Kladdkaka, also known as Swedish chocolate sticky cake, is amazingly gooey, delicious and only calls for 8 ingredients. This recipe includes a traditional (and whole wheat) option as well as a gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan version.
I’ve mentioned this in a few posts, but I was an exchange student in Sweden twice. The first time was when I was in the 10th grade.
Then I went back for 3 months the next summer and then visited again the next summer. And the next. You get the idea!
I loved it so much that I did another year there as a junior in college, which is where I met Mr. Texanerin. In case some of you were wondering where I met my German! He was also an exchange student there.
I’ve shared quite a few Swedish recipes on the blog and this kladdkaka is my favorite. Just like kanelbullar (and to a lesser degree, Swedish apple pie), you can find kladdkaka in just about every other cafe in Sweden.
We’d often go to cafes for fika and I always got kladdkaka. And ate half of Mr. T’s kanelbulle (cinnamon bun). :D Fika is coffee and cake time but is so much more. It’s an important part of Swedish culture – a social institution even.
Kladdkaka is really popular and for a good reason. It’s kind of like a cross between a brownie and a cake and it’s super gooey!
This cake is great on its own, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or with just a light dusting of powdered sugar. It also goes great with raspberries. It would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Vanilla sauce is also wildly popular in Sweden and sometimes served with kladdkaka. This paleo vegan vanilla sauce would be great on this cake!
Kladdkaka is traditionally made with all-purpose flour and butter but by using buckwheat and coconut oil, it was super easy to make gluten-free, and dairy-free. And I swear – it’s just as good and you can’t tell any difference!
I also tested this cake recently with a chia egg and it worked perfectly. I imagine a flax egg would also work.
If you don’t have buckwheat, whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour work just as well for a non-gluten-free version. I’m pretty sure whole spelt would also work well. For a flourless treat, try this Flourless Chocolate Torte!
This is one ridiculously easy cake to make and the only way you can really mess it up is if you overbake it. When you take the cake out of the oven, it will still be gooey in the middle.
Hopefully you can tell by the photos! The toothpick test definitely does not work here.
Substitution questions about this kladdkaka?
- Can I use something instead of the four listed flours?
I’ve “only” tested this recipe with the four flours listed. You could try another gluten-free baking blend that’s meant as a 1:1 sub for all-purpose flour but since I haven’t tried them, I can’t say they’d work as well as the one I used (from Bob’s Red Mill).
- Can I use regular cocoa powder or does it have to be Dutch-process?
I have another recipe, these zucchini brownies, and some people have mentioned how when they make them with regular cocoa powder, they’re more cakey and less gooey. So I’m hesitant to recommend it here. But if you try it out, please let us know in the comments how it turned out!
- Can I use other egg subs?
I’ve only tried regular eggs and chia eggs but believe other egg subs would work fine.
- Can I use something instead of coconut sugar or granulated sugar?
Another type of granulated sugar would probably work, as long as it’s something you would use in place of granulated sugar. Using a liquid sweetener wouldn’t work because it’d make the cake more cakey and it’d lose its gooiness.
Can I use something instead of coconut oil or butter?
I never use it but I’m guessing ghee would work! Not so confident about olive oil and other liquid oils.
That’s it. Hope you’ll enjoy it. :) If you try out this kladdkaka, I’d love to hear how you like it!
And here are a few resources if you’re new to the vegan or gluten-free diet:
- Is Cocoa Powder Vegan?
- Is Cocoa Powder Gluten-free?
- Is Hershey’s Cocoa Powder Gluten-free?
- Is Baking Powder Gluten-free?
Kladdkaka (gluten-free, vegan options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8-12 slices
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (141 grams) light buckwheat flour or 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (155 grams) Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour for gluten-free or for a non-GF version, use 1 cup (125 grams) whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (58 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy (I think Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder would also work)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large (50 grams each, out of shells) eggs, room temperature, or 2 chia eggs1 for vegan
- 1 cup (200 grams) coconut sugar, tightly packed (it's best to weigh this) or 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) refined2 coconut oil, melted or 1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, melted (use coconut oil for dairy-free / vegan)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease the sides of an 8" (20 cm) round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients (eggs through vanilla). It's okay if the mixture starts to separate. It'll come together after you add the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir just until combined. It'll likely be very thick and sticky.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 14 minutes or a toothpick inserted in the very edge of the cake comes out clean. (A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out wet.) The edges should be crisp and the middle still moist and sticky. It'll look underbaked but it won't be totally liquidy.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then run a paring knife around the edge of the pan.
- Invert the cake onto a serving plate and remove the parchment paper (if using a springform pan, no need to invert). If you made the gluten-free version, it may be a little gritty while still warm. Let it cool and the grittiness will go away.
- Serve warm, room temperature, or cold. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or refrigerate for 5 days.
Notes
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122 comments on “Kladdkaka Recipe (gluten-free, vegan options)” — Add one!
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hi, love this recipe, so easy and tasty! but i am wondering why the top of my cake was not crispy as it was in the photo, what could be the reasons? thank you again for this wonderful recipe!
Hi! I’m glad you enjoyed it. :) Did you make any changes at all to the recipe – different ingredients, any kind of sub at all, pan size, etc? Did you make it as listed in the instructions or did you accidentally forget an ingredient and add it later? If you did everything 100% as stated in the recipe, then do you live outside of the US? Sometimes, ingredients are different from country to country and this could have had an effect! I hope we can figure out the issue. :)
Hi Erin,
This is my number one go to chocolate cake recipe. It is the most decadent, rich, elegant, expressions of ‘rapture’ recipe, EVERYTIME! It is simple,easy & quick. Effort to results ratio it wins! THANK YOU for sharing. ❤️
Expressions of ‘rapture’ recipe. 😂 I love it! I’m so glad that you have been enjoying the cake recipe. :) You’re welcome for the recipe and thank you for the wonderful feedback!
This was the most perfectly decadent thing I have ever put in my mouth! For those who wish to know, I used the variations of gluten-free flour, coconut oil, and coconut sugar.
Hi from Italy,
I made this cake with corn oil, whole wheat flour, granulated sugar, 2 eggs, salt, baking powder (Italian lievito pane de angeli packet) and vanilla. And Italian dark cocoa powder (Perugina Amaro). WOW! Thanks for a new staple for the dessert menu.
Flashing Content!! Great, keep up.
I have all these ingredients now & I am going to make this cake tomorrow. My customers I cook for will absolutely love this recipe, but I will use “Lakanto” golden monk fruit instead of coconut sugar.
Hi there
Just wondering for the non GF option do you use 120 grams of flour? I’m fairly new to baking but planning on making this as a Xmas dessert.
Hi! You can use 1 cup whole wheat flour (125 grams) for a non-gluten free version. :) Hope you’ll enjoy it!
This looks like the perfect birthday cake for me to make tomorrow.
I hope you enjoyed it and that you had a happy birthday! Sorry for my slow reply.
This recipe was fantastic! I made this using Bobs Red Mill 1-1 GF flour in place of buckwheat flour and used butter. I live at a high altitude and wondered how it would come out. Made it for my son and he raved about it. Chocolatey and moist! Will definitely make again.
I’m so glad that you son raved about it! And it’s great to know that BRM 1-to-1 works well. I love that flour! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
Yum!! This looks AMAZING!!!!
Thanks for sharing! Does the texture change much after its been in the fridge?
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your question! I haven’t made this in a while (which I plan on changing this week!) but I believe it gets fudgier in the fridge. :) Hope you’ll enjoy it!
This looks so good! Do you use your this base for any other recipes?
Thanks! I don’t. Why do you ask? Just curious. :)
Hi I was wondering if you can make a different taste then chocolate to it. Cause I’m not a big fan of chocolate?
Unfortunately not. I would suggest finding a non-chocolate cake recipe. ;)
Hi Erin,
Thank you for sharing your recipe! It looks yummy! Can you make this with coconut butter instead of coconut oil?
Hi Jamie! Unfortunately not. Coconut butter and oil aren’t really interchangeable. Other types of oil would likely work – I’m thinking olive oil or something neutral tasting like grapeseed or canola oil.
Hmm. I think that’s the first time anyone has said it’s dry! Did you make any changes or subs at all to the recipe? Did you maybe use a black pan? I live in Germany and they have black pans here for some reason. They make everything turn out overbaked. Or is your oven maybe running hot? I don’t think it was your dairy-free butter.
Thank-you! All the best from Germany!
You’re welcome and liebe Grüße aus München! :)
Ja wirklich? Alles Gute aus einem Kanadieren in Bremen!
Neat! I’m a Texanerin named Erin in Munich. :D
Thanks for posting! I substituted 1 cup of date paste mixed with a cup of water for the sugar. Amazing taste and so moist. My husband wolfed it down. It will now be my go-to recipe for chocolate cake cravings!
You’re welcome! :) I’ll have to try your date paste version. Sounds great! Thanks for your tip and comment. :)
If you have editing capabilities, would you please insert the ‘b’ in substitute! That will drive me nuts every time I go to the recipe (which I made again today). 😂😂
Haha. Done! And awesome that you’re already making the cake again. :D
Hi Alice,
How much water did you add to the 1 cup of dates when making the date paste in addition to the 1 cup of water that you added?
Thank you! :-)
Hi Jamie –
That was it. Just the one cup of water makes a nice, gooey paste and I found no need to add more. But you may feel differently as you experiment.
Alice
So happy you liked it! Thanks for your comment. :)
No, it’s not. Please read the last sentence of the post after the recipe. :)
So far I’ve made this recipe twice now and my family and I absolutely loved it. I was hoping to make it again this weekend but the recipe portion of this page has been removed/missing :/
I’m so happy you love the kladdkaka, it is one of my favorites as well. The missing recipe portion is back now. Thanks for reporting and sorry for the inconvenience! :)
Thanks for fixing this! I can’t wait to make this tomorrow :)
Hope you’ll enjoy it! Thanks again for your help. :)
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! Before I make it can I ask if the 141g is the total amount of buckwheat flour, two tablespoons included? And ahould the half cup of regular butter be melted?
Yes and yes! Hope you’ll enjoy it. :)
Sure will! Thank you!
Whoop whoop! Super excited have just ordered your cookery book on Amazon :-) I didn’t know about this book, and only found it through your PInterest post! Will definitely post a review after hubby and I have tried a few recipes. Thank you.
Thanks so much for ordering the book! I hope you’ll enjoy the recipes. :) And I’d definitely appreciate a review after you’ve tried out some of the recipes! Thanks again. :)
I wanted to share a few substitutions I made. I used 1 cup of Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour in place of the buckwheat flour. I also subbed natural cocoa for dutch cocoa as well and I dropped the sugar to 3/4 cup as my family prefers a darker chocolate taste. (I was out of dutch cocoa) My cake took around 10 minutes to bake. It turned out great with my substitutions. It was super moist and gooey with set edges. Next time, I may check it at the 8 or 9 minute mark to see if I could take it out then. Overall, everyone loved it and it turned out great. Thanks!
I love that GF flour! It’s great to know that it works well. Thanks a bunch for the tip and your feedback! I’ll definitely try it out. So happy you liked the cake! :)
LOVE this recipe, thank you so much for posting it! I was wondering what to do with that half a bag of buckwheat flour in my pantry and now I know! One question though: at the moment, I don’t have any Dutch cacao, only raw cacao powder. Do you think that would work too, or is there a specific reason you are using the processed cacao? Thank you ! X Sarah
I’m so sorry I just now saw your comment! Raw cacao should work fine. I used Dutch-process because I like the darker taste. And since the brownies are baked, anyway, the raw stuff is no longer raw. It’s more expensive so I always save that for raw goodies. :) I hope you’ll enjoy the brownies and sorry again for the slow answer!
Can i sub almond flour for buckwheat flour?
Unfortunately, nuts flours aren’t interchangeable with non-nut flours. Sorry about that!
I was looking for something quick and easy and dairy-free and chocolate-y to make today so I settled for this recipe. It is soooo simple and yet so good! It’s almost gone and yes, 15 minutes was just enough time for it to bake using the buckwheat flour. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it and found it quick and easy! It’s one of my favorites. Thanks a ton for your feedback and your nice comment. :)
My boyfriend is allergic to coconut, and nearly half the year we are vegan for religious reasons…
Is there another option besides butter for this recipe?
Thanks!
You could try ghee or vegan “butter” though I haven’t tried either in this recipe so I’m not positive that they’d work.
Do you happen to know if there is any other gluten free flour that can be used as I am allergic to buckwheat?
Hi there! I think that this Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour would work well in this, although I haven’t tried it. It’s worked in almost everything else I’ve tried, though. :)
Thank you so much for such a quick response. I am the only one in my family that is gluten free, so I don’t usually make very many treats just for me.
Then I highly recommend getting some of that flour! You can make one version of the recipe with all-purpose flour and then one version of the same recipe using that GF mix. It’s great stuff. :)
Just wanted to say that I made this for my birthday cake this year – I enjoyed a slice in the garden with a cup of tea! It’s great – really tasty, we all loved it. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so happy you liked it! I hope you had a great birthday. :) Thanks for your feedback!
I’m wondering if anyone has tried to make throws with a sugar substitute like swerve or truvia? I’m trying to kick the sugar habit but not give up gooey chocolate!!! If I try it, I’ll let you know.
I haven’t tried it as I’ve had a hard time with sugar subs but I’d definitely love to hear how it goes! Good luck and I hope you’ll enjoy it. :)
Buckwheat is not a grain – it’s a pseudo-grain. Please see the note below the recipe concerning this topic.
Hi, this recipe looks wonderful! I’ve made it sveral times without noticing that the amount of butter is 1/2 instead of 1/4 but I was adding some milk and it turned just fine ;p . Now I wonder If it will work with coconut flour or not! I should give it a try!
I’m so happy you like it! :) Coconut flour won’t work as a direct sub (since it’s not really interchangeable with any other flour) so are you planning on using a smaller amount or adding liquid? I’d love to hear how it goes. :)
I must’ve done something wrong just don’t know what! I used buckwheat flour and butter. Following the recipe to a t my cake was dry and def not sticky. I was careful not to over mix, before taking it out of the oven I did the tooth pick test but it is so dry:(
Trying to save it i covered it while still warm and put it in the fridge. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will be better tomorrow. Boohoo
Oh no! I’m sorry about that. I have no idea what the problem could have been. Maybe it was an issue with the ingredients? I’ve made some recipes a dozen times without problems and then I switch brands and then it comes out totally different. I hope the cake is still edible! Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help.
My batter didn’t get very gooey, but very sticky (basically a big lump)..any idea what might’ve gone wrong?
Did you use coconut oil and wait a while before mixing the wet and dry ingredients together? If you did that, sometimes the coconut oil comes to room temperature and then the wet mixture isn’t all that wet, but kind of thick. Did it come out well, though? I hope you’re enjoying it. :)
I used (non dairy) butter..but it wasn’t very hot anymore so maybe thats the problem? The taste is pretty good though :) I will give it another go someday to see if it goes well then
That could be it! If the fat hardens, the batter will be quite thick. Next time, make sure the fat is still warm. :) I’m happy it came out well!
I made it with whole wheat flour. Very good. Like a dense brownie. I made it side by side with your peanut butter bars recipe. My kids loved the peanut butter bars and I loved this one!
I’m happy you all enjoyed the recipes! I especially love this one, too. Nice and dense. :) Thanks, as always, for your feedback!
Can I make this egg free for my vegan son – I thought of using egg replacer and flaxseed meal (which I often use as my egg replacer).
I haven’t ever used egg replacer or flax eggs so I’m afraid I don’t have any experience with that. Sorry about that! Good luck if you try it out. :)
Joanne, did you have any luck making it egg free? I can’t eat eggs but would like to make this for Saturday.
I haven’t tried it but 2 flax or chia eggs may work!
Super gooey brownie cake? That’s it! I’m moving to Germany so that we can be neighbors! I’m a brownie lover and I love the fudge like brownies….so from reading about this cake I have a feeling that I would go crazy for it!
YES! And bring the baking aisle of Wal-mart with you, please. :D
You over baked it? From your photos, it looks moist and I just want to take a fork to dive right in! I can see why everyone inhaled it. I can’t only imagine how gooey this cake must be cooked 6 minutes less!
Thanks! And yup – it’s supposed to be super gooey. :)
You always introduce me to new and exciting things. This looks delicious.
Thanks! :)
Mmmmmm…gooey chocolate. I keep gathering up your recipes featuring buckwheat flour so that I don’t waste the next bag I buy (like I did the last one). This just shot straight to the top of that list!
That’s so nice to hear! Definitely go with a chocolaty dessert when baking with buckwheat. :)
Erin, do you use coconut oil or butter?
I’ve made it with both and they work just as well. :)
Like the others who have already commented – I haven’t heard of kladdkaka either – but it looks delicious!
Thanks, Martha!
I’ve never heard of this but it sounds wonderful
Thanks!
Hi,
How come you post so many Swedish recipes(I think it’s awesome btw)? Do you have family or friends there or something?
Hej, hej! In high school, I was an exchange student in Hudiksvall and in college, I was an exchange student again in Uppsala. And I go back quite often because I really, really love Sweden and Swedes. :)
I had never heard of kladdkaka before but the name sounds fun and I definitely want to try your recipe! Perfect to satisfy a chocolate craving :) I made your healthified brownies once and they were delicious, I’m sure this cake will be just as good!
I’m so happy that you liked the brownies! If you like gooey things like those brownies, I’m pretty sure you’ll love this cake. :) I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
Well, needless to say I have never had this. Neither can I pronounce it. HAHA!! It does look good.
Haha. Well I hope you give it a try! :)
Looks so moist.. Yummy!
Thanks, Medeja!
To me, this cake looks perfect. Granted, I don’t really know how it is supposed to look, but it looks moist and decadent and I want to try it right away! I can’t imagine how I managed to miss this in the book!
Thanks! And maybe because the picture is terrible in the book? It’s easy to miss! ;)
Wow that looks incredible! I’ve been meaning to try kladdkaka, this healthy version sounds great :)
Thanks, June! I hope you’ll give it a try. :)
Ok, I’ve never had Kladdkaka, but I’m sold. This looks fantastic :)
Thanks, Emma! I hope you’ll get a chance to try it out. :)