Gluten Free Chocolate Ganache Bento Cake Recipe

Bento Cakes also known as lunch box cakes are mini cakes that originated in Japan. They are little 4 inch round cakes that are designed to be enjoyed by one or two people. I love making mini deserts and especially healthy ones! So I explored the bento cake concept by making this gluten free chocolate ganache cake with vegan chocolate frosting as a bento cake. This recipe is easy to make, rich and chocolatey without being overly sweet.

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Table of Contents

• What is A Bento Cake
• Why You’ll Love This Bento Cake Recipe AKA (Lunch Box Cake)
• What Are The Benefits Of Bento Cakes?
• Is A Lunch Box Cake and a Bento Cake The Same Thing?
• Can You Make Bento Cakes At Home?
• What Are the Best Boxes For Bento Cakes?
• Can You Make a Healthy Bento Cake
• How to Turn Any Cake Recipe Into A Bento Cake
• Tools You’ll Need To Make Bento Cakes
• Ingredients For Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake
• How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake Step By Step
• How to Decorate Bento Cakes?
• What is the Normal Bento Cake Size?
• Where Can I Buy Gluten Free Bento Cakes?
• How to Package Your Bento Box Cakes At Home
• How Long Does this Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake Last?
• Cake Decorating Ideas for Bento Cakes

Table of Contents

• What is A Bento Cake
• Why You’ll Love This Bento Cake Recipe AKA (Lunch Box Cake)
• What Are The Benefits Of Bento Cakes?
• Is A Lunch Box Cake and a Bento Cake The Same Thing?
• Can You Make Bento Cakes At Home?
• What Are the Best Boxes For Bento Cakes?
• Can You Make a Healthy Bento Cake
• How to Turn Any Cake Recipe Into A Bento Cake
  • Use A Small Cake Pan Or Cookie Cutter
  • How To Cut Down Ingredients For Lunch Box Cakes
  • How To Adjust Baking Time For Smaller Cakes
• Tools You’ll Need To Make Bento Cakes
• Ingredients For Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake
  • • Cake Ingredients
    • Chocolate Frosting
• How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake Step By Step
  • Step 1: Make The Cake
  • Step 2: Make the Frosting
  • Step 3: Decorate The Cake
• How to Decorate Bento Cakes?
• What is the Normal Bento Cake Size?
• Where Can I Buy Gluten Free Bento Cakes?
• How to Package Your Bento Box Cakes At Home
  • If you’re packaging cake in a pre-constructed box…
  • If you’re using a clam shell lunch box…
• How Long Does this Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake Last?
• Cake Decorating Ideas for Bento Cakes

What is A Bento Cake

A bento cake is a small cake that originated in Japan and have been around since the 12th century. They have gained popularity since 2020 when the pandemic hit and celebrations got smaller. Read the sections below to learn more about bento cakes!

Why You’ll Love This Bento Cake Recipe AKA (Lunch Box Cake)

Apparently Bento Cakes (also known as lunch box cakes) originated in Japan and have been around since the 12th century.

I didn’t know what bento cakes were until recently and I am obsessed with them! I love the idea of making smaller healthy treats. I rarely bake because the high quality ingredients I like to feed my family are expensive and the cakes rarely get finished. It’s almost cheaper to go out and buy a slice of cake from a bakery.

But of course you aren’t getting the best and healthiest quality from them. If you are lucky enough to have a gluten free bakery near you then you can just pick up something. Most people living outside of large cities don’t have high quality gluten free bakeries near by. If there is a nice gluten free bakery near your house chances are you’ll be spending $40 to $160 on a cake that won’t get finished.

What Are The Benefits Of Bento Cakes?

Bento box cakes are simply smaller cakes for a couple of people. They are perfect for smaller celebrations. Bento cakes are also great to have at a larger party because most people are on a diet and don’t eat many sweets anyway.

I just find that people don’t eat as much as they used to. I always have leftovers when I entertain.

Smaller celebrations were popularized by the pandemic. As parties got smaller so did the cakes! Now lunch box cakes are considered by many to be a special fun treat. Additionally, lots of people like having an assortment of lunch box cakes at parties instead of one big cake.

Is A Lunch Box Cake and a Bento Cake The Same Thing?

Yes! Lunch Box Cake and Bento Cake are the same thing and the terms can be used interchangeably. Throughout this post and my other posts on bento cakes will alternate between the terms to try and keep from sounding too repetitive.

Bento cakes are also known as lunch box cakes because they were originally little rice cakes that kids took to school in lunch boxes. Bento is the word for lunch box in Japanese. The term lunch box cake was altered to fit the trend of smaller sweeter cakes that could fit inside a lunch box.

Can You Make Bento Cakes At Home?

Yes, you can make Bento cakes at home just as easily as you would make regular cakes. You can use a smaller cake pan or use a round cookie cutter to cut smaller cake layers out of a regular 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Using a cookie cutter is easier because you can create multiple layers from one cake.

What Are the Best Boxes For Bento Cakes?

Bento cakes are mini cakes that are meant to be served in a lunch box. You could literally put the cake in a lunch box as a cute way to help your child celebrate their birthday, if their birthday falls on a school day.

If you aren’t making a mini cake for your child’s birthday there are still lots of cute ways to package a bento cake. I personally like putting them in these clear Chinese to go containers. Here is a list and links to the best to-go boxes for packing mini cakes!

• Clear Chinese To-Go Box
• Clam Shell Lunch Box
• Mini Clear Bakery Boxes

Can You Make a Healthy Bento Cake

Of course you can make healthy Bento cake. Most bento cakes that you buy at the store aren’t healthy. Any type of cake can technically be made smaller. So if you have a favorite cake recipe you can cut the ingredients down by half or so and make a smaller cake. I made this recipe for chocolate gluten free bento cake because I found it frustrating to measure out the exact amount of ingredients needed to make one lunch box cake.

By using my recipe you’ll make sure that you don’t waste precious ingredients on extra batter that you don’t need. But if you do have left over batter you can always repurpose the batter to make cake pops or muffins.

How to Turn Any Cake Recipe Into A Bento Cake

O.K. I obviously want you to try my bento cake recipe because it’s delicious. It tastes like a chocolate ganache cake! But you probably have your own family favorite cake recipes which is awesome. There is no reason you should not use your own recipe to turn any recipe into a personal sized version. Most cake recipes are made for 8 or 9 inch cakes.

Use A Small Cake Pan Or Cookie Cutter

You technically only need to bake 1 layer to make a 2 layer bento cake so you can make enough batter to fill one pan and cut it with a cookie cutter two or three times. Or you can use a small spring form cake pan.

How To Cut Down Ingredients For Lunch Box Cakes

Simply cut down your cake ingredients by 2/3rds and make the batter and the frosting as you normally would.

How To Adjust Baking Time For Smaller Cakes

Make sure to take 5-10 minutes off of the recipe’s normally perceived cook time. A smaller portion will cook faster in the oven. If you aren’t careful and assume that you can cook the cake like you would normally it could burn. The best way to know if the cake is done baking is to pierce it in the middle with a tooth pick or pairing knife. If the tip comes out clean then the cake is ready.

Tools You’ll Need To Make Bento Cakes

To make a bento cake you’ll need all of the usual tools. If you bake regularly you probably already have these which include:

• Whisk
• Mixing Bowls
• Offset Spatula
• Standing Mixer (optional for frosting)
• Measuring Cups
• Flour Sifter
• Cake Decorating Kit
• Cake Scraper

Certain tools that are necessary for making lunch box cakes include:

• 4-5 Inch Round Cookie Cutter
• Small Spring Form Cake Pan

Ingredients For Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake

For the ingredient amounts check the recipe card at the bottom of this post!

Cake Ingredients

• Pitted Dates
• Maple Syrup
• Vanila Extract
• Egg
• Butter
• Gluten Free Flour
• Cocoa Powder
• Baking Powder

Chocolate Frosting

• Maple Syrup
• Almond Butter
• Cocoa powder
• Vanilla Extract

How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake Step By Step

Step 1: Make The Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 4 inch pan with butter and dust with cocoa powder.
2. In a food processor blend the dates and maple syrup until a paste forms. Place mixture into a mixing bowl.
3. Next add the eggs, vanilla and melted butter, stir until mixture is thoroughly combined.
4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together into a medium bowl.
5. Combine dry ingredients with wet in a food processor or standing mixer. Pour the wet batter into the cake pan 2/3 up the sides. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow cake to cool.

Step 2: Make the Frosting

1. Combine the maple syrup, almond butter, cocoa powder and vanilla extract in a standing mixer. Whisk until mixture is fluffy and combined. Scrape down the sides to make sure all of the dry ingredients get incorporated into the frosting.

Step 3: Decorate The Cake

1. Slice the cake into two layers. Layer frosting in between the two layers. Cover the top with more icing using an off set spatula. Using your hand add sprinkles to the top and sides. Enjoy!

How to Decorate Bento Cakes?

The best way to decorate mini cakes is with a cake decorating kit but to use a smaller off set spatula to spread the icing. A small cake scraper would also help! Make sure that you place the cake on a cake board and then onto a lazy susan.

The cake board will make it easy for you to transfer your freshly decorated cake to the to-go container of your choice. If you don’t use a cake board then you’ll ruin the icing when you try to pick up the cake to transfer it.

What is the Normal Bento Cake Size?

I’ve researched what size bento cakes are. Every resource says something different but each website I read all said that cakes do not exceed four inches. Most websites wrote that bento cakes were four inches in diameter. Though some resources state that bento cakes can be between 2-4 inches. Other sites state that cakes can be between 4-6 inches wide. They typically weigh about 300-350 grams.

Where Can I Buy Gluten Free Bento Cakes?

Gluten free bento cakes have become popular on Tic Tok which has sparked a bustling online business for bento cake deliveries. I’ve searched for some of the best online bakeries that sell bento cakes.

1. Pink Mansion Bento Cakes
2. Three Petals Cake Studio
3. Bento Cake Burglar
4. Bitter Sweet Miami

How to Package Your Bento Box Cakes At Home

The best way to package mini cakes at home is to place the cake on a cake board before you apply the frosting. You can use two types of boxes, one that is put together already or one that you put together yourself. I think the pre-constructed boxes are easier to use.

If you’re packaging cake in a pre-constructed box…

When you’re done applying frosting and sprinkles to your cake pick up the cake with a spatula from the bottom and place it carefully in an unconstructed cake box. Build the cake box around the cake. So that you don’t mess up the frosting.

If you’re using a clam shell lunch box…

If you are using a clam shell lunch box or another kind of box that is already put together it’s going to be trickier to package. You have to carefully lift the cake by the cake board and place it into the box without letting the cake touch the sides. Line the box with a small piece of wax paper to protect the cake.

Tip: No matter what kind of box you use don’t forget to make sure that the top of the box doesn’t touch the cake when you close it! Or else you’ll ruin the top of your beautiful sprinkle cake.

How Long Does this Gluten Free Chocolate Bento Cake Last?

In the refrigerator this chocolate ganache mini cake will last for up to 6 days. If you want the cake to last even longer you can store it in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months!

Cake Decorating Ideas for Bento Cakes

When it comes to deciding how you’re going to decorate your bento box cake, the sky’s the limit! Here are a few ideas to get you started. For more cake decorating inspiration check out this post!

• Chocolate frosting with sprinkles on top.
• Vanilla frosting with pink piped rosettes.
• Decorate the cake entirely with sprinkles.
• Write a message on the top of the cake.
• Use gold foil to dust the cake.
• Use multi colored frosting to make a marbled effect.
• Transfer a real photograph on to the top of the cake.

Gluten Free Chocolate Ganache Bento Cake Recipe Google Web Story!