Gluten Free Chocolate Caramel Trifle

Gluten Free Chocolate Caramel Trifle

Chocolate cake, pudding, whip cream and caramel: This dessert is not only delicious, but it's easy to create and fancy enough for company. You can make all or some of the parts from scratch. I like to make my own gluten free chocolate cake but I usually save time on the other steps by using instant pudding, cool whip, and gluten free caramel ice cream topping.

I'm sharing my favorite chocolate cake recipe today. It's easy to make and comes out moist without being heavy or dense. If you want to make Chocolate pudding this recipe for chocolate pastry cream is amazing! You'll need to reduce the corn starch to 2 Tablespoons so it's not too thick.

As always, read your ingredients carefully to make sure they are gluten free. Enjoy!


This recipe has a few simple steps before assembling the trifle. Start with the cake so it can cool while you prepare everything else. If you are making homemade pudding, make it while the cake is baking so it too will have time to cool.

Gluten Free Chocolate Caramel Trifle
(serves 12-16)

-9x13 gluten free chocolate cake cooled and cut into 1 inch squares (recipe below)
-3 cups gluten free chocolate pudding or large box of gluten free instant pudding, prepared
-8 oz whip cream, prepared or cool whip, thawed
-7 oz gluten free caramel ice cream topping (hot fudge would be good too)

In a large trifle dish or bowl (9 or 10 inch diameter) layer 1/2 of the chocolate cake squares. Put them on their sides (the inside of the cake facing up) so they will absorb the caramel and pudding. Drizzle 1/3 of the caramel topping over the cake squares then cover the caramel with 1/2 of the chocolate pudding. The pudding gets covered by 1/2 of the whip cream and then you start over with a second layer of chocolate cake. Continue with 1/3 of the caramel, the rest of the pudding and the whip cream. Finish with a final layer of caramel topping.  If desired garnish with chocolate shavings or toffee pieces. Cover and refrigerate 1-4 hours before serving. Or overnight. If you have any left over (doubtful) store in the refrigerator.


Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
(Slightly adapted from Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake)

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F and spray a 9x13 cake pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl stir together sugar, gluten free flour mix, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be very thin and you'll think you've forgotten something - just keep going). Mix on medium for one more minute. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. I often find my cakes need the longer amount of time to bake (35 minutes) but every oven is different so watch and check your cake those last 5 minutes. Don't be afraid to add a couple minutes if you think it needs it. Remove cake from oven and cool completely.

Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

This has been adapted from a recipe in the Gluten Free Baking Classics cookbook and is my favorite recipe for chocolate cupcakes.  Gluten free cupcakes can be heavy and dense, but these cupcakes are light, moist and oh so chocolaty - just the way a cupcake should be!  I usually frost these with a chocolate butter cream frosting, but cream cheese frosting would be really yummy too.

Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
(makes 12 cupcakes)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup minus 2 Tablespoons gluten free flour mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake papers or spray with cooking spray. In a medium bowl sift together cocoa powder, gluten free flour mix, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthum gum. Set aside. Beat sugar and egg in a mixing bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Add half of the sifted dry ingredients and the milk. Turn the mixer to low speed and stir until just combined. Add in the oil and the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix on low until combined. Scrap down the bowl then turn the mixer back up to medium speed and mix for 1 minute.

Fill cupcake pans 2/3 full. You should have just enough batter for 12 cupcakes. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean (mine were done in 20 minutes). Cool cupcakes completely before frosting with your favorite chocolate butter cream frosting (you'll need about 1 cup of frosting).

I usually freeze 6-8 of the cupcakes before frosting them. I store the frosting in the refrigerator and pull out a few cupcakes at a time to enjoy throughout the week. They thaw on the counter in about 30 minutes. Frost and enjoy! They taste just as good as the day you baked them.

If cake is more your style, you can bake the cupcake batter in a 9 inch round cake pan for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.  For my daughter's birthday I doubled the recipe and made a chocolate layer cake.  Everyone (gluten and gluten free eaters alike) loved it.

12th Day of Christmas Treats: Gluten Free Cinnabun Cake

Merry Christmas Eve!  For as long as I can remember my family has had homemade cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa for a bedtime snack on Christmas Eve.  I've made gluten free cinnamon rolls and they are okay, but never as yummy as I hope they will be.  Several months ago I came across a recipe for Cinnabun Cake, named such because it taste like those deliciously gooey cinnamon rolls you buy at the mall.  I've been saving the recipe for tonight.  YUM!  YUM!  YUM!!!!  I don't think I will ever even try to make cinnamon rolls again!  This cake is moist and gooey and oh so delicious!  It even looks like a giant cinnamon roll.  I did use cream cheese frosting instead of the glaze they suggested.  After all, it is Christmas Eve!

Gluten Free Cinnabun Cake

Batter:
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix

¾ teaspoon xanthum gum
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Streusel:
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon gluten free flour mix
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze: (or use cream cheese frosting)

1 cup powdered sugar
2 ½ Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix the gluten free flour mix, xanthum gum, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs and vanilla. Once combined well, slowly stir in melted butter. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 19 square inch baking pan. (You can double the recipe for a 9x13 pan).

To make the streusel, mix the softened butter, brown sugar, gluten free flour mix, and cinnamon until well combined. Drop evenly over cake batter by the tablespoonfuls and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out nearly clean from center. Make the glaze (or use cream cheese frosting  like I did for a truly decadent experience!).  For glaze, place powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Delicious served warm, but even better for breakfast the next day!

Thanks for sharing the Cinnabun Cake recipe picky palate!

Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake

I love Texas sheet cake and have been making it gluten free for years.  If you're craving some moist sweet chocolaty goodness covered in a fudge-like icing, this will fit the bill! 

Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake 

2 cups gluten free flour mix

1 teaspoon xanthum gum

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)

2 eggs

1 cup butter

1 cup water

5 Tablespoons cocoa

Fudge Icing:

5 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Sheet Cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray  a 10x15 inch pan with cooking spray (please DON'T use the kind that has flour in it!) Combine the butter, water and 5 Tablespoons cocoa in a saucepan on medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat.  In a mixing bowl combine the flour, xanthum gum, sugar, baking soda and salt. On medium speed mix in the buttermilk and eggs after 1 minute add the cocoa mixture and mix until well combined. 

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. As soon as the cake is out of the oven, begin making the icing.

Fudge Icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla mixing until blended. Spread icing over warm cake.

Daring Bakers April Challenge - Gluten Free Cheesecake

The April Challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes.  She has chosen Abby's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.  I  love, love, LOVE cheesecake!  I think it is probably the best thing ever invented ...ever!  I was excited to make cheesecake for the DB Challenge this month and even more excited to eat it!  I had a hard time deciding what flavor to make.  I prefer fruit and my husband prefers chocolate but I only have one springform pan so I decided to experiment and do half of the cheesecake raspberry swirl and the other half chocolate chip.  It actually worked out really well and I will do it that way again so that we can have more than one kind of cheesecake.  Plus it was super sinple to do.  I poured the batter over my gluten free sponge cake crust and then I swirled raspberry puree through one half and mini chocolate chips through the other half. 

The cheesecake was creamy and absolutely delicious.  I was worried about baking it too long but at 45 minutes it hadn't set.  At 55 minutes it still had a lot of jiggle but because I was so worried about over-baking it I turned the oven off.  It ended up being under-baked and had the appearance of room temperature Brie when I cut into it, but that didn't take away any of the pleasure this creation delivered to our senses.  Next time I will bake it and additional 5 minutes.

I followed the cheesecake recipe except for the crust because it wasn't gluten free.  For my crust I made a gluten free sponge cake - an idea I got from Junior's Cheesecake's in New York (theirs isn't gluten free).

Here are the recipes:

Gluten Free Sponge Cake Crust

1/3 cup gluten free flour blend
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 drops pure lemon extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (preferably a nonstick one). Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, covering the bottom and extending all the way up the sides.
2. In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
3. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high for 3 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and beat until thick light yellow ribbons form, about 5 minutes more. Beat in the extracts.
4. Sift the flour mixture over the batter and stir it in by hand, just until no more white flecks appear. Now, blend in the melted butter.
5. Using a clean bowl and clean beaters. Put the egg whites and cream of tartar into the bowl and beat with the mixer on high until frothy. Gradually add the remaining sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form (the whites will stand up and look glossy, not dry). Fold about one-third of the whites into the batter, then the remaining whites. Don’t worry if you still see a few white specks, as they’ll disappear during baking.
6. Gently spread out the batter over the bottom of the pan, and bake just until set but not sticky, 13-15 minutes. Touch the cake gently in the center. If it springs back, it’s done. Watch carefully and don’t let the top brown. Leave the crust in the pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

Abby's Infamous Cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

3. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, (I'm doing mine 60 minutes next time) until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away. (I used a 9" springform pan wrapped in foil and it worked well for me.)

Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake

I've always wanted to make a red velvet cake, but once I was diagnose with Celiac Disease, even though I'd had some excellent gluten free baking opportunities, I was scared to go for the double layer cake that I wanted. Needless to say, I let this prevent me from taking that double layer leap...until now! For Valentine's Day I decided to put my fears aside and go for the gusto. I did a bunch of research on red velvet cake recipes (gluten free and glutinous), found a recipe that I could work with and adjusted it to my preferences. Most red velvet cake have 2 Tablespoons of cocoa, but if I'm having a chocolate cake I want to taste the chocolate so I added 4 Tablespoons. I also omitted the vinegar since I was using the red food coloring (I didn't need the chemical reaction it would cause to give my cake a reddish hue). And I used a cream cheese frosting which many would say is non traditional, but I love cream cheese frosting and use every excuse I can to use it! The cake was a huge success! It was moist and flavorful with a soft texture that surprised some of the non-celiac tasters. Yeah! This cake will now and forever be included on our Valentine's Day menu and it might even show up at a birthday or two!

Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 ounces red food coloring

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp xanthum gum

1 teaspoons baking soda

2 ½ cups gluten free flour blend

Grease and flour two 9 inch round pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make a paste with the cocoa and food coloring (add some of the buttermilk if you need more liquid to form a paste). Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the oil, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Beat in the buttermilk, salt, vanilla, xanthum gum and baking soda. Add the gluten free flour blend, mixing just until incorporated. Scrap down the bowl and than mix on medium for 3 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from pans and then cool completely before frosting and assembling. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Assembling the cake - Check out that color!

The finished product.

And then there was none!

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Last weekend was our church Christmas Party/potluck and after much deliberation on what I should take I decided to try adapting a banana cake recipe to be gluten free.  The results were amazing!  The cake was moist and flavorful and the cream cheese frosting was perfect for making this could be snack cake into something a bit more fancy and party worthy.  I used this recipe  as my jumping off point and changed it around to make it gluten free.  Here's what I came up with:

Gluten Free Banana Cake

• 2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 9x13 inch cake pan. 
2. In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas, sour milk and vanilla. Add baking soda, xanthum gum, salt and gluten free flour.  Mix on low until just combined.  Increase mixing speed to med high for one minute. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in middle of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven, and cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until creamy.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake...Plate Optional

Caught red handed with my fork in the cake pan my husband had to take this picture.  My friend Camille posted a recipe for her chocolate zucchini cake and with the surplus of zucchini growing in our garden I knew I had to try making it gluten free.  As you can tell from the picture, it was a success!  This cake is moist and delicious and since it has vegetables in it you can almost not feel guilty going in for another piece.  I swapped out the flour cup for cup with my gluten free flour blend and added a 1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum.  Other than that I followed the recipe exactly.  Here it is:

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup oil
2 cups zucchini, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon  salt
1 1/2 cups gf flour blend

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and bake in a 9x13 in cake pan ( I sprayed it with pan) for 25-35 minutes at 350 or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost with favorite chocolate frosting. 

The Daring Bakers July Challenge - GF Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

Wow!  This challenge almost got the best of me!  It comes from a recipe found in Great Cakes by Carol Walter.  I was excited to bake a cake made with hazelnuts and chocolate, one of my favorite combinations, but felt pretty overwhelmed by all the steps.  My husband stepped in as sous chef just to help me make sure I didn't forget something! And did I mention the dishes? Even with the use of my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and my electric beaters and my food processor, I still needed them all at least twice so I was washing dishes as fast as I was using them.  But the real test, that first bite resulting from my laborious project, was it really worth it? Will I make this again? I really want to say yes, but in all honesty the jury's still out on this one. The ganache, which I love, was just a little too much for this cake.  The hazelnut flavor was weak and the flavor from the peach glaze was nonexistent.  Don't get me wrong, the cake was delicious, but I can get similar results with a lot less work.  I'm hoping that a night in the fridge will help enhance the flavors so I'll be able to post an update about how amazing this tastes 24 hours later.  We'll see.

Even though this didn't turn out the way I hoped, I learned so much throughout the process and I'm happy that I took the challenge.  Some things I did for the first time during this challenge were clarifying butter, roasting hazelnuts and removing their skin, and making Swiss Buttercream.  Now I won't be so intimidated the next time I come across these things in a recipe (although I'm still a bit scared of the Swiss Buttercream!)

I followed the recipe as direct substituting a gluten free flour blend for the flour and adding a 1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum to the cake batter.  I also did not use any alcohol flavorings and I used a peach glaze as opposed to the apricot used in the original recipe.  You can find the entire recipe here.