When it comes to gluten-free cake, my vanilla cake recipe is a WINNER. Made with simple ingredients, this cake truly tastes like it came from a bakery!
Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake
Everyone knows that when you become a mom, you need to start thinking about birthday cakes whether you want to or not. Of course, you can out-source this or convince your kids that cupcakes are the thing to do but eventually, a request for a decorated cake will catch up to you.
So I knew I needed to be on the lookout for a good gluten-free birthday cake recipe. When it comes to gluten-free cake, my standards are that it tastes like a real, regular old birthday cake.
Moist and light and with a nice crumb.
And, most of all, without that weird gummy heavy gluten-free after-taste that is, unfortunately, way tooooo common.
That’s why I am in love with this Gluten-free vanilla birthday cake recipe!
It’s the ideal cake, anyone, even gluten lovers will obsess over, and trust me, it’s really not as complicated as it looks. Whether you’re making this for your kid’s birthday party, or just any special event, this is the cake you’ll want to make!
Ingredients for Gluten-Free Cake
- Unsalted Butter
- Organic Sugar
- Large Eggs
- Plain Unsweetened Hemp Milk (or full-fat Cow’s Milk)
- Vanilla Bean Pods or Pure Vanilla Extract
- Blanched Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Gluten-Free Baking Powder
- Finely Ground Sea Salt
Does This Gluten-Free Cake Taste Like Regular Cake?
YES!
After trying countless grain-free and gluten-free cake recipes, there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest and it’s the Magically Moist Almond Cake recipe from Bob’s Red Mill.
This cake looks and tastes like a regular cake. It’s moist and light with a nice crumb. The only downside is that the cake recipe is super finicky and doesn’t always come out the same.
With Bob’s Red Mill’s permission (thanks guys!), I played around with the recipe and made 6 or 7 variations using different pan sizes, egg sizes, sweeteners and even weighing vs. scooping the flours until I got it just right to a cake that will deliver consistent results time after time.
How To Make The Best Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake
Don’t get scared – this is a relatively easy recipe and doesn’t use that many ingredients. It is just finicky and there are a couple of things that really matter if you want consistent results. See below in my NOTES section for my recommendations and please be sure to read the recipe and notes through before baking this cake.
- Begin by preheating the oven and preparing your cake pans. (Picture #1)
- Next, crack eggs into a separate bowl (to ensure you don’t get any shells into the batter) (Picture #2), and scrape vanilla bean paste from pods (Picture #3).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together room temperature butter and sugar until smooth. (Picture #4)
- Then add in eggs, one at a time. (Picture #5)
- Reduce mixer speed and slowly add in milk and vanilla bean seeds until well mixed. (Picture #6)
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Add flour mixture into wet ingredients in small batches. (Picture #7)
- Divide the batter into cake pans, use a spatula to spread around and even out the top and bang the cake pans a couple of times to allow any air bubbles to rise to the surface. (Picture #8)
- Place both cake pans into the oven on the center rack and bake until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean. (Picture #9)
- Right before frosting, use a sharp paring knife to gently scrape the top layer of each cake. This two layers will become the inside and it looks prettier if you don’t see dark cake next to the light frosting. If you are using a dark frosting like chocolate, skip this step! (Picture #10)
- I used this Perfect Vanilla Buttercream recipe and placed the cake on wax paper on a cake board I bought from a craft store for a couple of bucks. You could also use a cake stand or other cake platter.
- Begin by frosting the (totally cooled!) bottom later first. I like to use a large offset spatula. (Picture #11)
- Gently place the next layer with the scraped side down onto the frosting. ((Pictures #12 and #13)
- Use remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake and decorate as desired! (Picture #14).
- Remove excess wax paper from around the bottom of the cake and cover until ready to serve. Enjoy! (Picture #15)
Tips For Making the Perfect Gluten-Free Cake
- The eggs must be size “Large”. X-Large eggs will yield too moist of a cake.
- You must weigh the almond flour and coconut flour. Just a couple of Tablespoons up or down will dramatically change the finished texture of this cake.
- Make sure your eggs and butter are both at room temperature – leave them out for at least 45 min to 1 hour before starting this cake.
- As much as I know most of you don’t want to use regular type sugar, that is really what this cake needs. I used Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Sugar, which is free of chemicals, bleach, herbicides, and pesticides. It’s still pure sugar but this is a once-a-year birthday cake so I am fine with it. Alternative sugars like palm sugar and maple sugar (tried both) dramatically change both the texture and color and don’t yield results that look or taste like a “traditional birthday cake” which is my goal! Maple syrup and honey add too much additional moisture.
- Preheat your oven at the very start and make sure you have a rack in the center position. You want the oven nice and hot!
- The brand of cake pan that you use can make all the difference. I really like USA Cake Pans and after trying this cake in multiple shapes have found that the 9″ x 2″ Round works the best.
- This cake is better the next day. That is a good thing because it means you can make it in advance!
Gluten-Free Cake Substitutions
- If you don’t want to use vanilla beans, you can absolutely substitute pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. I highly recommend using the highest quality vanilla you can though since vanilla is the main flavor of this cake!
- Milk. I have tried this cake with both whole fat organic cow’s milk and unsweetened, plain hemp milk and both have worked just fine. I did not try coconut milk but have a feeling that canned full-fat coconut milk would also work. I do NOT recommend rice milk, almond milk or any other low-fat type of milk as they are much thinner in texture and will change the final outcome.
- I have only tried this with Bob’s Red Mill brand Blanched Almond Flour and Coconut Flour so I can’t say 100% that other brands will work exactly the same but if you follow the other directions explicitly then hopefully you could successfully substitute another brand if you need to.
- My son specifically requested Vanilla Bean cake and Vanilla Bean Icing so I used this Icing recipe (delish!). However, I actually think chocolate buttercream would go better and really complement the vanilla flavor of the cake!
More Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes You Have To Try!
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
When it comes to gluten-free cake, my vanilla cake recipe is a WINNER. Made with simple ingredients, this cake truly tastes like it came from a bakery!
- 1.5 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, divided for greasing cake pans
- 2 cups organic sugar
- 8 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup plain unsweetened hemp milk (or full fat cow's milk)
- 2 whole vanilla bean pods scraped and mixed with milk
- 12 ounces blanched almond flour 340 grams
- 4 ounces coconut flour 113 grams
- 4 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
- 2 9" round cake pans (2" high)
- Stand Mixer or Handheld Mixer
- Cake Tester
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Begin by preheating oven to 350F. Drop 1/2 Tablespoon of butter into each pan and spread around until each cake pan is greased. Set aside.
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixer to be used with a hand mixer), cream together room temperature butter and sugar until smooth. I used speed 4 on my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.
-
While mixer is still on speed 4, add in eggs, one at a time.
TIP: Make sure to crack your eggs individually into a separate dish or bowl before adding to batter to avoid any shells.
-
Reduce mixer speed to 2 and slowly add in milk and vanilla bean seeds until well mixed.
-
In a separate mixing bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and sea salt. Use a spatula or fork to mix around and get rid of any large lumps.
-
Add flour mixture into wet ingredients in small batches with mixer still running on lower speed (about 2 should work). Repeat until all flour is incorporated into batter and is thoroughly mixed and looks creamy.
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Divide batter into cakes pans, use a spatula to spread around and even out top and bang the cake pans a couple times to allow any air bubbles to rise to the surface.
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Place both cake pans into the oven on the center rack and bake for 40 minutes, alternating the cake pans at the halfway point (mostly because most ovens have hot spots and this helps with a more even bake time).
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Use a cake tester or wood toothpick to gently test the center of each cake. If it comes out clean, place cake pan on cooling rack. If the tester comes out with cake batter on it, place back in the oven and check again in 3 to 4 minutes.
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Allow cakes to cool for at least 30 to 45 minutes in the pans on a cooling rack. Grab a flat plate and place on top of cake. Gently flip over so that cake releases onto plate and place wax paper on bottom of cake. Place cooling rack under wax paper and gently flip back over so that cake is now cooling on a piece of wax paper on the cooling rack.
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Allow cakes to cool completely - this may take a couple of hours - before frosting. Like I said in the notes, I like to make these the day before and allow to sit out and cool for most of the day. They are much easier to work! Right before frosting, use a sharp paring knife to gently scrape the top layer of each cake. This two layers will become the inside and it looks prettier if you don't see dark cake next to light frosting. If you are using a dark frosting like chocolate, skip this step!
-
I used my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe and placed the cake on wax paper on a cake board I bought from a craft store for a couple of bucks. You could also use a cake stand or other cake platter. Frost as desired, serve and Enjoy!”
TIPS:
- The eggs must be size "Large". X-Large eggs will yield too moist of a cake.
- You must weigh the almond flour and coconut flour. Just a couple of Tablespoons up or down will dramatically change the finished texture of this cake.
- Make sure your eggs and butter are both at room temperature - leave them out for at least 45 min to 1 hour before starting this cake.
- As much as I know most of you don't want to use regular type sugar, that is really what this cake needs. I used Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Sugar, which is free of chemicals, bleach, herbicides, and pesticides. It's still pure sugar but this is a once-a-year birthday cake so I am fine with it. Alternative sugars like palm sugar and maple sugar (tried both) dramatically change both the texture and color and don't yield results that look or taste like a "traditional birthday cake" which is my goal! Maple syrup and honey add too much additional moisture.
- Preheat your oven at the very start and make sure you have a rack in the center position. You want the oven nice and hot!
- The brand of cake pan that you use can make all the difference. I really like USA Cake Pans and after trying this cake in multiple shapes have found that the 9" x 2" Round works the best.
- This cake is better the next day. That is a good thing because it means you can make it in advance!
SUBSTITUTIONS:
- If you don't want to use vanilla beans, you can absolutely substitute pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. I highly recommend using the highest quality vanilla you can though since vanilla is the main flavor of this cake!
- Milk. I have tried this cake with both whole fat organic cow's milk and unsweetened, plain hemp milk and both have worked just fine. I did not try coconut milk but have a feeling that canned full-fat coconut milk would also work. I do NOT recommend rice milk, almond milk or any other low-fat type of milk as they are much thinner in texture and will change the final outcome.
- I have only tried this with Bob's Red Mill brand Blanched Almond Flour and Coconut Flour so I can't say 100% that other brands will work exactly the same but if you follow the other directions explicitly then hopefully you could successfully substitute another brand if you need to.
- My son specifically requested Vanilla Bean cake and Vanilla Bean Icing so I used this Icing recipe (delish!). However, I actually think chocolate icing would go better and really complement the vanilla flavor of the cake!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
Adapted From: Magically Moist Almond Cake courtesy of Bob’s Red Mill (used with permission)
UPDATE NOTES: This Gluten Free Cake recipe was originally posted in January 2015 and was updated in August 2019 with step-by-step photos and instructions, more helpful tips and edited photos.
Hi Alyssa,
We love this cake in my family! One issue I seem to have is that the inside of mine always collapses/indents after I take it out of the oven and the cake is extremely crumbly. So much so that I have a hard time taking it out of the baking pan without the fear of it falling apart. Does this mean I need to bake it longer, Eventhough toothpick comes out clean when inserted? Wondering what I’m doing wrong and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks so much!
Hi ZJ,
I’m so sorry to hear that keeps happening to you. Walk me through what is going on – Are you substituting or changing any (even something that may seem small) ingredients? Are you at a high altitude? What type of cake pans are you using? Have you recently checked your oven temperature to make sure it is not off by 5 or 10 or more degrees?
Question – can this be made with an egg replacer? My daughter can’t have egg or grains…. and I want to try this recipe but wanted to know if you had anyone do this yet and what the results were? This looks like a good recipe so far.
Hi Donna,
I haven’t tried it with egg replacer so I can’t say. It might be worth it to make 1/4 of the recipe or 1/2 batch to test it out. Let me know how it works if you experiment!
For those of you wondering… it works using coconut oil (room temp-not melted),canned coconut milk (full fat and mixed completely before measuring) and vanilla extract.
I did halve the recipe because I just didn’t need that much cake. It turned out beautiful! I will be adding this to my recipe book!!
That is great to hear Jac! Did the cake have a strong coconut flavor?
Hey Alyssa,
I’ve made this recipe so many times for our kids’ birthday parties and it’s always a hit! (I had commented a few years ago on the recipe and reported back on my success if you look in the comment thread. 😉) Anyways – have you found a way to make these chocolate? Or do you have a grain free chocolate cake recipe you’d recommend? This vanilla version is so trusted in our family, but my daughter is wanting a chocolate cake this year. 🙂
Hi Julie! I haven’t perfected a chocolate version of this yet but it is on my list! An option might be Simple Mills chocolate cake mix. It is grain-free and gets good reviews!
I had this cake in Hawaii about 4 months ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since! My birthday is on Monday and I am in Colorado and my mom is making this cake for me 🙂 she was wondering if you knew the high altitude ratio?! We are at about 10,000ft. Thanks so much!
Hi Rachael,
Thank you so much and Happy early birthday! Unfortunately, I am not super familiar with modifications for high-altitude baking so I’m no help BUT I hope you guys figure it out and get to enjoy the cake!
So I am not a baker. Correction…I was not a baker until my family had to go grain-free. I could feel my heart pounding a little when I was attempting to make a cake, of all things!
Thank you so much, Alyssa, for sharing this recipe and taking the time to answer our questions.
This cake is FABULOUS. It wasn’t even that hard to make.
I honestly can’t believe I made something so completely beautiful and delicious – and it’s all thanks to you! I’d reach out and give you a hug from me and my family, if I could 🙂
I did use good quality vanilla extract (2 tsp) instead of mortgaging my house to buy the vanilla beans lol.
Hey Marnie!! DAY MADE. Thank you so much for following up and letting me know how it turned out. So happy to hear this and that the extract worked for you!! Which icing did you go with?
Hi Alyssa,
How much vanilla extract would you use instead of vanilla bean?
Thanks!
p.s. Do you have a good recipe for chocolate icing to use with this cake?
Yes! Use this vanilla buttercream recipe as the base but substitute 1/2 cup of unsweetened natural cocoa powder for 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar (making powdered sugar 3.5 cups instead of 4).
p.p.s. What does step #12 say? Is there anything after that?
Thanks for pointing that out – I just fixed it! It was supposed to say that I used my Vanilla Buttercream!
Hi Marnie! I would start with 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract, taste and add more if necessary. You may need up to 4 teaspoons depending on the quality and concentration of the vanilla extract you use.
Hi Alyssa, this sounds amazing and I’d like to bake it for my husband’s birthday tomorrow, but I’m coconut sensitive and wouldn’t be able to have any. Is there another flour you tried, substituting for the coconut flour? I’m hesitant to try tapioca flour as it tends to get sticky. TIA!
Hi Shauna! I missed this but no, this cake hasn’t worked for me with any other combo. Did you wind up making it?
Hi Alyssa!
Big question here: I’ve been weighing the almond flour on a baby scale (cuz that’s all I’ve got! ?) and as I measure it to the gram like you suggest, it’s about 3.25c of flour! That sounds so wrong to me as most other comparable recipes say to use 1.5 cups almond flour. What do I do?? The brand I’m using is what I have on hand – the Trader Joe’s blanched almond flour. Do I go with the 340g amount you suggested or should I measure it out to 1.5 cups to be safe? I’m asking in hopes that you can respond somewhat quickly b/c trying to get the cake made today for a birthday party this weekend. Thanks!
Hi Julie!
I am thinking that the baby scale is waaaaaay off so I wouldn’t trust it. With that being said, please read through my NOTES on this cake though because it is amazing but super finicky so the right amount of almond flour is really important.
Hi Alyssa. Thank you so much for your prompt response. So Amazon delivered my brand new food scale this evening (it was a small, easy purchase and one I figured would come in handy plenty in the future). ? It’s so interesting b/c it turns out that the EXACT measurement I made with the baby scale yesterday is the exact same as what the food scale is telling me. Perhaps TJ’s almond flour is just more airy?! Anyways, I suppose from here I’ll try making the cake and see how it goes! I’ll try to keep you posted. Thanks for the help!
I hope it turns out PERFECT! You have to let me know 🙂
Alyssa –
First, thank you so much for all your help. I used the exact flour you recommend (Bob’s Red Mill) and turns out it measured to be the same as the one from TJ’s – the 340g ended up being several cups and I was super nervous that it was going to be too much and turn out all wrong BUT it was AMAZING!!! The guests at the party (none of whom are grain-free) were raving, all the kids ate it (ages 3-6) and my daughter (the bday girl) was literally LICKING her bowl. I did a fresh raspberry buttercream with it (no dairy sensitivities here) and it paired beautifully. Everyone said you’d never know it was grain-free (except for a light taste from the coconut flour.) I have yet to try it b/c #whole30 ? but you better believe I have a piece waiting for me in the freezer to eat in approx 30 days! ? Oh and PS – I did 3 cupcakes with some of the batter and the baking time ended up between 18-20min as I recall (I know someone else had asked that in the comments.) Thanks again! I will def. be making this recipe again!!
YAY! That Raspberry Buttercream sounds like a fantastic match for it. I hope you enjoy that tucked away piece 🙂
Hello! I’m so excited to try this for my son’s birthday. Do you think Xylitol could work I place of sugar?
Hi Denise!
I have not tried this cake with Xylitol so I am not sure. If you do experiment with it, message me or come back and let me know how it works!