Fudgy Mocha Pudding Cake

Today’s post for the Dairy-Free Recipe Potluck, a delicious event leading up to the 21-Day Dairy-Free Challenge, is all about the sweet Laurie Sadowski, her latest cookbook, The Allergy-Free Cook Makes Pies and Desserts, and a sample recipe from it, fudgy mocha pudding cake.

Like all of Laurie’s recipes, this rich delight is free of dairy, eggs, gluten, and soy, and is suitable for the vegan diet. Yet, as you can see, this fudgy mocha pudding cake is nothing short of indulgent.

I asked Laurie why she is dairy-free and why she creates dairy-free recipes, and she gladly shared her story:

“When folks ask me why I’ve written cookbooks, the answer is easy: to help others realize that when you have restrictions, baked goods can taste just like the real thing. That’s usually followed with: “Well, you must miss ______________ [insert item here].” The truth? I don’t—nothing is worth the discomfort when you’re dealing with health issues.

About 12 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease, showing both the classic gastrointestinal symptoms and peripheral neuropathy. Though I began a strict gluten-free diet, my internal medicine doctor was alarmed that I wasn’t completely responsive. If you’re familiar with the autoimmune disease, you might know that many people are lactose intolerant when they still have damaged villi. He suggested I cut out lactose, and when that didn’t make a difference, dairy. Long story short, the neurological symptoms began to subside, I started to gain weight, and my liver enzyme levels (which had been over 800), began to fall. His suggestion was to maintain a dairy-free diet—which was easy, because I felt so much better. Soon after, I began to dabble in a vegan diet, having eaten mostly vegetarian through my life, anyway. So milk? It’s never on the menu over here, unless in the form of coconut or almond, my top picks for baking and my coffee!”

Laurie has penned three fantastic baking cookbooks (thus far): The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Bread, The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Cakes and Cookies, and her latest title, The Allergy-Free Cook Makes Pies and Desserts. All three recipe collections have Laurie’s whimsical touch and ample tips for getting perfect results. I’ve made several of her recipes, and not only do they work every time, they are also extremely versatile and easy to adapt with her flour and ingredient guides.

In fact, Laurie has even adapted her own fudgy mocha pudding cake (recipe below) into a romantic Valentine’s Day-inspired Red Wine Fudge Pudding Cake.

Special Diet Notes & Options: Fudgy Mocha Pudding Cake

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, vegetarian, and generally top food allergy-friendly.

Not gluten-free? If you prefer a wheat-based fudgy mocha pudding cake, you can substitute 3/4 cup all-purpose or white-wheat flour for the two flours and omit the xanthan gum. If you have trouble locating tapioca starch, another starch can be substituted in a pinch. That said, I enjoy Laurie’s recipes as is, with those wonderful whole-grain gluten-free flours!

The Dairy-Free Recipe Potluck is sponsored by So Delicious Dairy Free and the 21 Day Dairy-Free Challenge.

Gluten-Free Fudgy Mocha Pudding Cake

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Coffee naturally enhances the flavor of chocolate, but even more adds a mocha-flavor that’s hard to pass up. Brew some extra coffee one morning so you have an excuse to make an easy weeknight dessert.

Author: Laurie Sadowski

Serves: 9 servings

Ingredients

Cake Batter

• ½ cup unrefined cane sugar (such as Sucanat or coconut sugar)
• ½ cup sorghum flour
• ¼ cup teff flour
• ¼ cup tapioca starch
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup unsweetened dairy-free milk (such as So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage or Cashew Milk), room temperature
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pudding Mixture

• ½ cup unrefined cane sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1½ cup brewed coffee

Instructions

1. Position an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil a glass 8-inch square baking dish.
2. To make the cake batter, put the sugar, sorghum flour, teff flour, tapioca flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk until combined.
3. Put the milk, oil, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Mix well.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the milk mixture into the well and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be very thick.
5. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared dish.
6. To make the pudding mixture, put the sugar and cocoa powder into a small bowl. Whisk until combined. Sprinkle the cocoa-sugar over the cake batter.
7. Put the coffee in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Slowly pour it overtop of the cake batter. Do not stir.
8. Bake on the middle rack for 30 to 35 minutes until the top of the cake is dry and firm. Don’t overbake—if you do, the bottom won’t be pudding.
9. Let cool 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

Notes

This recipe is reprinted with permission from The Allergy-Free Cook Makes Pies and Desserts. The Book Publishing Company. © Laurie Sadowski, 2013. All rights reserved.

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