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This Chocolate Pound Cake is a gluten-free version of a classic dessert. It’s rich, perfectly dense, chocolatey, and topped off with homemade chocolate ganache!
Chocolate Gluten-Free Pound Cake Recipe
This Gluten-Free Chocolate Pound Cake may just be my newest favorite dessert. Now, I’ve made a great gluten free pound cake before, and I loved it so much I knew I needed to make a chocolate version.
And… it’s perfect! This pound cake is moist, dense, sweet, and chocolatey. It’s like a classic pound cake in texture and flavor but made healthier with coconut oil instead of butter, coconut sugar instead of refined sugar, and gluten-free flour. This recipe will not disappoint!
Ingredients Needed
- Coconut Oil: we’re using coconut oil in place of butter to add moisture.
- Coconut Sugar: adds just the right of sweetness to the pound cake.
- Eggs: our binding agent to help the pound cake hold its shape.
- Vanilla: adds flavor depth.
- Almond Flour and Coconut Flour: you will need both types of flour for this recipe. They can not be substituted for one another!
- Cocoa Powder:
- Baking Powder: baking powder helps lighten up the texture of the cake ever so slightly so it isn’t overly dense.
- Fine Sea Salt: cuts the sweetness and brings out the flavors in the cake.
- Chocolate Chips and Coconut Milk: melted together to form a chocolate ganache topping.
Substitutions Suggestions
Gluten-free flour substitutions: This bread took a lot of testing time to get just the right texture. We don’t recommend swapping or leaving out the almond or coconut that is called for.
Coconut Oil: You can use butter!
Eggs: We haven’t tested this without eggs and do not think it would work without them.
What is the Difference Between Pound Cake and Regular Cake?
There are a couple of differences between pound cake and “regular” cake. Regular cake tends to be lighter and fluffier and is usually served topped with a creamy frosting. Pound cake, on the other hand, has a denser crumb and is either served plain or topped with icing or glaze.
How to Make Chocolate Gluten Free Pound Cake
This chocolate pound cake recipe could not be any easier to throw together!
- Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together coconut oil, coconut sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until fully combined.
- Bake: Transfer the batter into a greased and parchment paper-lined 8”x5” loaf pan then let cool completely.
- Make the quick ganache: Add chocolate chips and coconut milk to a small pot. Cook on low until melted. Whisk to combine.
- Finish and serve: Pour the chocolate ganache over the cooled cake, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
How Do You Know When Pound Cake is Done?
The best way to tell that your pound cake is done baking is to insert a toothpick into the center. If it comes out wet, the cake needs more time to bake. If it comes out with just a few moist crumbs, it’s good to go!
What is the Secret to a Moist Pound Cake?
While pound cake is supposed to be somewhat dense, it really shouldn’t be dry. Here are a couple of tips and tricks for a perfectly moist chocolate pound cake:
- Measure out your flour correctly! Gluten-free flours can be tricky to measure as it can be easily compacted, even straight from the bag. So we’ve included the weight in grams here and recommend you weigh it, if possible. Any electronic kitchen scale can switch between grams and ounces, and grams are more precise so we’re offering that. If you don’t have a scale, spooning the almond flour into the cup measurement gets you as close to the correct measurement as possible. For coconut and tapioca flour scoop and then level it off.
- Use good vanilla extract. This cake has so few ingredients and flavors. Using a really good vanilla extract (ever made your own?) is a good move here.
- Don’t over-bake. Check the cake at 40 minutes and only bake as long as needed. As soon as a toothpick comes out of the center with just a few moist crumbs, remove the cake from the oven. If you have an instant-read thermometer it should read about 190 degrees when measured from the middle of the bread.
- Let the bread cool slightly before cutting. Like any quick bread, cutting the bread too soon after taking it out of the oven with result in a bread that tastes too moist at first, and then later, one that is dry as all the steam has escaped from the bread when it was hot. Let it cool until the bread is no longer warm to the touch, about 3-5 hours.
How to Serve Chocolate Pound Cake
I like to serve this chocolate pound cake recipe topped with the homemade, 2-ingredient chocolate ganache.
However, you’re totally not limited to that! Try it topped with homemade chocolate frosting, coconut whipped cream and fresh berries, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar!
Dairy-Free Chocolate Ganache Recipe
With just two-ingredients, this chocolate ganache recipe really could not be easier! It’s also dairy-free.
You can make the chocolate ganache on the stove-top or you can also melt together coconut milk and chocolate chips in the microwave to make it!
How to Store
This gluten-free pound cake will last in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If you’re going to freeze the cake, I recommend doing so without the ganache.
To serve again, defrost at room temperature, top with ganache, and enjoy! It will be slightly more moist once defrosted than when it is freshly baked.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes You’ll Love
- Paleo Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Paleo Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
- Gluten-Free Hostess Cupcakes
Watch The Video:
Gluten Free Chocolate Pound Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil melted
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-1/2 cups 150g almond flour
- 1/4 cup 30 grams coconut flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch fine sea salt
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8″ x 5″ loaf pan and line with a parchment paper sling.
- In a large bowl, whisk together coconut oil, coconut sugar, eggs, vanilla until well combined. Add in almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and whisk until fully combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth over the top.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Check the cake at 40 minutes and only bake as long as needed. If you have an instant-read thermometer it should read about 190 degrees when measured from the middle of the bread.
- Let cool the loaf cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the chocolate ganache. Add chocolate chips and coconut milk to a small pot, and cook over low heat until just melted. Whisk together.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the poundcake.
- Let cool, then slice and enjoy.
Notes
- You can also melt together coconut milk and chocolate chips in the microwave to make the ganache.
Adding the chocolate ganache on top makes this just perfect! I’ll be making this again.
Thank you!
A bit of advice….. instead of telling us to bake for 50-60 minutes (as written in the recipe), you should advise to check at 40 mins, like you did in the paragraphs prior to the actual recipe. I spent $40 on ingredients and baked two of these for a dinner party for 14 people, and because the actual recipe said “bake 50-60 minutes”, the cake was extremely dry and a huge disappointment
Sorry I’m asking、When you triple this recipe , it’s something like that:
“ 3-1.5 cups 150g almond flour”. That 3-1.5 cups means 4.5 cups(4 and 0.5 cups)?
Thank you.
It is so difficult to change cups in grams. There are different cups and sizes. What site should I choose for making a correct nice sweet thing ,I really don’t know.
This came out VERY dense. I know pound cakes are meant to be dense, but it just had a different consistency than I was looking for. I served it with freshly whipped cream & sliced strawberries to give it a bit more moisture.
Did you follow it exactly? It’s not dense!
Did you follow exactly? If so, it should not be dense!
Can I use other types of four? I only have a bag of gluten free flour (rice) and do not buy nut flours.
Hi.
it says you dont recommend leaving/swapping out the almond, coconut or tapioca- however there isn’t any tapioca in the recipe. Is there meant to be or did you omit it?
Typo this is fixed!
Another winner!
So happy you loved it!