Ultimate Gluten Free Mud Cake
Updated: Mar 6
This ultimate gluten free mud cake is the most incredible chocolate cake. Moist, intensely chocolatey and incredibly easy to make, this will become your go-to chocolate cake for any occasion!
In the town where I grew up there used to be a bakery that made amazing chocolate mud cakes, and more than a few of them were devoured in the Armstrong household around birthdays. This cake is just as good, if not even better than those cakes, and it's dangerously easy to put together with simple pantry staples.
How to Make my Ultimate Gluten Free Mud Cake
Important Ingredients
This basic chocolate cake uses a few tricks to get its infallibly moist texture:
Buttermilk - but don't worry, you don't have to make a special purchase. This recipe uses the age old trick of combining your milk of choice with apple cider vinegar to replicate buttermilk. A few minutes set aside while you measure your dry ingredients is all that's needed for this moisture-retaining hero.
Vegetable oil - vegetable oil is often called into action for an extra-moist bake. Any oil will do, just steer clear of anything with a strong flavour.
Boiling water - this one always, always, feels bizarre. You take what looks like a normal cake batter and pour water into it?? I can't pretend to be on top of the science here, but the internet tells me it has something to do with helping to dissolve the sugar and cocoa powder for a moist and extra chocolatey result.
Making the Cake Batter
This is such an easy cake batter to make that I never even bother to get a mixer out, I do it all by hand. Here are the steps involved:
Make the "buttermilk": making your own buttermilk at home is as easy as adding vinegar to milk and leaving it for a few minutes to curdle. You should be able to see the separation of the milk solids in the liquid.
Mix the dry ingredients: choose a nice big bowl and whisk together all your dry ingredients until you can no longer see any lumps of any particular ingredient.
Add the wet ingredients: the cake batter starts to come together with the addition of the oil, eggs, vanilla and the milk mixture. It'll be pretty thick at this stage.
Add the boiling water: as wrong as it feels, adding some boiling water is the final step before putting the cake batter in the oven. Give it a good (but careful!) whisk and it'll become lovely and smooth.
Bake the cakes: divide the batter between your prepared tins (I use a scale to weigh my batter so my cakes are even) and then bake! The cakes should be ready in about 30 - 35 minutes, and you can check by inserting a skewer or toothpick into the centre - it should come out clean.
Cooling the cakes: these cakes need 10 minutes in the tin to set up a bit, and then they can be turned out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure you don't attempt to assemble the cake while it's still warm - the icing will melt all over the place!
Chocolate Ganache Icing
Aside from the texture, the hero of this mud cake is the ganache icing. Whoever thought of combing cream and chocolate deserves a medal, because it takes this cake to new heights of gloriousness. It helps to complement the slightly bitter chocolate flavour of the cake with richness and extra sweetness for the perfect combination.
Ganache is simple enough, but there are a few things to keep an eye on. Anyone who has worked much with chocolate before will know that too much heat very quickly ruins everything, so heating the cream just until simmering point (no further) is very important. For that reason it's also important to chop your chocolate so it melts more easily. It's a bit of a faff, especially if you're working with chocolate melts or similar, but it's worth the effort for the incredible smooth result. If you really can't be bothered chopping by hand I find a food processor very helpful. If, after all that, your ganache still has lumps of unmelted chocolate, a few bout of 20 seconds in the microwave on 60% power, stirring well in between, should get it there. The ganache will be far too runny at first to use as icing for the cake, so it does need to rest at room temperature to thicken to a nice spreadable consistency. This can take a few hours, depending on your weather.
Assembling the Ultimate Gluten Free Mud Cake
This is a really approachable cake to assemble, because it actually looks better if it's a bit rustic and home made-looking. Here's how to do it:
Place your base cake: choose your serving platter and spread a small dollop of your ganache in the centre. Place on your first cake and press down gently to stick it in place.
Spread the filling: dollop about 1/3 of the remaining ganache on top of the bottom cake and spread it out into an even layer. An offset spatula is the best tool for this, but you can use a rubber spatula or even just a flat bladed knife.
Place the top cake: I like to place my top cake upside down so I get a nice flat top to my cake. Press it down a little so it stays in place while you spread the rest of the ganache.
Ice the cake: this is the fun bit! Plop the rest of the ganache right on top of the cake and use your palette knife to spread it out so it starts to droop off the sides of the cake. Taking your time, work your way around the cake, spreading the ganache to coat it. I like to leave mine relatively casual with some swoops of ganache still on the sides and top of the cake.
Make Ahead Options for my Ultimate Gluten Free Mud Cake
If you want to get ahead with this recipe both the ganache and the cake can be made the day before. Cool the ganache to room temperature then cover and keep at room temperature overnight. If it thickens too much to spread microwave it for short bursts on 60% stirring in between until it reaches the desired thickness. Cool the cakes completely and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store at room temperature. The assembled mud cake keeps very well. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature it should keep for at least a week.
Whether you use this cake for birthdays, other celebrations or just an ordinary Tuesday I have no doubt at all that it won't let you down!
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