Looking for an easy and delicious gluten-free cake to make for all your celebrations? Then you need to make this gluten-free vanilla cake.
This gluten-free vanilla cake is moist, rich, and full of vanilla flavor. It makes the perfect gluten-free birthday cake, but you can use it for all kinds of occasions, from holidays to weddings or just a random weekday. I mean, who wouldn't love to have some cake just because?
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Ingredients.
For this gluten-free cake, we are keeping ingredients pretty simple. Most of them, if not all of them, are staples that can be found in your kitchen.
- 1:1 Gluten-free Flour - The final texture of your cake will depend on the blend that you use. For this recipe, I use the King Arthur brand 1:1 blend.
- Tapioca Starch - Adding a little bit of extra starch helps to lighten our gluten-free flours and leaves the cake light and fluffy.
- Sugar - Sugar not only adds sweetness but also helps keep more moisture in the cake as it bakes.
- Eggs - For this cake, you want to make sure your eggs are at room temperature. I like to crack them into a bowl and let them sit while I make the rest of the batter.
- Baking Powder - The baking powder might seem a little high for the cake, but we need it to help give the cake a nice rise.
- Baking Soda - Just like baking powder, baking soda helps with the rise. The combination helps leave this gluten-free cake light and fluffy.
- Butter - Make sure your butter is a room temperature. You do not want it cold or too warm. If you want to make this a fully dairy-free cake, you can substitute the butter for a non-dairy alternative like Earth Balance Sticks.
- Oil - You want to use a light cooking oil or something like avocado oil. Do NOT use olive oil or coconut oil in this recipe; they do not work and will make your cake tough.
- Vanilla - Make sure you are using a gluten-free vanilla extract. You can also use some vanilla bean paste in this cake recipe as well.
- Milk - I tend to use whole milk when baking but you can also use unflavored dairy-free milk in its place.
- Salt
Batter steps.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
- In two separate small bowls, whisk the milk, vanilla, and oil together in one and the eggs in the other and set them aside.
- In the bowl of the dry ingredients, slowly start mixing small amounts of the softened butter until it is all incorporated and the mixture looks like dry sand.
- Add the bowl with the wet ingredients.
- Mix the bowl of wet ingredients with the dry on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Carefully scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure there are no lumps of dry flour remaining, and then slowly add the eggs and mix just until combined.
Baking pans and cooking times.
- Lightly grease your baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- Divide the cake batter into your pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden and a fork inserted comes out clean.
This gluten-free vanilla cake recipe will make the following sizes.
- 2 1-inch thick 8x8 or 9x9 pans. - To make two 8x8 inch pans, bake the cake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes
- 1 9x13 pan. - Bake a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes.
- 18 cupcakes - Cupcakes should be baked in a 350-degree oven for about 120-25 minutes.
You want the top of the cake to be slightly golden in color, and when you insert a knife into the cake, it comes out clean.
Tips and tricks to get the best gluten-free cake.
- If you can, always measure your gluten-free flour by weight. This will ensure that you get the most accurate results every time.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together well. Doing this makes sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the cake.
- Use room temperature butter, not warm and not cold. Using butter at the right temperature will help it incorporate with the other ingredients better.
- Make sand. - Because we are using a reverse creaming method for this gluten-free vanilla cake, it's important that the butter is mixed with the dry ingredients and that it looks like wet sand before you add the wet ingredients. You don't want a lot of large chunks of butter still visible.
- Fully preheat your oven. Making sure the oven is completely at room temperature is important. Use an internal oven thermometer if you are unsure if your oven temperature is getting an accurate reading.
- Lightly grease your pan before adding your parchment paper. This will help the parchment paper stick to the pan and keep the parchment paper from falling into your cake batter.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting.
Gluten-free cake FAQ
The biggest difference between white cake, vanilla cake, and yellow cake comes down to the types of eggs used in comparison to either butter or oil.
White cake uses only egg whites and usually a combination of butter and oil to help reduce the amount of yellow in the cake. Using all egg whites keeps the crumb of the cake really light.
Vanilla cake usually uses either a combination of egg whites and whole eggs and either a combination of butter or oil or one or the other. The texture of the vanilla cake is slightly denser and moister than white cake.
Yellow cake, on the other hand, uses whole eggs and usually oil over butter. This makes the cake brighter yellow in color, and the cake is slightly denser.
The biggest factor when choosing to use salted or unsalted butter when baking a cake is determining how much control you want to have. If you want more control, use unsalted butter. Since salted butter already contains salt, it is common to reduce the amount of salt used in the recipe, but you don't have to.
Gluten-free frosting.
There is no wrong way to frost a cake, but gluten-free cake needs a delicious gluten-free frosting to keep it gluten-free. You can frost this vanilla cake however you prefer. The good thing about vanilla cake is it tastes good with all kinds of frosting and even fillings if you want to make it extra. I've included the recipe for my favorite gluten-free buttercream frosting in the recipe card below.
Storing cake.
Gluten-free cake does not tend to last as long as typical cakes, but this gluten-free vanilla cake will stay soft and fresh the longest when it's stored in an air-tight container at room temperature. Do this the cake will stay good for 3-4 days, but it is best when served on the same day.
If you want to make this cake ahead of time, then I suggest either placing the layers in the fridge or freezer.
- Once the cake layers have cooled completely, tightly wrap them in plastic wrap. If you are freezing the cake, I suggest doing more than one layer to help protect the cake from getting freezer burned.
- Place them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to assemble your cake.
- Let cakes defrost in the fridge overnight and then at room temperature for about an hour before using them.
More gluten-free desserts.
This gluten-free vanilla cake is a staple recipe for so many celebrations, but I am still pretty fond of my grain-free chocolate cake. When I'm craving something different, I am usually baking up my gluten-free banana cake. You can't go wrong with these other gluten-free desserts either.
📖 Recipe
Gluten-free Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ½ Cups 1:1 Gluten-free Flour 310 grams. I use King Arthur 1:1 blend.
- ¼ Cup Tapioca Starch
- 1 ¾ Cups Sugar
- 2 ¼ Teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 4 Large Eggs
- ½ Cup Butter At room temperature.
- ⅓ Cup Light Cooking Oil
- 1 ¼ Cups Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Buttercream Frosting
- ½ Cup Butter Softened
- 3 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar Make sure your powdered sugar is gluten-free.
- 1-2 Tablespoons Milk
- ½ Teaspoon Vanilla
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
Instructions
For the gluten-free vanilla cake,
- Preheat the oven to 350 °Fdegrees and prepare you baking pan or cupcake pan.
- In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients together.2 ½ Cups 1:1 Gluten-free Flour, ¼ Cup Tapioca Starch, 1 ¾ Cups Sugar, 2 ¼ Teaspoons Baking Powder, ¼ Teaspoon Baking Soda, ½ Teaspoon Salt
- In a smaller bowl combine the oil, milk and vanilla.⅓ Cup Light Cooking Oil, 1 ¼ Cups Milk, 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- To the bowl of dry ingredients mix the softened butter until it starts to look like wet sand with no large clumps of butter remaining.½ Cup Butter
- Once the butter is combined, mix the bowl of wet ingredients into the cake.
- Then add the eggs and mix just until combined.4 Large Eggs
- Pour the batter into your baking pans.
- Bake until golden on top and a knife inserted comes out clean. An 8-9 inch pans should take 30-35 minutes. Cupcakes will take 20-25 minutes, and a sheet cake will take about 35-40 minutes. Start checking on the cake at the lower end as cooking times will vary depending on the pan used and the actual oven temperature.
For the gluten-free frosting.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream butter until soft and smooth.½ Cup Butter
- Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt, and mix until light and fluffy.3 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar, 1-2 Tablespoons Milk, ½ Teaspoon Vanilla, ¼ Teaspoon Salt
Notes
- If you can, always measure your gluten-free flour by weight. This will ensure that you get the most accurate results every time.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together well. Doing this makes sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the cake.
- Use room temperature butter, not warm and not cold. Using butter at the right temperature will help it incorporate with the other ingredients better.
- Make sand. - Because we are using a reverse creaming method for this gluten-free vanilla cake, it's important that the butter is mixed with the dry ingredients and that it looks like wet sand before you add the wet ingredients. You don't want a lot of large chunks of butter still visible.
- Fully preheat your oven. Making sure the oven is completely at room temperature is important. Use an internal oven thermometer if you are unsure if your oven temperature is getting an accurate reading.
- Lightly grease your pan before adding your parchment paper. This will help the parchment paper stick to the pan and keep the parchment paper from falling into your cake batter.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting.
Caitlin says
This cake tasted amazing for a gluten free cake!