After taking a bad tumble off his longboard Friday night, my son Kell ended up in the E.R. with some pretty serious abrasions and a broken collar bone. It’s been interesting to watch his progression of emotions through all of this. It went something like this: Shocked >>> amused >>> proud >>> non-chalant >>> pain >>> frustration >>> bummed >>> resigned. Poor guy.
With every move he makes something hurts. So today I decided to make him a treat to try and take his mind off his troubles. Of course for ME “a treat” usually involves chocolate…so that’s the direction I took. I’d seen a recipe for Gooey Chocolate Skillet Cake at Willow Bird Baking recently and was itching to try my hand at making it gluten-free.
After much trial and error…I succeeded! Not only in making a delicious gluten-free version of this yummy cake, but in taking Kell’s mind off his troubles for at least a little while. 🙂
I ended up making four different versions until I got it right. Gluten-free baking really does try my patience at times!
For the first attempt I used Pamela’s Gluten-Free Baking Mix…my go-to mix for when a recipe calls for some flour and I don’t feel like going to the trouble of mixing up my own GF flour blend. The problem with this first version was I didn’t take into account that Pamela’s Baking Mix already has baking soda, salt, etc in it. I should have eliminated the baking soda altogether from the recipe, but completely forgot.
So with twice the baking soda in it then it should have had, the cake rose way too high and then collapsed. It actually came perilously close to going over the sides of the skillet when it was in the oven. It actually ended up still being edible…just not very pretty.
The second attempt I decided to try the same mix, but instead of cooking it in a cast iron skillet, I cooked it in a quiche pan. I’m not exactly sure what my logic was behind this…but this time it didn’t come close to overflowing…it DID overflow! All over the bottom of my oven. *sigh*
After cleaning up attempt number two, I decided to try a different flour altogether. I’d heard good things about almond flour, so I ordered a big bag of it recently. I’ve only tried it in one other recipe so far and, to be quite honest, it was a major fail. But being the pollyanna that I am (sometimes) I thought…maybe it will work in this recipe! lol. Once again….I can’t explain exactly what I was thinking…I guess you could say I wasn’t! Needless to say the third attempt was not only a fail…but a complete fail! It wasn’t even edible. It never actually turned into anything even resembling a cake. It remained a liquid mess! ugh. At least it didn’t overflow the pan! (I know…grasping at straws here!)
At this point, most sensible people would have thrown in the towel…but not me! lol. I simply refuse to accept defeat, even when it’s staring me in the face! I decided I would try one more time! And guess what? All that stuff you’ve heard about the third time being the charm….wrong! The fourth time is the charm. 🙂
And here’s the proof!
This time I decided to switch flours…again…and used Pamela’s Bread Mix & Flour Blend.
This mix of flours does not contain extra baking soda, salt, etc so there was no batter overflow threat.
“Get Well” Chocolate Fudge Cake In A Cast Iron Skillet {Gluten-Free}
adapted from: Willow Bird Baking
Yield: 4-6 servings
- 1 cup gluten-free flour (I used Pamela’s Bread Mix & Flour Blend)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting:
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons milk (more if needed to thin it out)
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted almonds
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt together and set aside.
Add the butter, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, and water to a 10 inch cast iron skillet and bring to a boil.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the dry ingredients. Mix the milk, egg, and vanilla together in a separate bowl and add to the mixture.
Place the cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.
In a small saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa, and milk to a boil. Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar, chopped roasted almonds, and vanilla. Stir well to combine.
Pour over the warm cake, spread with a spatula, and serve with vanilla ice cream (or not).
The fourth version of this cake came out perfect! Well, as perfect as gluten-free gets. 🙂 It was gooey and fudgy and chocolately….just as promised, and Kell loved it. I mean really, really LOVED it! Which did my heart good because he’s had a pretty crummy 48 hours. 😉
“GET WELL” CHOCOLATE FUDGE SKILLET CAKE {GLUTEN-FREE}
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 cup Gluten-free flour I used Pamela’s Bread Mix & Flour Blend
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 1/4 cup Vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon Cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
FROSTING:
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 2 tablespoons Cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons Milk more if needed to thin it out
- 1/2 cup Roasted almonds chopped
- 2 cups Powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
Instructions
CAKE:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt together and set aside.
- Add the butter, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, and water to a 10 inch cast iron skillet and bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the dry ingredients. Mix the milk, egg, and vanilla together in a separate bowl and add to the mixture.
- Place the cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.
FROSTING:
- In a small saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa, and milk to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar, chopped roasted almonds, and vanilla. Stir well to combine.
- Pour over the warm cake, spread with a spatula, and serve with vanilla ice cream.
