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Chocolate Wedding Cake

  • Makes
    2 9-in rounds
Author Notes

This is the chocolate cake I invented and made at my wedding last summer. I’m gluten-free/low dairy and I’ve got friends who are soy-free, nut-free, and legume-free, so I wanted something that would work for everyone there. (The vegan gluten-free cupcakes were on the side for the vegans.) Everyone said it was the best wedding cake they’d ever tasted–even our wedding photographer! My husband and I are huge Green Lantern comic book fans, so having a Green Lantern cake complete with action figures just seemed to fit (hence the picture). —beyondcelery

Ingredients
  • Cake

  • 1/2 cup

    canola oil


  • 3

    eggs


  • 3/4 cup

    unfiltered apple juice


  • 1 tablespoon

    limoncello (optional)


  • 1 tablespoon

    apple cider vinegar


  • 1 teaspoon

    molasses


  • 1/2 cup

    vanilla sugar


  • 1/3 cup

    brown sugar


  • 1/3 teaspoon

    sea salt


  • 1 1/2 teaspoons

    baking soda


  • 3/4 cup

    amaranth, white rice, or brown rice flour


  • 3/4 cup

    sweet rice flour


  • 3 tablespoons

    tapioca starch


  • 3/4 cup

    Dutch-process cocoa powder


  • 1.5 ounces

    Theo chocolate (Madagascar)

  • Glaze / Filling

  • 2 cups

    powdered sugar


  • 2 1/2 tablespoons

    lemon juice


  • 1 cup

    raspberries


  • 190 milliliters

    limoncello (more or less as needed)

Directions
  1. Put 1 cup raspberries into a large bowl and cover over with limoncello (about 190ml, depending on depth of bowl). Soak for 15 hours. It’s very important not to soak too long, or the limoncello will overpower the raspberries.
  2. Mix 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 1/2 Tbls lemon juice together and let sit till all powdered sugar lumps have dissolved. Stir a few times while you make the cake.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans with canola oil or coconut oil and line with parchment paper on the bottom.
  4. Sift all dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. This is very important for the cocoa powder, so it won’t retain any lumps in the cake. If you don’t have a sifter, shake a mixture of cocoa powder and flours through a wire strainer or sieve. If you don’t have anything like that, then mix it very well and mash out as many cocoa lumps as you can.
  5. In a separate bowl, beat together oil, eggs, apple juice, 1 Tbls limoncello (if using), apple cider vinegar, and molasses.
  6. In a small saucepot over low heat, melt the Theo chocolate.
  7. Mix wet ingredients into dry, stirring very well or using an electric mixer or wire whisk attachment for your standing mixer. When it is mixed, slowly beat in melted chocolate.
  8. Immediately after mixing, scrape batter evenly into two prepared cake pans. If you allow the batter to sit for more than 5-10 minutes before baking, it won’t get the same height as you will by baking it immediately.
  9. Bake 15-20 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  10. When cake layers are cool, strain out raspberries and use them as filling between the layers. Mash the raspberries very gently so they’re almost a paste between the layers, but you can still see intact whole raspberries. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour after this step.
  11. After cake is chilled, glaze with lemon powdered sugar glaze and allow to set in the fridge at least 2 hours before serving.

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