Almond Flour Chocolate Cake

This almond flour chocolate cake is rich, fudgy, and topped with a homemade buttercream made from real melted chocolate. Sweetened with maple syrup and made with coconut oil, it's naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and honestly tastes better than traditional chocolate cake.

5 from 44 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Serving servings

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake:

1 ½ cups super-fine blanched almond flour, (150g), spooned and leveled
⅔ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, (55g), spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup melted coconut oil
⅓ cup granulated sugar or coconut sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Homemade Chocolate Buttercream (favorite option)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, (5 oz)
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), room temperature
1 tablespoon almond milk, or oat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, spooned and leveled
1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Dairy Free Chocolate Frosting (alternative option):

1 batch dairy-free chocolate frosting

Instructions

Preheat and prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and line two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper on the bottom.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. Make sure there are no clumps of almond flour.
Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add maple syrup, melted coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a spatula until just combined. Don't overmix.
Pour: Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans.
Bake: Bake for 25–30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Don't overbake — the cakes will continue cooking as they cool. Let them sit in the pans for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt the chocolate: Add chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl and melt in 20-second intervals, stirring between each until smooth. Let cool 10 minutes before adding to the butter.
Make the buttercream: Beat room temperature butter until creamy, 2–3 minutes. Add almond milk and beat until smooth. Add melted chocolate and vanilla, beat 1–2 minutes. Add cocoa powder and powdered sugar on low speed until creamy.
Frost and serve: Wait until cakes are completely cool. Frost the top of the first layer, stack the second layer, then frost the top and sides. Top with fresh berries and enjoy.

Notes

Almond flour: I highly recommend Bob's Red Mill superfine blanched almond flour. Don't use almond meal or coconut flour — both will give you a completely different (and worse) texture. I've tested this.

Cocoa powder: Use Ghirardelli or another quality unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Don't use Dutch-processed — the baking soda needs the acidity to rise. Avoid Trader Joe's brand, it lacks depth of flavor.

Cake pans: I use two 6-inch round pans. A single 9-inch pan works too — just add 4–6 minutes to the bake time and watch it closely.

Don't overbake: Pull when a toothpick shows a few moist crumbs, not when it's fully clean. The cakes keep cooking as they cool.

Buttercream butter: Must be room temperature or the frosting will be lumpy. For dairy-free, use vegan butter or solid coconut oil.

Make ahead: Bake the cakes 1–2 days ahead, wrap tightly, and refrigerate unfrosted. Frost the day you serve.

Storage: Room temperature 2 days, refrigerator up to 5 days, freezer up to 3 months. Wrap slices individually in plastic wrap then foil.

Nutrition

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Healthy

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