Chocolate Chickpea Cake

The chocolate chickpea cake is a worthy and delicious companion for any day with all the good stuff you can dream of. The gluten-free cake is not light by any standard. It’s super-rich, with a hefty and amazingly decadent mouthfeel. 

Before you worry, putting together the flourless cake is easy. It’s a one-bowl recipe that needs no technique and only basic pantry ingredients. You just can’t go wrong with it. It’s definitely a treat, one you don’t have to wait for the weekend to bake. 

That’s why I was so kicked to make it, and because I was baking with besan (gram flour). Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the kids would love it as much as I did. 

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Chocolate chickpea cake recipe

Baking tips

Vegan substitutes

Serving ideas

More cake recipes

How to make chocolate chickpea cake?

The cake was such a joy to make and the consistency turned out to be very similar to my Swedish Chocolate Cake. Another flourless cake that I made two years ago for my son’s birthday. A small slice goes a long, long way, and making it is quick, apart from waiting (with barely restrained temptation) for it to cool.

Step 1: Set your oven to preheat. Grease your springform pan well, and then line it with parchment paper. 

Step 2: Melt chocolate with butter in a double boiler (a pan placed over another pan of simmering water). Stir till the chocolate melts, and you have a glossy, smooth mixture.

Step 3: Take it off the heat and combine it with the sugar while it’s still warm.

Step 4: Sift chickpea flour (besan/gram flour), and almond flour, into the same bowl.

Step 5: Sift in cocoa powder and baking powder and whisk everything together really well. 

Step 6: Lastly, splash your soy milk, and because I love, love the flavor of rose water, a few drops of it. 

Step 7: Pour the thick, almost pudding-like batter in your prepped pan, smooth the top with your palette knife, and slide it in the oven.

Step 8: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

My tips for easier chocolate chickpea flour cake baking

• Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature, barring the soy milk (more on that later).
• Follow the ingredient grammage to the T, and you’ll have a moist, gluten-free chocolate cake worth the bake. 
• I know it’s very convenient to melt chocolate in the oven, but the double boiler will give you more control.
• Soy milk has to be lukewarm, so it doesn’t seize the chocolate when you mix it in.
• Don’t overbeat the batter. The crumb of a flourless chocolate cake is dense and gooey. When you overmix the batter, the cake becomes harder.
• Don’t even risk using a regular cake tin. I learned it the hard way when my first try refused to come out because, apparently, it was too stuck in love with the pan base. Going forward, I just baked in a loose-bottom pan, and the result is evident in the photos. 
• Once the cake is in the oven, resist the urge to open the door again and again. 
• If you’re worried about overbaking, keep an eye out after you cross the 30-minute marker.
• Tent the cake with foil in case the top starts browning too fast.
• Let the cake cool in your pan, and then plonk it in the fridge. Don’t be in a hurry; give it at least an hour. It should do the trick, but it’s best to keep it overnight. A chilled cake makes your life so much easier by sliding right out of the pan. 

How to know if the cake is done baking? 

There is no proper way to test if the chickpea cake is done. Because the eggs and flour are missing, it doesn’t rise like a regular cake. I deem the cake done when the top is cooked, and the center is just a tad wobbly.

Chickpea chocolate cake ingredients and their substitutes

Generally, I offer as many ingredient substitutions as I can with my recipes because baking should be fun and all about experimenting. I only have the vegan alternative for this flourless chocolate cake, and to be honest, there's no reason to try anything else. The cake is an absolute showstopper with the current ingredients.

How to make a vegan chocolate chickpea cake?

Switch to dairy-free chocolate and plant-based butter to make the recipe vegan. The percentage of dark chocolate you use is your choice. The only recommendation I give is to pick the best quality. Which one did I use? 55% dark chocolate.

Do you need to use rose water in the cake batter?

Rosewater is optional in chocolate chickpea cake. If it’s not your thing, avoid it. But if you’re even a little bit unsure about it, I suggest not skipping it just for the delicate floral note that noses its way into the cake crumb. 

The best serving ideas for the chickpea cake

Okay, so here’s a trigger warning for bakers: the cake deflates. Don’t panic when you see a little crater forming. It’s par for the course for this recipe. If it bothers you too much, simply camouflage it with garnish:

• Dust with icing sugar
• Top it with fresh berries or any seasonal fruit that makes your mouth water
• Or cut it in little pieces and then serve – Holi would be a perfect time for it. 

How did I decorate the gluten-free flourless cake?

A light, luscious layer of chocolate sauce, some slivers of pistachios, a handful of rose petals, and pomegranate arils (my go-to cake garnish when I have nothing else at hand) is how I decorated it.

The sauce is rather easy to make; just mix melted chocolate and cream till it’s a soft pouring consistency. Let it set, and then sprinkle everything else. 

Whip up the chocolate chickpea cake because it’s:

Gluten-free

Quick to make

Pretty darn delicious

Easy and needs zero technique

A much healthier way to indulge

Ideal for a Holi soirée you have planned

More chocolate desserts and cake recipes

Chocolate Burfi

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Chai Spice Chocolate Cookies

Gluten-free Chocolate Beetroot Cake

Buckwheat Chocolate Layer Cake w/ Salted Dark Chocolate Frosting