An Anniversary Celebration.

Last Sunday, September 19th, my parents celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary.  I asked my mom what kind of cake she wanted and she said "Hmm, how about black forest?" Black forest cake it is!  I hope they do something big next year for number 30 :)

From the same book as the gluten free vanilla cake, this is my go-to gluten free chocolate cake.  It's absolutely chocolaty and delicious.  You can switch sugars here, brown for granulated, if you'd like.  I usually use all brown sugar because it tastes fudgier that way, but feel free to use either one.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Adapted from 125 Best Gluten Free Recipes by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt
3/4 cup whole bean flour (garbanzo or chickpea is fine)
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly spray or grease 2 8-inch round cake pans and set aside.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients (whole bean flour through cocoa powder) to make sure everything is thoroughly combined and there are no lumps.

Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Add in the dry ingredients and the sour cream alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes before baking.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean.  Let cool completely before filling and frosting.  As with the gluten free vanilla cake, this cake freezes very well. Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap first and store for up to 3 months.

To make this cake "black forest" I just split one layer in half and filled it with good cherry jam, iced the top of it with whipped cream and decorated it with some maraschino cherries.  It's too bad this wasn't requested during cherry season as I'd obviously prefer to use fresh, but I do think this was a festive cake nonetheless :)