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    Home » Cakes

    Gluten Free Surprise Chocolate Cake

    Published: Aug 28, 2018 · Modified: Aug 31, 2022 by Tiffany · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    For the third installment of #communitycookbookproject, I've selected a recipe from a book titled Gregory Cooks.   This cookbook was created by Gregory Elementary School, located in Wilmington, NC, as a school fundraiser.

    surprise chocolate cake-2

    I so enjoyed flipping through this book for recipe inspiration.  There are a lot of gems in here.  I'm not sure if this book was written by students or just had no editing, but there are quite a lot of unusable recipes in here.  The way many of these recipes are written would spell disappointment for an inexperienced baker.  The first one that caught my eye was "Surprise Chocolate Cake" submitted by LeRoy Johnson.

    surprise chocolate cake

    There are a lot of surprises about this cake, like it has no chocolate and no flour, so I'm not sure how it turns into a chocolate cake.  Pour LeRoy had to add sugar packets to mashed potatoes and margarine and pretend it was chocolate cake.  Not to mention a complete lack of cooking instructions.

    I spent some time researching the "surprise cake", which seems to be a very old recipe and a way of bypassing the use of flour when it was hard to come by.  So perhaps LeRoy's cake recipe was not all wrong.  There were dozens of variations of the mashed potato cake on the internet.  I decided to use flour in mine and mix in mashed sweet potatoes instead of white ones (because sweet potatoes are my favorite).  I also added in a bit of cinnamon, because I absolutely love cinnamon and chocolate together.  The result was a wonderfully chocolate, moist and soft cake, which I served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar but it would be just as great with buttercream, chocolate ganache, whipped cream or any other topping you can think up.

    surprise chocolate cake-3

    Recipe

    gluten free surprise chocolate cake

    Gluten Free Chocolate Surprise Cake

    This delicious chocolate cake gets it's soft, moist texture from a surprise ingredient
    Author: Tiffany
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 45 minutes
    Cooling Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings: 16 slices
    Calories: 221kcal

    Ingredients

    • 1 ½ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend
    • ½ Cup Cocoa Powder
    • 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
    • ½ Cup Olive Oil or Coconut Oil
    • 1 ½ Cup Sugar
    • 2 Eggs
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 2 ounces Dark Chocolate chopped
    • 1 Cup Mashed Sweet Potatoes plain
    • ½ Non-Dairy Milk

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper.
    • Place the chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on 50% power for 2 minutes. Stir until all pieces are melted. Set aside to cool.
    • In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir together until well combined. Set aside.
    • In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and oil. Beat on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 60 seconds between each addition. Scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla, sweet potato and melted chocolate, mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and alternately add the milk and flour mixture. Begin and end with the milk.
    • Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top springs back when gently poked. This is a very moist cake, so be careful not to under bake as the center will sink.
    • Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes in the pan. The remove the cake from the pan and cool on a wire cooling rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

    Notes

    Top with powdered sugar, whipped cream, chocolate ganache or even buttercream. This makes a great moist chocolate cake!
    Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 128mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 3395IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @wellfedbaker or tag #wellfedbaker!
    Tiffany

    Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.

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    Photo of Tiffany Welsh.

    Hi, I'm Tiffany. I strive to make gluten free dishes that are not just good enough, but better than their gluten counterparts. Living without gluten doesn't need to mean living without yum. You'll find all sorts of recipes from easy complex and something to soothe every sweet tooth.

    More about me →

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