Hey Sarah,

Thanks for getting back to me! The first time I made it, I used a handheld electric mixer. I wrote down the measurements I used when I cut the recipe in half. I checked it, and all the amounts seem to be correct. Today, I tried making this again, but used a tabletop stand mixer (not handheld). Mine batter didn’t look like yours. It was very thick, and I had to add a lot more liquid to get it to be similar to yours. Today, it came out very gummy again. Do I need to bake it a lot longer past when the toothpick comes out clean? Could it be because I have a gas oven? All my measurements are right so maybe it could be the brand of rice and potato starch I am using? Maybe the brand I am using absorbs more liquid and causes a different result. Do you happen to remember which brands you used? Thanks! 🙂

Mine took 35 minutes in a 6-inch pan, so a 9″ pan would need closer to 30 minutes. If it was off or chewy, it was likely due to the way the flours were mixed. With gluten-free flours, especially for cakes, I find that mixing in a stand mixer yields a better final result. Did you mix by hand? I’m also curious if cutting the recipe in half impacted the texture. Generally, you can scale a recipe down without issue, but not always. You might have unintentionally adjusted one of the proportions (and that could seriously impact the texture).

You can replace the flour in this recipe if you know what to look for. My flour blend for this cake is starchy so it has a tender texture with a pleasant taste. If you buy a flour blend, you want a baking specific blend with ingredients like tapioca flour, potato flour, fine rice flour (these are gf starch flours). Stay away from blends that contain ingredients like chickpea flour (that’s a flour I would never use in baking because it has a noticeable taste). A small amount of coconut flour (high fiber) or almond flour (fiber and protein) is ok as long as the first 2 ingredients are starches. This King Arthur flour is pretty great because all the ingredients listed are light and would work perfectly in a cake recipe.

I was really nervous about not using my regular flour for a chocolate cake.. this cake was very stable and the texture is very good! It does lack a super chocolatey flavor, but balanced with a nice frosting it’s perfect. Definitely will use it again!