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Gluten Free Black Forest Cake

written by Ashley Fehr

5 from 1 vote

This Black Forest Cake is SO EASY and naturally gluten free — and no gluten lover would ever know the difference! Chocolate Cake is layered with real whipped cream and homemade cherry sauce! www.thereciperebel.com

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Cuisine American

Course Dessert

Servings 10

Calories 376cal

Ingredients

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups certified gluten free quick cooking oats
• ▢ 1 tsp ground flax seeds
• ▢ 2 tsp boiling water
• ▢ 1 cup canola oil 180ml
• ▢ 3/4 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee warm or cold, not hot
• ▢ 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla
• ▢ 3 large eggs room temperature
• ▢ 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt

Cherry Sauce

• ▢ 3 cups pitted halved cherries
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 2 teaspoons corn starch
• ▢ 2 teaspoons water

Whipped Cream

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 35%
• ▢ 1/3 cup powdered icing sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla

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Instructions

• Gluten Free Chocolate CakePreheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease or line 2 8″ round baking pans.
• In blender or food processor, process oats until ground into a fine powder. Pour into a small bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine ground flax and boiling water. Let sit for 10 minutes.
• In the blender, add canola oil, buttermilk, coffee, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs and blend until smooth.
• Add the ground oats, ground flax mixture, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and blend until smooth, stopping to stir and scrape down sides if necessary.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before assembling.
• Cherry SauceIn a medium pan, add cherries, water and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook 10-15 minutes until softened. Stir in vanilla.
• Combine corn starch and water and add to the cherries gradually, adding only the amount necessary to reach desired consistency.
• Remove from the heat and cool completely before assembling.
• Whipped CreamIn a large bowl, whip cream with an electric beater until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Chill until ready to assemble.
• Assembly:Lay one chocolate cake layer on a serving platter. Top with half the whipped cream and half the cherry sauce. Repeat layers one more time. Garnish with additional cherries if desired.

Notes

*If you’re short on time, you can absolutely use frozen whipped topping or canned cherry pie filling
*If cherries are out of season, feel free to substitute frozen cherries and decrease the water by ¼ cup.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 376cal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 120mg | Potassium: 364mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 650IU | Vitamin C: 3.1mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 1.7mg

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