1-Bowl Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (Vegan + GF)

I made this cake for my future daughter-in-law’s birthday. She is GF and my son is Vegan, so everyone was happy. They loved it so much that i made it for my own birthday just 4 weeks later. I ground up the hazelnuts for the layer in between and sprinkled ground hazelnuts on top too. I also modified the frosting to make it a lighter chocolate with a bit more sugar, vanilla, and almond milk. Both times, I baked the cake for about an hour (not more). The top was dry and the toothpick had a little chocolate, but not wet. Turned out moist and very tasty. Like your other recipes, this is a great one! Thank you!

This was the best V and DF cake I have ever tasted. It was so lighter in texture than other GF recipes I have made before. I did it as a single cake and placed fresh raspberries in the middle with a ring of the roasted hazelnuts around the outside.

A very good vegan cake! I made it once with applesauce and while the texture was nice and moist I didn’t love the subtle fruity flavour. Because I LOVE the sweet potato brownies from this site, I made this a second time using sweet potato puree and it was better. Despite being a sweet-a-holic, I find myself cutting down on the sweeter even in healthy baking recipes. To my surprise, this one could almost be a bit sweeter so i may add a bit more coconut sugar next time. I find many cakes rely on almond flour as a big proportion of the dry ingredients which makes it a bit heavy for my taste so I prefer this mix using the flours.

I made this cake but had a lot of trouble with it – for the same reason that many commentators mention. The toothpick never came out clean – even after 1.5 hours! I ended up burning the top of it while waiting on the toothpick to come out clean. This has never happened to me before in all my baking years, and I’ve been baking for a long time. So it’s disappointing but also confusing as I don’t understand why it happened only to a group of people, while the rest seem to have had no trouble with it. Any advice? (I followed the recipe exactly.)

This was a great and easy recipe. I made it for my Dad’s birthday- he loves chocolate desserts – and he could not tell it was Gluten Free. (I have celiac disease so wanted something I could eat). The rural coop I went to did not have hazelnuts but I subbed pecans and it was very tasty. Next time I would add a layer of chopped nuts in between the cake layer for a little extra crunch!

This has been my go to cake recipe since it was out!! Everyone loves it and is shocked with the fact that it’s vegan. I always use regular flour and a really dense flavour almond milk for the frosting, which I thinks makes great difference in the richness of the frosting’s flavour. I use a bit less sugar, syrup and oil, scunt measures for the last two basically and half the sugar, I guess I bake it a bit less time due to that change (35min is enough).

This is THE BEST chocolate cake ever. The best. You cant even tell its vegan. My husband and son are not vegan and they are very picky about vegan desserts i make. The devoured this cake! I used oat milk, and vegan butter because i hate coconut in desserts and all purpose flour instead of the GF blend it worked perfectly. This cake is moist and delicious and my husband declared its a keeper! Thank you so much for another amazing recipe!

WOW! I was scared when the cake came out of the oven because it hadn’t risen as much as I expected, but WOW this cake is addictively delicious! I shared with coworkers that could not believe it was vegan because of how deliciously creamy the frosting is. Such a delicious recipe!

I used regular flower in place of the oat and GF mix, and generally it all worked out! I did notice that the coconut oil did not dissolve/blend well but it’s likely because of user error (I have only cooked with it once before). Luckily, it’s not an issue once baked!

Will 100% make this again!

Can this icing recipe be doubled? I would like to spread it on as directed and the pipe it so I think I’ll need extra. FYI – I have piped this icing before and it worked well!

Thank you so much for this recipe! I have a kid and husband who need to eat GF and another kid and myself who need to eat DF and finding cakes that are both of those things as well as DELICIOUS and not too much work has been a challenge! I can’t even buy decent gf vegan cakes made by professional bakers (they are usually too dry). This recipe became part of our lives a few years ago and the base cake has been my go-to chocolate cake recipe ever since! I don’t always make it with the frosting or with hazelnuts. Every person who has tried it (whether they eat gf, vegan or not) has enjoyed it. Thank you for making this contribution to the world and for making my life easier and yummier!

I just made this cake – it is literally the best chocolate cake I have ever made!! I used real eggs – 3 large, and ran out of apple sauce, so I used half apple sauce, half pumpkin puree. I also used real butter – the icing is really incredible, perfect consistency and chocolate taste! I did have to add a little more almond milk to the icing, but it whipped up perfectly. We also crushed the hazelnuts since we had old and young eating together. A really beautiful and deliciously moist and chocolatey cake. Just SO yummy!!

I made this cake for my vegan daughter after she requested a chocolate Nutella type cake. It is so rich, very dense and fudgie. I added a melted chocolate, coconut and hazelnut crumb onto the base cake before the hazelnuts (cut into pieces), and then topped with some of the frosting. For decoration I made choc coated nuts rolled in coconut and toffee hazelnuts which I piled on top. I think it took more time to assemble then the actual cake making. Thank you for a beautiful cake recipe, everyone was impressed.

Made this today for my parent’s Anniversary. It was amazing! Followed everything as written except subbed strawberries for the hazelnuts. I am the only vegan/GF person who ate it, but no one had any idea it was not a regular cake. Huge win knowing I made a healthier cake that no one knew was healthy. Another great recipe! Love you and this site, I am never let down whenever I make anything here! Thanks soooo much!!

This is literally the BEST chocolate cake ever. I’ve made it many many times now and it always receives so many compliments. I follow the recipe pretty exactly, a few times I’ve substituted mashed banana for the apple sauce and it is barely noticeable. One thing that I’ve noticed is that the cake is ALWAYS better after a night in the fridge…so I usually factor that in to my bake time now for my favorite results. Anyway – thought I should leave a comment since this is my go-to cake recipe ;) Thank you!

I love this recipe, I’ve made it for a few occasions now and the feedback is always tremendous! Thank you so much for putting all the effort in you do.

Thank you for this great recipe! Very tasty and easy to make, couldn’t tell it was gluten free at all. I’m in Australia and used White Wings gluten free plain flour from Coles. Only deviation from recipe was using one smaller than called for Three 3s brand apple sauce jar, and I swapped oat flour for equal parts extra almond meal and GF flour.

The cake was so chocolatey and rich! Loved the frosting too! I made it for my boyfriend’s birthday, it took some time but it was totally worth it!

I just made this, followed every instruction w no substitutes and the texture was awful. I left it in the oven for at least an hour and the layers did not bake through – texture was like congealed oatmeal and it tasted strongly of beets and oats. Super disappointed.

This cake was moist and delicious and the frosting was the perfect balance of sweetness and rich chocolate! I halved the recipe, since it was just for my husband and I. But I had to make it 3 layers and the base larger because I thought two 4” pans would work (I didn’t have 3 of these) and had too much batter. The final cake looked odd, but the flavor and texture was Heaven! Thanks for your awesome dairy-free and soy-free recipes.

I made this for my partner’s bday picnic as cupcakes. I used brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, and tapioca with a bit of xanthum gum (because I had it). It made 24 cupcakes, exactly like the recipe. They we moist, chocolatey, and had beautiful hazelnut topping. I was asked for the recipe several times. Will be my go-to gf vegan cake. Thanks!

Made this for a family gathering. Used date sugar in place of cane and a GF mix in place of oat (so 2 cups GF mix from Presidents Choice). Also chopped the hazelnuts coarsely as the whole nut could be too hard for older eaters.
It was amazing! Even non vegans loved it!

Followed the recipe exactly and it worked out to be amazing. Super moist and the crunch of the hazelnuts was really yummy. This is a show stopper!! Years ago being gluten and vegan free seemed to be a punishment….but finding this website has been a blessing. Dana thank you so, so much xx

I’ve made this cake twice and it is the best chocolate cake that I have had! The first time round, I roasted my own hazelnuts. That added a lot to the flavour and texture. The second time round, I used pre-roasted hazelnuts and somehow they just weren’t as nutty. Still, the cake was just as good.
It’s quite a large size, so if you are currently under lock-down and aren’t expecting to see a lot of people and share it, I would say make half the quantity unless you’re happy to eat it all yourself :D

This cake is delicious!!! I made it for christmas and everyone was shocked it was gluten free. It’s super moist!

Used only the cake recipe and frosted with a different frosting and no hazelnuts. The cake was amazing. I used chia seeds instead of flax, and I didn’t have enough oat flour so I finished the measurement with equal parts almond and BRM gf blend. It was definitely more moist and decadent than the crazy cake I have been using. Worth the extra work. Thank you!

So good! I have made this cake multiple times for family gatherings and it is always a hit. No one ever guesses its GF/Vegan. I always use with Xylitol as the sugar and it works great.

I made this for my daughter’s first birthday and it was a real crowd pleaser! I loved it because it wasn’t too sweet, and the hazelnuts add a great crunch and flavor. I decided to cut each cake in half to have a four-tier number, which was not a good call. (Ha!) The cake didn’t have the integrity to handle that. I doubled the frosting recipe, and then had frosting between each layer, which was awesome.

I’ve tried this recipe 3 times and haven’t found that my toothpick ever comes out clean, even after baking the cakes for an hour. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but overall the cake is still good.

These are great! Easy to make AND clean up. I chose to cut the recipe in half and make cupcakes (it made about 14) and they were delicious! The cake was light, moist, and fluffy (I used the recommended flour blend and vegan butter instead of coconut oil). The icing was SO easy and came out great. I love that’s it’s both gluten free and vegan while also being delicious.

AMAZING! Dana, you NEVER disappoint! Your recipes are in my kitchen a few times a week. I made these as cupcakes and store in the freezer (i add a dollop of icing after it thaws) for an afternoon pick me up or a special dessert for my kids. I filled my cupcake holders all the way to the top for a larger muffin and it made 16. They are not overly sweet (unless you add on the icing) which we love. Thank you for the now “go to” celebrations recipe!

We used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer instead of flax eggs and gluten-free AP flour instead of the gluten-free flour blend (due to the availability of ingredients) and this cake. was. incredible!! So, so good. Very moist cake. Icing is delicious!

I made this with a few substitutions and the cake turned out a bit dense. I used a different GF flour mix, which included some potato flour and pectin, and, I used honey instead of maple syrup. It needed a longer baking time ~55 minutes until a toothpick came out clean. Frosting was perfect though! Overall taste is still great (and looks exactly like yours)! Next time I will use your GF blend as I can see the ratios of flours/starches will make a difference. And, maple syrup should help to ‘lighten’ it too. Finally, switching to the metric version of the recipe ingredients (I can’t believe I just noticed this option, after making dozens of your recipes over the past several months), measuring by weight instead of cups should improve the result. Thanks so much for your phenomenal web site! It is my ‘go to’ destination for most of my cooking these days.

Wow!! I can’t say I’m a super experienced baker and I’m just starting to incorporate more gluten free recipes into my life, for my partner who prefers it, and this was a super hit!! It was so easy to do, just a wee bit longer than your average cake if you grind up your almonds and oats yourself but it was so worth the extra effort. I followed the recipe exactly and use Bob’s Red Mill GF flour blend and the Earth Island butter and I couldn’t be happier with the texture and taste. It was super moist, and very similar to a wheat flour cake. The cake is not very sweet and the icing is a perfect amount of sweet to make this very decadent and not overwhelming. I baked mine in 9″ round pans and cooked for exactly 35 min in a convection on 325 and the cake was cooked perfectly.
I will make this my go to chocolate cake for any occasion. Thank you so much for the amazing recipe! As always.

I always love your recipes. This time I’m not sure what happened. I followed the recipe exactly and the cake was not fluffy at all it was dense almost as it was a pudding. The frosting was delicious and saved it…. I used every single ingredient except that I used regular flour instead of the GF. I don’t follow GF diet, but I read in the reviews that it was fine to do that. I had to bake it much longer because it was raw in the middle with the suggested time.. I made it for my husband’s B-day so I was really, really disappointed. What happened?

Super delicious! I halved the cane sugar and maple syrup because my family don’t have a particularly sweet tooth, and it was perfect (albeit a little crumbly, which I attribute to my modification). I upped the quantities a little for the icing to end up with enough to cover the whole cake. A huge crowd pleaser, thank you for the recipe!!

I thought this recipe was great! Flavor was awesome and the crumb texture was moist with a great bite. I altered a few things which are a little more aesthetic but are common techniques I use in my own baking. for the coco oil, before dividing for cake and frosting, I heated up 1/4 of the oil, added it to the rest of the cold oil and creamed it with an immersion blender. Its less wet in this state and a bit easier to use(especially in the frosting). I also like semi-freezing my cake layers between crumb and final coat. It gives a little more leeway to take your time frosting the cake and the crumb wont lift off the cake.

Happy baking!

Nicholas

I just have to say, this cake is beloved by all. I have made it for groups that include vegans, those who are gluten-free, and neither, and it’s a hit every time. I always share the recipe and it’s really not complicated, but friends have paid me to make this for them and then told me their families want to adopt me after eating it. :) It has turned out a little different each time, but always delicious. Most recently, the 5th time I’ve made it, was perfect: I used vegan dark choc chips and a stick of earth balance for the frosting and omitted step 14 and it turned out a perfect firm buttercream consistency, whereas in the past the frosting had turned out more runny for me.

This is the best birthday cake!

It is especially wonderful for my daughter who is allergic to egg and gluten.

Thank you for posting.

Oh my gosh this cake is everything! Your recipes never disappoint but this one seriously is the best chocolate cake!
We didn’t have GF free flour and used regular flour and it still cake out perfect!

I made this cake for Passover yesterday and it turned out great! Since oat flour is not kosher for Passover, I just used 2 cups of gluten-free flour (I used the Trader Joes gf flour) instead of 1.5. We only had cinnamon applesauce in the house, but it actually added a nice hint of spice to the cakes. The cakes came out in 45 mins, extremely delicate, great texture, really rich chocolate flavor. I used dark chocolate chips instead if semi-sweet in the frosting, so it was not quite as sweet. This cake would be extra great a la mode!

Okay, I didn’t have the best picture of it on Instagram, but I will be making this again and again. I could not believe how it didn’t taste gluten-free at all. I’m thinking I’ll need more hazelnut flavor than I incorporated the first time. I had more batter than the 24 cupcakes, so I poured it into a tarte pan, and it made a very thin cake, which crumbled in a bowl with added berries and hazelnuts for a trifle snack.

I made this last November for my daughter’s 21st and yesterday for my other daughter’s 16th. An awesome recipe. I used plain flour in place of gluten free and wholemeal in place of oat. I put a thin layer of not-sweet cherry jam in between the sponges and some vegan Nutella as both daughters love the stuff. I used the ganache just for the top and sides. At about 9pm last night one of the party guests came and found me to say it was the best cake she’d had in years. She had no idea it was vegan – and I didn’t tell her.

I made a 1/2 batch of this for a small (6 in diameter) 2 tier cake. I subbed hazelnut meal for the almond meal and it turned out incredibly delicious! It was super moist and tender yet held up well for frosting. I couldn’t find any hazelnuts for decoration, so just stuck to chocolate frosting. My kids loved it and my husband (who does not generally eat gluten-free) had seconds. I’ll definitely make this again.

I made this today for my boyfriend’s birthday and he loved it! I even copied your cake decoration and it looked so cute! The only change I made was cutting the hazelnuts for the middle section because I thought they might be a bit overpowering (especially for the kids)
Will definitely be making this cake again soon <3

This is by far is the most complicated thing I’ve baked and it turned out so delicious and beautiful. Thank you for the wonderful recipe, I will make this again for a special occasion.

Some baking reflections:

-I accidentally added too much baking soda. I used 3/2 tbsp measurement instead of 3 tsp. However, judging by the other comments regarding cake rise, this may have turned out to be a blessing.

-One round baking pan was about an inch bigger than the other (8in vs 9in). The bigger cake was a little under-cooked and broke apart once cool/out of the pan. I melted some of the frosting and used it as warm glue to put the pieces back together. It looked/tasted fine and no one noticed :)

-I crushed the hazelnuts and sprinkled it all over. I felt the whole hazelnuts would be too crunchy and didn’t prefer the look. For next time, I thought about mixing them with pistachios and even a little orange zest for fragrance and color.

Blown away by this recipe! Thank you!! So fudgey and delicious! Can’t believe it’s GFV!

I made this cake last night as a bundt cake instead of a layer cake and it was incredible. I added ganache and hazelnuts to a ring around the middle too and just increased the cooking time. Thankyou Dana!

I really enjoyed this recipe, the chocolate cake was so moist and delicious! Thank you for the recipe :)

Best vegan and GF chocolate cake I’ve ever had. It is moist, decadent and delicious. It became a staple at our house. There is nobody who eats it that isn’t impressed. I’ve even had some friend giving veganism a try after she realized she could have a treat like this. As for me, I fell in love instantly when it reminded me a chocolate cake called “peteleco cake” that my aunt used to make for me growing up in Brazil. It was always my favorite. How happy I was when I tasted this. For me, this cake tastes like a happy childhood. What a fantastic job you do! Thank you so much for your dedication.