Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake

Happy (almost) 4th of July! I know I’m five days early, but consider this my obligatory patriotic post.

A few weeks ago I went to an American citizenship party for some friends who recently passed the citizenship test. There was grilling and beans and red, white, and blue napkins so of course there had to be flag cake.

A family friend at this party recently had to cut gluten out of her diet; one of her favorite foods is chocolate cake so naturally I knew the cake I made had to be chocolate. I’d never experimented with almond flour and coconut flour in the same recipe but I thought I’d give it a shot. The texture was just like any good ol’ fashioned American sponge cake. You’d never guess it was gluten-free and grain-free.

The frosting also got a lot of praise, too. Then again, how can something with butter, cream cheese, and a pound of sugar not be good?

Make sure to use fresh fruit and to assemble it as close to serving as possible. The more the cake sits out, the more the juices from the strawberries runs into the frosting, and no one wants a runny flag.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 9 x 12 cake):

For the cake:

• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 6 extra large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons hot water

For the frosting:

• 1 4oz stick of butter, room temperature
• 1 8oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1lb box of powdered sugar

 Fruit topping:

• 1 half pint blueberries
• 1lb fresh strawberries

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
3. While the chocolate is melting, mix together the almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, and oil.
4. Mix the melted chocolate into the flour mixture completely.
5. Crack the eggs into the batter and beat each in.
6. Add in the vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
7. Add in the hot water and mix until the batter is smooth and slightly runny.
8. Grease a 9 x 12 baking pan. Pour the batter in in an even layer.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the center of the cake has set. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely before frosting.
10. Combine the butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and half of the sugar in a large bowl.
11. With an electric mixer, beat together the ingredients until the sugar is entirely incorporated.
12. Slowly add more sugar into the mix until all of it is mixed into the frosting.
13. Spread a few tablespoons of powdered sugar on top of the cake and brush it all around to prevent the frosting from tearing the top of the cake.
14. Spread the frosting out all over the cake in an even layer and around the sides.
15. Make a square of blueberries in the top left corner of the cake.
16. Remove the stem from each strawberry and cut each in half. Lay them out top to bottom in horizontal lines in a flag pattern.
17. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  

There were practice American citizenship tests at the party. I scored a 12/20. I think that’s good enough not to be deported, right? Too bad how to make a flag cake isn’t part of the test.