Gluten-Free Chocolate Layer Cake

By pattie_d

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE LAYERS
• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 11/2 11/2 11/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup brown-rice flour (see the Guide)
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup almond flour (see the Guide)
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup quinoa flour (see the Guide)
• 2 2 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 2 2 large eggs
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup low-fat (1 percent) buttermilk
• 1 1 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 1 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• FOR THE SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING
• 1 1/4 1 1/4 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup water
• 1 1 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn syrup
• 5 5 5 large egg whites
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch Pinch of salt

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Make the cake layers:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment; spray parchment.
Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Divide batter between pans.
Bake cakes until they pull away from sides of pans, about 1 hour. Let cool in pans on wire racks. Cakes will keep, covered, for up to 1 day.

Make the frosting: Place sugar, water, corn syrup, and whites in a heatproof mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Cook, whisking occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Attach bowl to mixer. Whisk hot sugar mixture on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and salt.

Assemble the cake: Place a cake layer on a plate. Spread 2 cups frosting on top. Place remaining cake layer on top of frosting. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting. Cake is best eaten within 1 hour of frosting.