This double chocolate layer cake is every chocaholics dream! With two layers of rich, moist chocolate cake, sandwiched together with a silky smooth choc-peanut butter frosting and vibrant fresh berries to garnish. Honestly, what more could you want?
Believe it or not, this cake is also gluten, dairy and refined sugar free AND still tastes just as good as your regular chocolate cake! When it comes to free from baking, one of the main hurdles that people struggle with is texture. Typically, a lot of gluten free cakes can end up being either too dense, or rather crumbly and dry. This one however, is neither of those and I put that down to a couple things.
How to achieve the perfect texture
- I find that oat flour always produces a really moist, yet fluffy cake consistency. I typically grind my own by whizzing up some oats in a blender. This takes a matter of seconds and is really affordable. I definitely recommend making sure that your oats are thoroughly blended and you’re left with a perfectly smooth flour and not little lumps of oat!
- Coconut milk! My secret (or not) ingredient that I’ve been using in all of my recent bakes is canned coconut milk (full fat variety). This helps to emulsify your cake batter whilst mixing and keep it nice and moist, without being too dense or gooey.
- I know this is something written in most baking recipes, but make sure that you really do cream together the coconut oil and sugar until fluffy. This is really important when working with coconut sugar, which has a slightly grainy texture.
- This one goes without saying, but be careful not to over bake! When baking with coconut oil, cakes tend to firm up and become a little more dense as they cool. This is because coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, so if you’re not careful, can result in a slightly stodgy cake. Don’t worry if it seems a little too soft straight out of the oven, leave it to cool slightly and it should be perfect!
What you’ll need to make this Double Chocolate Layer Cake
- Good quality cocoa or cacao powder- I use this one
- Coconut oil- this recipe calls for 3/4 cup coconut oil in place of butter which keeps the cake dairy free.
- Coconut sugar- this is one of my most used ingredients and favourite natural sweetener. It has an incredible caramel flavour and is perfect as a substitute for refined sugar in baking.
- Oat flour- I almost always use oat flour when baking and it works perfectly in this cake. It’s super affordable, you can make it at home and is naturally GF.
- Peanut butter- because what else pairs so perfectly with chocolate?! This cake is topped with a dreamy chocolate peanut frosting. Even if you don’t make the cake, you NEED this frosting in your life!
This cake is perfect for birthdays or events when you want something a little more indulgent! It’s perhaps not a cake for an everyday afternoon coffee accompaniment, there’s a lot of chocolate! However, for those times when only chocolate is the answer, or you’re looking to surprise someone with something extra special, this is your go to!
Double Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 4 eggs
- tsp baking powder
- 1/3 tsp bicarb
- Pinch sea salt
- Dash vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 4 tbsp honey
- 2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup oat milk Added gradually- may not need all of the milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180c and line two 20cm loose bottom cake tins with baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream togther the coconut oil and sugar until lightened and fluffy.
- Beat in the coconut milk, vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time.
- Combine all of the dry ingredients, then fold this through the wet mixture.
- Divide this evenly between the two tins and pop these into the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Transfer the cakes to a wire wrack and allow to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, mix together the peanut butter, honey and cocoa, then gradually add in the oat milk whilst stirring to create a smooth, creamy consitency.
- Once the cakes have cooled, spread a generous amount of frosting over one of the cakes and carefully place the other on top. Add the remaining frosting onto the second cake and smooth over to create swirls. Decorate with toppings of choice- I love fresh berries, and serve!
