I made this wonderful flourless gluten-free dark chocolate cake recipe to celebrate 10 years of Joyous Health! Yes …
Whenever we have a birthday, anniversary or a special event to celebrate, I make this cake. Or rather, “we” make this cake! In fact, for my last birthday, Walker and Vienna baked me this cake. My mom always makes it for birthdays too with her own Ma McCarthy spin on it.
She made this recipe for me for the first time about 6 years ago and I was hooked ever since. I’ve made some updates to it over the years based on ingredients I have on hand but this recipe is tried and true.
I decided to create a recipe video of it too just because I just love it so much!
As I mentioned in my video, holy TEMPEH (!!!), it’s been a decade since I wrote my first official blog post. How did that happen?!
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Thank you so much for being a reader of the blog, whether you’re brand new here, you’ve just stumbled over here from Youtube or Instagram, or you’ve been here since the early days. I am grateful for you, my community!
You guys have inspired me so much on this journey. I love your ideas, questions and comments. It inspires me to write, continue learning and share my love of natural health.
I love this cake because not only is it flourless, but it’s packed with quinoa – two whole cups! That means it’s got protein and fibre. Not your typical cake right? I find this cake nice and sweet as is so I don’t use icing because truthfully, it doesn’t need it. But if you’d like to add icing, you’re welcome to! I personally like to serve it with fresh fruit and coconut yogurt.
It’s best if you blend up the mixture in a food processor or blender. Both work well, but I recommend you do process it using either of those options to get a nice smooth texture.
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This cake is super moist and almost fudgey-like. The extra-virgin olive oil and quinoa help with the moistness which is essential for a cake! It’s pretty amazing that there is ZERO dairy from cream! Dairy-containing cream is usually what gives a chocolate cake that memorable richness, but you’ll discover that you don’t even need it in this recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do!
In case you’ve made past versions of this cake, you’ll be happy to know that this is the BEST version! I just made a few updates to it. See my notes below for more additional options.
Desserts
Flourless Gluten-free Dark Chocolate Cake
PrintDry Ingredients
- 1 cup of dry quinoa
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar+
- 1 cup raw cacao powder**
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips***
Wet Ingredients
- 2 cups water (for cooking the quinoa)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil*
- 3/4 cup real maple syrup
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C) degrees. Line the bottom of an 9" cake pan or springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with coconut oil.
- Place water and quinoa in a medium pot and bring to a soft boil. Reduce to low and cook for 15-20 minutes until quinoa fluffs with a fork. Let cool before combining 2 cups with other ingredients.
- Once quinoa has cooled, measure out 2 cups of quinoa and add it to a high power blender or a food processor. Add the eggs, oil, syrup, vanilla, sugar, cacao powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
- Blend until fully combined and smooth. You will see some of the quinoa texture in the batter. It should be thick and fully mixed together. (see my video for how it should look). Mix in the chocolate chips with a spoon.
- Pour cake batter into cake pan. Smooth out top with a spatula so it's even. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.
- Let sit on a cooling rack to cool completely before removing from the cake pan. You can cut the slices directly from the cake pan or remove it from the cake pan.
- Enjoy with fresh berries and coconut yogurt!
Serves 12.
+Update: I don't add this anymore.
Instead, I add 20 drops of liquid stevia but it's still wonderful with coconut sugar.
*You can also use melted coconut oil.
**You can use cocoa powder if you like.
***Optional: I use the Lily's Chocolate brand because it has less sugar and uses erythritol.
More delicious options:
- Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1/2 cup dried unsulfured cranberries
- Sprinkle with 2 tbsp shredded coconut or mini chocolate chips on top
If you’re a parent and you’re wondering if this cake is safe for little ones. I would suggest that a toddler can have a small amount but for a child under 2 years old it’s best to avoid any added sugars whether natural or not.
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The reason is that babies and children under two eat so little calorie wise that you don’t want them getting the majority of their calories from a cake. Plus, raw cacao can be a little bit stimulating. So even though we give this to Vienna (she’s 3.5 years), she only gets a small amount.
A good way to test out raw cacao with a little one is to try these Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (there’s chocolate chips) or these Sexy Maca Balls which are actually one of my ALL TIME most popular recipes on Joyous Health!!
I hope you love this cake as much as my family does and it becomes a celebratory cake for all your special occasions!!
Joy xo
P.S: Stay up to date with all things joyous celebratory-related by getting on my newsletter where I send out weekly newsletters and recipes.
134 thoughts on “Flourless Gluten-free Dark Chocolate Cake”
Looks gorgeous!
Is the recipe calling for 1 or 2 cups of quinoa?
Recipe indicates 1 and description indicates 2.
Hey Joy and gang – would an electric hand mixer work instead of a food processor? Also do you think that olive oil works better than coconut oil? I have both, just curious. Really looking forward to making this!
Happy 10 Year Anniversary! We love this cake at our house. 💜. No one could tell it was healthy at all…😂😏😍.
Is there a substitute for quinoa?
Quinoa is a pretty significant ingredient with 2 full cups. So, I have not tried it with anything else. My only thought would be brown rice, but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure.
Thank you Nadine! Glad you love this cake!!
I just prefer the taste of the olive oil in this recipe specifically I think it makes for a more moist cake. Yes, I think it will work. You’ll just have more quinoa texture in the cake once it’s fully cooked. Just make sure the quinoa is fully cooked and you don’t have any crunchy bits. Let me know how it turns out!
1 cup of dry and 2 cups cooked. 1 cup of dry will yield a little over 2 cups so you can either add the full amount or measure out two cups. I’ve updated the instructions so it is more clear. Hope that helps!
Is there anyway of making this vegan? What would be the best egg substitute?
You could try a flax egg but I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for certain. The eggs really do hold everything together so you need something with sticking power. Here’s my egg sub chart: https://www.joyoushealth.com/3-download-egg-substitution-chart
A cup and a half of sweetener is just too much for me!
Then use less!
Thank you, Joy for clarification on quinoa quantity! Will definitely make this….btw .. I especially appreciated your video hack about lining the spring form pan with parchment paper….can’t believe how easy you made it .. duh..wish I had thought of that years ago….:-)
No problem! I learned that hack from a random TV producer on a show I did about 5 years ago, so prior to that I was always greasing everything. It’s waaaaay easier for clean up too with a little parchment.
Looking forward to trying this! Does the cake freeze well?
It freezes amazingly well. I always have leftovers and freeze them.
Is there anything I can substitute for the coconut sugar? I don’t want to use any refined sugar (pro-inflammatory), but I am worried if I take out that much of the dried ingredients the consistency won’t stay the same and will mess with the entire recipe.
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Adrian!
I am assuming you avoid all sugars? I ask because coconut palm sugar is not what I would call “refined” in comparison to brown, raw or white sugar, but I totally get if you want to avoid it. If you’re avoiding that, then you’ll probably want to avoid maple syrup too. Because it’s only 1/2 cup of coconut sugar I don’t think it will make a major difference if you omit it. In fact I’ve made it many times just for my family and reduced the amount of coconut sugar. If you remove both the coconut sugar and the maple syrup then it will significantly alter the taste and the texture. You could add nut milk to make up for maple syrup but it would be an experiment. Let me know how you make out!
Why did mine turn watery?
Lol I figured it out! I used the dough blade instead of the chopping blade LOL it’s perfect now 🙂
Can you tell me which brands of real maple syrup you recommend?
I really love Forbes http://wildfoods.ca/store/syrups-and-honey/very-dark-maple-syrup/ . It’s not the easiest to find though. I buy it at farmers markets and the health food store. It has the richest flavour.
Don’t worry if it’s really liquid-y. That’s happened to me before and it always turns out fine.
Thank you! I personally really like the taste of the PC 100% Pure Maple Syrup Canada Grade A Amber and wanted to know if you like/recommend that one? It’s very affordable too.
Yep! I’ve bought that one before too,! I love really dark maple syrup, so I typically by Forbes Wild Foods syrup.
Glad you figured it out!
Omg, this is the most amazing cake I’ve ever made. Thank you Joy for all your wonderful recipes.
Glad you love it Pam! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Keep up with the amazing recipes!
Thanks, will do!
Hi Joy, What brand is your food processor and what size. The cake began leaking out of mine. Thank you
Oh no! I have a Breville 12 cup food processor.
Joy, this was yummy and even my sceptical husband and son really enjoyed it…keep the recipes coming.
Hi Patti, glad to hear your skeptical hubs loved it!
Delicious Joy! I had been wanting to make this for ages and finally did for my husband’s birthday last week. Soooo good! And tastes even better after a day or two. Once I stopped eating the raw batter out of the bowl I managed to get it in the oven 😋 A total winner with my quinoa-sceptical hubby too. ❤️
Hurray! I agree, it’s magic the next day especially when it’s been refrigerated, it gets to so fudgy. Glad this recipe was a winner! 🙂
Will this work with canned coconut milk?
Yes I don’t see why not!
Mine turned out super liquidy…not sure why, any ideas.
I read in above suggestions that I was supposed to put 2 cups cooked and 1 cup dry quinoa? I did not put in 1 cup dry as it is not written in directions. Would this be why it didn’t turn out?
I’m not sure if you’re asking if you need to add the “dry quinoa”? If so, definitely no. The dry quinoa is what you use to make the quinoa. 1 cup dry quinoa yields just over 2 cups of cooked. That’s why you measure out 2 cups cooked. You do not add any dry quinoa to this recipe. The texture of the batter will vary depending on how hot the quinoa is when you add it. When you say it was liquidy, how did the final texture turn out?
I have every ingredient to make this cake except the quinoa. Can I sub in almond flour? If yes, how much? Please write back soon. We have a birthday party and I want to bake a chocolate cake 😁
Quinoa is quite a significant component, in fact, it is the main ingredient of this recipe since you use 2 whole cups of cooked quinoa. So I can’t really say either way without trying it myself and I wouldn’t know how much almond flour to sub. Sorry about that!
Have you ever made this recipe into cupcakes?
I have, many times! It’s awesome! Here’s the recipe: https://www.joyoushealth.com/26157-blog-gluten-free-chocolate-quinoa-cupcakes Enjoy 🙂
Can I substitute sucanat for the coconut sugar?
Yes definitely!
Hi Joy!
Hello from Mexico! I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for a long time, and finally the day arrived!
I just pulled it out of the oven an hour ago and had to taste it, couldn’t handle myself!
I just have to say wow! The texture is so smooth, soft and fluffy!
I used 1/2 cup of maple syrup instead of 3/4 because it’s gold to me and difficult to find here, so I added 1/4 extra of amond milk and a couple more tablespoons of coconut sugar!
I can’t wait for it to cool properly!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe
Question,
Do you refrigerate it or leave it outside?
Hi Astrid! Yay! So glad you love this recipe too. I hope you enjoy this recipe for years to come. I would recommend refrigerating it after 1 day. Thanks for your comment 🙂
Hi Joy,
You wouldn’t have the Nutrional Facts for this recipe would you? Just wanting to know for diabetic health.
Thank you 🙂
I don’t know sorry but if you serve it with some full-fat coconut milk yogurt it will bring the glycemic load down. This homemade coconut milk yogurt is amazing with this cake: https://www.joyoushealth.com/27129-blog-how-to-make-homemade-coconut-yogurt
So excited to try this! Do you think I can use a 9×12 pan?
Yes you could, it will just be a thinner cake, but still delicious I’m sure!
Hi Joy, this recipe looks amazing. We have a cocoa allergy in the family, and since the recipe calls for a cup of raw cacao I’m a bit concerned about leaving it out. Would the quantities still work out ok? Thanks
I would add about 1/2 cup of brown rice flour or something similar (not coconut flour). But you want to use a lesser amount because the raw cacao will melt and become liquid when it heats and is mixed with the olive or coconut oil whereas a flour will not. I’ve also made this cake with an orange flavour by squeezing the juice of a couple of oranges in. I can’t tell you exactly what that recipe is because it was a while ago, but I’m going to retest and post another version of this recipe because a lot of people having been asking for a chocolate free version. Stay tuned!!
Hi Joy
I love this cake. It is definitely a favourite! I was wondering, is there a vanilla version for this recipe?
There isn’t one but it’s on my list! I’ve made it into a vanilla orange cake before I just didn’t write down the ingredients. I will do it soon 🙂
Look sooo good. I am having guest for dinner soon and I will make this for dessert. Thank you.
Hi
We love this cake so much and I just made it for Easter dinner.
Will it keep 4 days in fridge or should I freeze it until Sunday do you think?
Smells so yummy in here!
Happy Easter to you all!
It actually freezes really well so you could totally freeze it! However, I think it will keep just fine till Sunday in the fridge. Enjoy!!
Let me know how everyone likes it!
Can I use tre-color quinoa? Ita the one I have on my pantry righ now?
Wanna try making this for mother’s day! Can I use three-color quinoa? Its the one I have on my pantry right now
You can try but I don’t think it’s quite as fluffy as white quinoa and you definitely need that for texture.
In that case I’ll run to the market 🙂 thank you soo much.
I love the cake. One I y family favourite!!
I am making today muffins for a mother’s day brunch.
But I cannot find your recipe for them in your blog. I recall I had seen an email with the recipe.
Can you tell me if the Bali g time is different please?
Thank you
What it will be the time in the oven if I want to make cupcakes instead of the cake?
Thanks
By the way we love this cake!!!
Oh the cupcakes? Here you go! Enjoy! https://www.joyoushealth.com/26157-blog-gluten-free-chocolate-quinoa-cupcakes
You’re welcome, enjoy!
15-20 minutes, enjoy!
This cake is delightful! 🙂 My only concern is that there were some crunchy bits of quinoa throughout the cake. Do you know why?
That happens sometimes if quinoa gets too hot and doesn’t fully open or if it’s not stirred enough when it’s cooking, or if it doesn’t cook long enough. Either way, don’t worry about it as long as it still tasted great! 🙂
I can’t wait to make this for my bestie’s birthday! You mentioned subbing putted soaked majool dates for the coconut sugar… how many would you suggest? Thank you!
I would say 6 or 7 soaked dates and then puree them. I haven’t done this myself (at least in a long time) so I don’t know the exact measurement but other people have made it that way and it totally worked — definitely not as sweet and this cake is not overly sweet to begin with. Let me know how it turns out!
Can I subtitute the maple syrup for raw honey?!
You can but it’s not ideal to cook with honey because you destroy the beneficial properties. That being said, sometimes in a recipe it’s necessary like my Lemon Tarts but in this case maple syrup is definitely the better option.
Thank you so much! You’re awesome
JOY! Can I make this ahead and keep in the fridge?
Yes, actually it tastes even better on day 2!
Oooo! YAY! Ok – it’s in the oven. Was super liquidy going in. I seriously suck at baking haha.
Thanks 🙂
How did it turn out?
It honestly turned out perfectly. I had to bake it for a few extra minutes to make sure it was cooked through but it was delish!!! Will definitely make again and again!!
Glad to hear it!!! Yay!
Dear Joy,
Thanks so much for this amazing recipe! I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday and it was a huge success! It was decadent and satisfying, especially with the rich aroma from the cacao powder.
Much appreciated!
Oh yes, doesn’t it smell amazing while it’s cooking!!! Glad to hear it was a huge success!
This.is.awesome!!
It was easy and delicious.
Have you ever made this a day ahead? I’m wondering if it keeps well on the counter?
Yes many times, it’s great the day ahead too. I would suggest putting it in the fridge!
I wasn’t able to read your reply and now it seems to be missing! Anyway, I just read all the comments so sorry for asking you for the 20th time!
Oh strange! Sorry about that. I’ve been having an issue with replies for some reason.
Joy, I’m confused. In the video you mention a few different nut milks. And one of the comments asks if you can use coconut milk, which you reply yes.
But there’s no nut milk in the ingredient list! But I just checked the muffin/cupcake recipe which is basically the same but it DOES have nut milk in the ingredients!
Is it supposed to be in the ingredient list?
My cake is in the oven and I’m worried that I missed it!
So sorry for the confusion! I updated the recipe actually and removed that ingredient. I will make a notation of it.
Thanks for the reply, it turned out beautiful and delicious without the the nut milk and everyone loved it! I’m hiding the leftovers so my 21 and 23 year old sons don’t eat the rest at midnight!
Haha! That’s too funny about your sons. I’m so happy to hear it turned out amazing. Love that cake!
I love this cake so much! So easy to make and incredibly delicious. I eat dairy free and my husband eats gluten free AND I have two celiac sisters so it can be tough to find a tasty dessert to bring to family events. This always does the trick, thanks Joy!
Hi Nicky, I’m so happy to hear your whole family is loving this wonderful cake! You must try this cake too since you loved that one as it’s also GF: https://www.joyoushealth.com/27423-blog-almond-flour-raspberry-cake
Hi, I came across your wonderful recipe and want to make this today. I saw your quinoa quantity in the video while putting it in the batter. It seems to be more than 2 cups. As you took quinoa twice. And even cocoa powder seems to be mor than 1 cup in the measuring cup you are using. I have the same measuring cup but when I compare it seems less than your measurements. Plz reply as I am a bit confused here:). thanks.
Hi! Enjoy this amazing recipe, it’s a faves of ours 🙂
It’s best to always refer to the actual recipe card in the post for the exact measurements. Sorry for the confusion. Sometimes it’s just the way it is edited.
I just looked at the video again. I added 2 cups because my measuring cup is 1 cup 🙂
OMG yessss, my new favourite cake. The consistency was a bit messed up and my cake stuck to the pan in the middle but next time I will be using a spring pan instead. It’s so delicious. Huge hit in our household ♥️♥️♥️
Woohoo! Glad to hear you loved it! Did you use some parchment paper? That will prevent sticking.
I love this cake and have made it many times following the recipe exactly! As we are currently not able to run out for baking supplies I had to make some subs – I thought I would share in case anyone else is in a similar situation.
I was only able to do half (1/2) a cup of maple syrup – I added an extra 1/4 cup of hemp heart milk (homemade – super easy if you don’t have nut milk on hand and worked great) and added an extra tablespoon of coconut sugar (which I don’t think was needed but I was nervous it wouldn’t be sweet / balanced).
A wonderful recipe I love so much – thank you Joy!
Thanks so much for sharing your subs Danielle – that’s always super helpful for people to know!
This looks amazing. What can be used instead of the coconut sugar? So difficult getting out to find specific ingredients right now but don’t want to wait to try it.
Any other granulated sugar. But you could do half the amount and stick with the full amount of maple syrup.
The original recipe had almond milk? Is that not needed in the new recipe?
I’ve made it the original way and I want it to turn out the same. So just wondering?
I removed it because I’ve made it so many times without it. But you can definitely still add it!
Wow! I had my doubts about this cake, that there would be a quinoa flavour/feel but it is SO GOOD! It’s so close to a flour based cake I’m literally gobsmacked! Not that I didn’t have faith in you, Joy. Thanks for sharing. I’m making for my baby’s first bday party and not telling anyone the ingredients until they try it! 😉
Hi Larissa! I’m with you on that one… not revealing the good-for-you ingredients until everyone is gushing about it 🙂 So glad you loved it as much as we do!
Hi Joy! I love your quinoa chocolate cake. I have to check my sugar intake and I don’t feel that cake is giving me a sugar rush at all! The quinoa gives most likely more protein to that cake. Healthy to me! Do you have an idea about the calories intake ?
Thanks!
That’s great! You can also reduce the maple syrup and add stevia if you want to reduce the sugar content even more. I’m not sure how many calories but you could probably figure it out with one of those calorie apps – I just never count cals myself so I’m not sure!
Hi Joy! Can I use this same recipe for regular size cupcakes? Or would you suggest modifications for this…
Thanks in advance!
Jen
Absolutely! I’ve made it many times as cupcakes. You’ll have to adjust the baking time but other than that everything will remain the same ingredient-wise. My guess would be 15-20 minutes for baking but you’ll have to just wing it and see!
Need recipe for the icing. This is 2nd time I have made this cake it’s so good. This time around want to add the icing
For sure! You can use this recipe: https://www.joyoushealth.com/27424-blog-how-to-make-coconut-whipped-icing
Hi Joy! I want to make this cake for my son’s 6th bday next week. What’s the difference between “raw cacao” and cocoa powder? Is one sweeter than the other? Also would the raw cacao give a flavour of say a molten lava cake?
This is the perfect cake for a birthday! Cocoa powder is more processed but both will work fine. Raw cacao is slightly more bitter so if you use cocoa then you can probably reduce the amount of maple syrup. You can read more about it here: https://www.joyoushealth.com/16583-blog-health-benefits-of-raw-cacao-vs-cocoa-powder
I’m not able to make any other chocolate cake since discovering this recipe. Amazing all around.
Haha, I have the same problem LeeAnne! Glad you love it!
Hi Joy, Is there anything wrong with coconut sugar? Just wondering why you prefer not to use it. And can I eliminate it all together?
Thank You
Can the cooked quinoa be substituted for quinoa flour?
I don’t have Coconut sugar but I have Brown Sugar granulated (Monkfruit), Powdered, or Monkfruit White can I use either of these 3 Thankyou
Granulated monk fruit will work great!
I don’t think so. They are so different texture-wise.
I use very little sweetener of any kind when baking but I realize that not everyone will find recipes as tasty so that’s why I include them. I think it really depends on your tastebuds so if you’re not used to low sugar then I wouldn’t suggest going no-sugar. I would reduce it and then see how you like it. Enjoy!
Thankyou so much for responding ❤️
Of course! 🙂
Thanks Joy! Made this twice for this year’s Valentines 😉 Topped with chocolate chips and coconut before baking. Served it with homemade coconut yogurt and strawberries.
Sounds fantastic!! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you, Joy! Chocolate cake is everything! Since becoming a gluten-free and dairy free momma everyone was certainly uplifted by this moment of joy that came out of this chocolate cake! This cake was baked with love for another of my best friend’s birthday’s who is also a gluten-free and dairy free momma. Let me tell you, she wasn’t the only one who loved it…. Everyone at the table loved it! Fluffy, moist and the chocolate chips inside are delightful. Thank you for another joyous recipe, Joy 💞
You’re so welcome Elana! I’m so happy it was such a hit! yay!
You are theeeeee best!! ♥️🩷🙏🏻
My son loves mint flavour chocolate do you think I could substitute vanilla extract with peppermint instead? Thanks for your advice!
Yes totally! I bet that would be really delish!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I made this cake today, and it is delicious!! My modifications were substituting 2 TBL espresso powder for the same amount of cocoa powder, and I used monkfruit sweetener with erythritol in lieu of sugar. The cake is very moist. Next time, I’ll be sure to pulse the quinoa in the food processor before adding the other ingredients since the quinoa that crisped up on the edges of the cake are too hard for my liking.
Sounds awesome!!