Recipe Step By Step Directions:
Making a homemade gluten free vanilla cake is easy. Be sure to read all of my tips and instructions for the best results!
Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl. The best way to blend the flours is with a wire whisk to blend.
To measure your gluten free flour, I recommend using the spoon method or leveling method. In a perfect world, people weigh their flour, but most do not own a kitchen scale. To make a scale even trickier, every gluten free flour blend has a different weight.
Put the measuring scoop into the flour and fill. Do not pack the flour. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.
You can also use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour.
Step 2: In a smaller mixing bowl, add the oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and non-dairy milk. Whisk to blend the wet ingredients together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the two are just barely mixed. This is the secret to getting the fluffiest cake! Overmixing is really bad for gluten free cakes.
Do not use a standing mixer to make this cake recipe! Your cake batter can get overmixed very easily and your cake will not turn out fluffy.
NOTE: If you are making a white cake, see the FAQ below for specific directions. They are a little different!
Step 3: Your gluten free cake batter will be creamy like in this photo. Scrape down the sides to get all of the batter for the cake.
Which Gluten Free Flour Should I Use For This Gf Cupcake Recipe
I recommend that you use a mixture of Better Batter and corn starch in the ratio provided in the recipe. Adding cornstarch lightens the gluten free flour to give it a consistency that’s more like traditional cake flour.
Whatever you do, don’t use a single-ingredient flour like brown rice flour, coconut flour, or almond flour. You have to use a blend to get anywhere near the right consistency.
Why Did My Gluten Free Cake Sink
Most likely the cake did not bake long enough. Gluten free flours do not absorb moisture as well as regular flour. Therefore, additional baking time is needed for the moisture to evaporate.
Where traditional cakes need to be pulled immediately, or risk overbaking, gluten-free cake recipes bake a few minutes longer. For best results test with a toothpick inserted in the middle. Testing to see if top springs back usually isnt a reliable method.
Another reason cakes fall is due to inaccurate oven temperatures. If your oven isnt a true 350ºF, the baking powder could be activated too fast, which causes the cake to rise quickly.
The cake will dome high and possibly crack and fall. I use an inexpensive oven thermometer to verify settings and adjust accordingly.
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What Are Tuxedo Brownies
Tuxedo brownies are a riff on a classic tuxedo cake. I got the idea from Sugar Hero, a well known pastry chef and blogger. Like the cake, tuxedo brownies have a layer of white frosting, in this case made with marshmallow cream. Top it all off with a shiny chocolate glaze and white chocolate decoration. Are you drooling yet?
How To Stack A 2 Layer Cake
For a bakery style, flat topped cake that has 2 perfect looking layers, here is how to assemble the cake.
- Use a long blade, serrated knife.
- Hold it parallel to the counter top and shave off the domed part of the cake top. Do this for both layers.
- Place one of the layers on a cake plate, cake board or cake turntable, bottom side down.
- Coat just the top of this layer with frosting, using firm pressure.
- Place the other layer on top of it, bottom side up. This will give you a nice flat, sharp edged top layer.
- Now frost the outside of the cake
This gluten-free cake pops recipe is a perfect way to use the trimmings when using this method. Youll need a little extra frosting and some cake pop sticks, but thats it!
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Choosing Cake Pans For This Easy Gluten Free Vanilla Cake
I like to bake these cakes in 2 aluminum 8-inch round cake pans. They bake evenly in about 30 minutes at 350°F, and never dome even if my oven has some hot spots .
If you’d rather bake the cake in 9-inch cake pans, just reduce the baking time accordingly. You’ll have to watch it carefully after the initial 20 minutes.
Don’t bake in a dark colored pan or in a glass pan. They attract and conduct too much heat, so your cake may burn on the bottom or the edges before it’s baked all the way through to the center.
If you’d like, you can also use 8-inch square pans. The baking time should be the same as with 8-inch round cake pans.
How To Store Coffee Cake:
Store the coffee cake wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If there are leftovers after 2 days, transfer them to an airtight container and refrigerate for 5 days more.
This delicious coffee cake recipe freezes well! Simply store it in a 1-gallon zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
As is customary with coffee cake, I recommend serving it warm with a pat of butter on top alongside a mug of coffee.
If you love baked goods with cinnamon, also try my Healthy Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread or my Yeast-Free Greek Yogurt Cinnamon Rolls.
If youre looking for more delicious gluten-free cinnamon coffee cake recipes, check these out!
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How Do You Make A Gluten Free Chocolate Cake From Scratch
There are many ways to make chocolate cake from scratch, and most of them aren’t any harder than making it from a mix. All the mix does is provide you with already-measured dry ingredients like flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt.
When you’re using a mix, you still have to add eggs, oil, and often water. As long as you’re adding eggs, oil, and water, you may as well add some sour cream, too, and make it into this cake.
That’s really all it takes. You have to provide the pan either way, right? And bake it in your oven.
Just whisk the dry ingredients and you have your chocolate cake mix. Make a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients and mix. Pour into the pan, smooth the top, and bake.
Whats The Best Vanilla Extract To Use In Baking
This is a Vanilla Cake So, its super-important that the sponge really tastes of vanilla. And using a good quality, pure Madagascan Vanilla Extract will make all the difference between an average cake and a great cake! Seriously If youre going to make a cake, remember its a decadent treat And decadent treats deserve good ingredients!
There are a few quality brands now available in supermarkets But my go-to extracts are from Nielsen-Massey and Taylor and Colledge.
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Cake With Gluten Free Flour
For this recipe we used Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour and tapioca starch. You can use what gluten free flour you are familiar with, but the recipe was tested with Cup4Cup. Be sure that the flour you choose has xanthan gum in it. If the gluten free flour you have on hand does not have xanthan gum, add about 1 teaspoon to the flour mixture.
To make the flour more like traditional cake flour, youll also add tapioca starch. You can substitute cornstarch if youd like.
How To Store And Freeze A Gluten
To store at room temperature: Cover the cake. Do this by covering it loosely with plastic wrap or by using a cake dome.
To freeze unfrosted layers. Allow the cake layers to cool completely before freezing. Wrap each layer tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator.
To freeze a frosted cake. Place the frosted cake in the freezer for two to three hours. You want the frosting to freeze. Once the frosting is set, remove the cake from the freezer. Wrap the cake quickly in plastic wrap. Freeze the cake for up to two months. When youâre ready to enjoy, thaw the cake on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight.
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The Best Gluten Free Flour For Cupcakes
The best gluten free flour blend for cakes and cupcakes is a combination of Better Batter gluten free flour, which can be replaced in all cases with my mock Better Batter all purpose gluten free flour, and cornstarch. All cake flour, including gluten free cake flour, contains cornstarch.
In conventional cake-baking, cornstarch is used to reduce the amount of gluten formation in baked goods. In that way, it makes for a lighter, more tender result.
In gluten free cake-baking, cornstarch is used to soften the blend because, once combined with liquid, it becomes gelatinous. It helps create a flour blend that expands during baking and creates a more tender crumb.
A Gluten Free Vanilla Cake For Every Occasion
This Gluten Free Vanilla Cake is my go to vanilla sponge recipe. Why? Because its the PERFECT all-round bake. And its been tested to the hilt for the best texture and crumb to be layered, stacked, decorated, cut, shaped, poked and prodded yet still to stay soft, moist and delicious. Whether as a mid-week tea time sponge, or dressed to kill as a show-stopper celebration cake, I am happy to call it my BEST-EVER Vanilla Cake.
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How To Make A Gluten Free Chocolate Layer Cake
This is the gluten free chocolate cake you make when its someones birthday, and you dont want to disappoint but you havent planned ahead. But if youre making it as a celebration cake, you may want to make a layer cake.
No problem. Simply double each ingredient of the recipe to make two layers. Use a large bowl, or measure everything out into two bowls.
Place half of the batter into each of two prepared 9-inch cake pans. Smooth the top, and place them in a 350°F oven.
If the oven isnt really large , after about 20 minutes rotate the pans with one another so everything bakes evenly.
What Is The Best Flour For Cake
There are so many gluten free flours on the market these days. Maybe too many! But, you probably know by now that when it comes to gluten free all purpose flour, I am very loyal to the Bobs Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour.
You are welcome to use whatever flour you like, but keep in mind there may be some variation in the final result since all blends are different.
Whichever you decide to use, make sure it has xanthan gum in the mix to help bind everything together.
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Fun And Fancy Macarons
To add an extra-festive holiday touch to macarons, pastry chef Paola Velez paints them with several different colors of edible shimmering luster dust. As for the filling? Pick from homemade dark chocolate ganache, or store-bought holiday jam, apple butter, or firm caramel sauce. The macarons can be made in advance and frozen wait to fill until ready to serve.
How To Decorate For The Most Tempting Vanilla Sponge
Because this is my go to Gluten Free Vanilla Cake, Ive offered a little photographic inspiration running through the post on how it might be decorated for any occasion
- Cover in simple dark chocolate ganache and fill with your favourite buttercream.
- Layer with delicious Custard Buttercream , and a little fruity jam for something less sweet.
- Dress in beautiful swirled Vanilla Buttercream roses Varying the colour of the buttercream makes for a show-stopping cake. Perfect for special birthdays and as a Mothers Day cake. I used this helpful tutorial for piping buttercream roses.
- It can even be stacked for weddings and wedding anniversaries. The one pictured was for my parents-in-laws 60th .
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The Trick To Incredibly Moist Vegan Cakes: Vegan Buttermilk
I feel like this is such an underrated trick, and I talk about it a bit in my Vegan Baking 101 guide. I also now have an entire guide on how to make vegan buttermilk that will help you choose which dairy free milk to use!
If youve ever had a normal vanilla cake, then youll know that incredibly sweet yet ever so subtle tang that comes along with a fluffy and moist cake. Thats from the buttermilk. It also helps to give rise to the cake without drying it out.
So since buttermilk isnt vegan, well have to make our own- but dont worry its so simple!
All youll need to do is combine your chosen dairy free milk with a little apple cider vinegar. Let the mixture sit for 5-7 minutes so that it can slightly curdle. Then use it in your recipe as you would regular buttermilk!
Tip #2 Let The Cake Batter Rest
Remember earlier when I said that gluten free flour blends can have a hard time absorbing moisture and fats?
If you let the batter sit for a bit before baking it, you give the flour more time to absorb all that goodness. This helps thicken the batter and prevents your cake from having a gritty texture.
I unintentionally did this as I was photographing and filming this gluten free vanilla cake batter. Youd be surprised how long it takes to get a perfect shot of pouring cake batter into a pan!
Letting the batter sit for about 30 minutes drastically improves the texture of these cake layers, so be sure you dont skip this step!!
While the batter rests, you can figure out how you want to decorate your gluten free cake! I decided to keep things simple by piping some frosting squiggles up the side of the cake with a Wilton 1M frosting tip.
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Whats In Gluten Free Flour
There are a lot gluten free flour blends out there. Each brand uses a unique mixture of wheat flour alternatives, like rice flour, brown rice flour, and even almond flour.
It can be difficult to get the texture of gluten free flour just right for baking. A lot of these alternative flours have a finer texture than all-purpose flour.
Some type of starch is usually added to help give the mixture better structure, and a bit of binding power. Tapioca and potato starch are the most commonly used starches.
One other ingredient in gluten free flour that might sound a little strange is xanthan gum. Its a key ingredient in gluten free baking. Xanthan gum has a big impact on the texture of gluten free baked goods too.
Gluten adds elasticity and stickiness to doughs and batters. Xanthan gum emulates these characteristics in gluten free baking and helps lock in moisture.
Luckily for us, xanthan gum is included in almost all gluten free flour blends .
Why Did My Cake Collapse
Its natural for cakes to slightly sink after baking, but if it completely collapsed in the middle, this could be due to a few reasons. Sometimes, our ovens arent actually the temperature that they say they are, and that can yield an unevenly baked cake.
Another reason could be because the dry ingredients werent properly whisked together or that the batter was under-mixed in general.
Be sure to read through all of the directions before beginning!
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Tips For Storing/freezing Cake Layers
Seeing as how these cake layers are super fluffy, they can sometimes be a bit tricky to handle when stacking and frosting a cake. I typically chill, even freeze, the layers before I use them. After the cake layers have cooled, wrap each one in plastic wrap and place it in either the fridge or freezer until you are ready to use them.
I will double plastic them if I plan on freezing them for over a week. To gently defrost the cake layers, simply take them out the night before you plan to stack the cake and allow them to slowly defrost overnight in the fridge.
How To Make This A Gluten Free Dairy Free Vanilla Cake
For dairy-free, I recommend vegan butter like Miyoko’s Kitchen or Melt brands in place of butter. Try 1:1 by weight. You can also try Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated butter-flavored vegetable shortening.
You’ll need a buttermilk substitute. Try half unsweetened almond milk by volume and half nondairy plain yogurt in place of the buttermilk.
I really don’t like a simple milk + acid like lemon juice or vinegar as a buttermilk replacement. That only replaces the acid, but not the thickness of buttermilk. The half milk half yogurt swap is the best.
Maybe you’d like to make a white cake, instead of this yellow cake. My recipe for gluten free white cake is perfect for adding food coloring for a special occasion.
If you’d like to turn this cake into a two-layer homemade Funfetti cake, we have a gluten free birthday cake recipe. That recipe also has recipes for chocolate sour cream frosting for the center of the cake, and chocolate icing for on top. *chefskiss*
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Gluten Free Vanilla Snack Cake
Published: by Daniela · This post may contain affiliate links
This light and moist gluten-free vanilla snack cake with a tender crumb will quickly become your new go-to gluten free vanilla cake recipe. It is perfect for birthdays, celebrations and of course just because. Because sometimes you just want a slice of vanilla cake. It’s the best gluten free vanilla cake recipe there is.
This recipe will make one 8″ round cake layer but you can easily double this recipe to bake it in two 8′ cake pans or a 9×13″ pan.
If you simple cakes, make sure to check out my Gluten Free Hot Cocoa Snack Cake or my Gluten Free Carrot Loaf Bread
