One-Pan Chocolate Cake: Gluten free, dairy free, egg free!

 
This is my favorite chocolate cake.  It mixes right in the pan and just about everyone can eat it.  When made as directed it has no wheat, gluten, dairy or egg.  If egg or dairy are your only concerns, then go ahead and make this with regular flour, no special adjustments are necessary. 

This is an old "cowboy cake" recipe.  It was made from the things on hand on the chuckwagon-- cooking staples and no eggs or butter which were difficult to transport in trail conditions.

Step 1 Ingredients & Equipment

2 ½ cups flour* or wheat-free flour blend ; or Bob's Gluten-Free Baking flour plus 2 teaspoons xanthan gum; or whatever blend you prefer) (*Reminder- regular flour is not gluten free)
1 ½ cups sugar
1/2 cups cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cooking oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups cold coffee (or make with instant coffee or just use cold water)
~~~~~~~
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

You will also need an ungreased 9" x 13" baking pan, measuring cup and spoons, a fork, a small cup or a ramekin, and a cooling rack if you have one (so it will cool faster and you can eat it sooner).

Comments

[jojokdh]

What's the purpose of the vinegar?

[dbashford]

Here comes the science bit...

The vinegar is the source of acetic acid which reacts with the sodium bicarbonate in the baking soda to form (amongst other things) carbon dioxide which will help the cake to rise.

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[annmonico]

I'm curious about the coffee thing. I'm making this for my daughter's 2nd birthday, so I'd like to substitute soy milk or coconut milk or something else wet that doesn't taste like coffee.

So my questions are: is the coffee just to make the stuff wet? Can you taste the coffee in the cake?

[heyho]

Looks great, so easy! When you say 1/2 cups cocoa, do you mean 0.5 cups or 1 to 2 cups?
Thanks!

[NatureGeek24]

0.5 cups of cocoa. Things are always so much clearer in your own mind, right?

[beatyruth]

This a great cake--I've been making it for over thirty years now. Found the recipe I use in Marlboro cookbook that a grocery store was giving away as a handout.

[scoochmaroo]

Looks great! I love making cakes in the pan they're baked in.