The Best Gluten-Free White Cake Recipe You’ve Ever Tried! This cake is perfect for birthdays and weddings and doesn’t require a mix.
I need to be honest here with you, friend. This isn’t exactly a “quick and easy” cake recipe. If that’s what you need right now, go make my gluten-free funfetti cake recipe and save this one for when you have some time to spend in the kitchen.
This cake requires three cake pans and a bit of patience. But, it’s worth. Oh, it’s so worth it. This gluten-free white cake doesn’t taste gluten-free. What do I mean by that? I mean it’s not gummy, heavy, or dry. Three characteristics that often affect gluten-free white cake. This cake comes out moist and dense—but not too dense. Think of the best birthday or wedding cake you’ve ever tasted. That’s what this cake is like.
A cake that’s fitting for birthdays and weddings requires some care and attention. Starting with the ingredients.
The Ingredients
Butter and Shortening
You’ll notice both butter and shortening listed for this cake. (Yes, you can use coconut oil. More about that in a second.)
There’s a reason for the combination of two fats. Butter makes a cake with a fantastic flavor. Shortening, on the other hand, doesn’t bring any flavor to the cake. So why use it? Texture! When creamed with granulated sugar, shortening traps air. That trapped air, in turn, helps to lift and light the cake during baking. For the best gluten-free white cake, the combination of butter and shortening can’t be beat.
But what if you don’t want to use shortening?
For this recipe, replace the shortening with an equal amount of coconut oil. Unlike shortening, coconut oil goes from a solid to a liquid state with low temperature. You want the coconut oil solid but not brittle. If it’s too cold, it won’t cream nicely with the butter and sugar.
And what if you don’t want to use butter?
Good question. The answer for this is both straightforward and…not. If you can’t use butter, you have a few choices. Either replace the butter with all shortening. As mentioned above, shortening doesn’t bring any flavor to a recipe. So the flavor of the cake won’t be as nice.
You could use all coconut oil. That replacement will give you a cake that tastes somewhat strongly of coconut oil.
The Gluten-Free Flour
Selecting the right gluten-free flour is always key. For this recipe, Bob’s 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour worked great. If you use another combination or brand of gluten-free flour, the results might differ. For the best chance of success, use a gluten-free flour that includes xanthan gum or add 1 teaspoon to a xanthan gum free blend.
The Sugar
Since this is a white cake, you want to use white granulated sugar. It’s sweet and perfect for this cake. Replacing the granulated sugar with any other type of sugar won’t give you a nice white cake. And if you use a liquid sugar, like maple syrup, the recipe might not work at all.
The Eggs
You know how many egg yolks you’ll find in this recipe? Not a one! To keep the cake white, only egg whites are used. Not only does that give you a cake that’s white in color, egg whites also impact the flavor. Yolks bring a rich, creamy, almost custard flavor, whereas the whites don’t.
If you’re a cake aficionado, you might be surprised that the egg whites aren’t whipped. I tested both whipped and not-whipped egg whites. Since the texture of the white cake should be somewhat dense, we want it more like a box cake than a chiffon cake, whipping the egg whites add a lot of hassle but didn’t improve the cake. So no whipping egg whites for us!
Sour Cream
Can I be honest? I usually hate recipes that call for a 1/3 cup of sour cream. I mean, c’mon. It’s such a small amount! So I’m sorry! Because this recipe really needs that sour cream.
Not only does it contribute to a rich cake, it brings a little acid to the batter, improving lift and texture. I tried making the cake
The Flavors
I love the combination of vanilla extract and almond extract in white cakes. The funny thing is that you don’t use so much almond that it tastes like almond. Rather, a 1/2 teaspoon is all you need to enhance the flavor of the cake and, like magic, to make the cake taste richer and more vanilla-y.
As always, if you don’t want to buy or use almond extract go right ahead and skip it.
How to Bake a Perfect Gluten-Free White Cake
Mixing
There are two important steps to this recipe: how you cream the butter, shortening, and sugar and how you add the dry and wet ingredients.
Let’s talk about creaming the butter, shortening and sugar. Combine the three ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. (Can you use a handheld mixer? Yes but make sure it’s a sturdy one! I don’t want you to burn it out.) Then you beat (cream) the ingredients for five minutes. How serious am I about five minutes? Very serious. In fact, I’d love it if you used a timer.
During this time, the mixture goes from a thick paste to a light, white and fluffy mixture. Since a thin layer of butter and shortening always clings to the side and bottom of the bowl, stop the mixer at least once during the five minutes and scrape the bowl.
I know this step seems long and putzy but, trust me, it’s worth it. #dontskipitplease
After beating the butter, shortening, and sugar, add the egg whites one at a time. Again, don’t rush this. If mixed correctly, the batter should look like fluffy frosting—which is what we’ve basically made here.
Up next, the flour, sour cream, and milk. Add 1/3 of the flour and allow it to mix into the batter. Then add the sour cream. Let it mix into the batter. Once you’ve added the sour cream, alternate between adding the milk and the remaining flour.
Is this putzy? Yes! It is! But it’s worth it.
Baking
After doing all that work, you don’t want to simply plop the batter into the pan. First, divide the batter evenly among three 8-inch cake pans. Then using the back of a spoon, spread the batter into the pan. Use a gentle wiggle motion. This ensures that the cakes bake evenly—and using a gentle wiggle, the batter doesn’t deflate.
Bake the cakes in a preheated oven until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. A few damp crumbs might stick to the cake tester or toothpick but you shouldn’t see any wet batter.
Cooling
Place the cake pans on a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool in the pan for five minutes. Then turn the cakes onto a wire rack to cool complete. This step prevents them from sticking to the pan as the cool. The reason you don’t turn the cakes out right away is because they are very delicate when they first come out of the oven. Allowing then to cool for five minutes gives the starches in the cake a chance to set up.
Frosting
For this cake, I think my “cheater Italian buttercream” is perfect. It’s light and fluffy and enhances the cake but doesn’t overpower it.
As always, you want to make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting or the frosting will melt when it hits the warm cake.
If you’ve read this far, you deserve a slice of cake—perfect gluten-free white cake. Have fun with this recipe, it’s one of my favorites!
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Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour
Gluten Free White Cake
Ingredients
Gluten-Free White Cake Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons butter, softened (4 ounces; 113 grams)
- ½ cup vegetable shortening (3 ¼ ounces; 92 grams)
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (12 ¼ ounces; 347 grams)
- 2 ¾ cups gluten-free flour blend (see note) (13 ¾; 389 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (½ ounce; 14 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 6 large egg whites (about 7 ounces; 198 grams)
- ½ cup milk (4 ounces; 113 grams)
- ⅓ cup sour cream (2 ⅔ ounces; 66 grams)
Fluffy Vanilla Frosting Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups butter, softened (2 ½ sticks; 10 ounces; 287g)
- 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted (20 ounces; 580g)
- ⅓ cup heavy or whipping cream (2 ⅔ ounces; 66 grams)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Prepare the Cake
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Preheat oven to 325℉ Grease three 8-inch round cake pans.
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Whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg whites, one at a time. Allow each egg white to incorporate before adding the next. After adding the last egg white, add the vanilla and almond extract. Mix the batter for 45 seconds. It should appear very light and fluffy--almost like frosting.
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Reduce speed to low. Add about ⅓ of the flour, followed by the sour cream. Then, alternate between the remaining flour and milk, allowing each to almost incorporate before adding the next. After the last addition of milk, mix batter until smooth, about 45 seconds.
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Use a flexible rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl. If any dry flour comes to the surface, gently mix it into the batter.
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Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans. Smooth the batter evenly into each pan with the back of a spoon.
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Bake until the cakes are set and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out with only a few crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. The color will look very pale. Only the edge will turn a light golden brown.
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Allow cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Prepare the Frosting
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In a large bowl, beat the butter until light an creamy, about 2 minutes on medium speed with a handheld or stand mixer. Stop the mixer. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Turn mixer to low and allow the ingredients to incorporate. Increase speed to medium- high speed and mix until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. If frosting seems too thin, add an additional two tablespoons powered sugar. If frosting seems too thick, add an additional tablespoon cream.
Assemble and Frost the Cake
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Place one cake layer on your cake stand. Spread a generous, about ¾ cup, frosting over top of first layer. Repeat with remaining two layers. Spread a layer of frosting evenly on top of the cake. Then, frost the sides.
Recipe Notes
Gluten-Free Flour Blend
This recipe was tested with Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. Replacing the flour with another brand might change the texture of the cake. Be sure to use a flour blend that contains xanthan gum. If it doesn't, add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the flour. Whisk to combine. Then use as directed.
Allison says
This is delicious, at least the cupcakes I made are. Still waiting on 2nd layer of cake to bake since I have only 1 cake pan. I used King Arthur 1:1 GF flour bc Bob’s Red Mill wasn’t available and I used a box mix of that brand before that was excellent. I halved the icing recipe since I plan on freezing the cupcakes and only made 2 layers of cake. It would be nice to have a printable or savable version of this recipe.
Tiffany says
I cannot find 8″ pans, can 2 9″ pans be used instead, and what would the baking time be for these?
Elizabeth says
Yes! The baking time should be about the same. The cakes won’t be as high but the texture will be fine.
Heather Clinton says
How did it work? We’re dairy free as well.
Amy says
Do you have a GF chocolate cake and buttercream recipe like this?
Elizabeth says
I do!
Gluten-free chocolate cake recipe. (it includes buttercream)
Jessica says
Can the cake layers be frozen?
Trisha says
Can you freeze the layers?
Elizabeth says
Yes! Just be sure to cool them and wrap well before freezig.
Sharon Warner says
I tried this recipe out on some gf cupcakes for my daughter in law’s bridal shower–her little sister can’t have gluten and she seems to always get left out!! NOT ANYMORE!! I am making the wedding cake this week, and I am SOOO using this recipe for one of the satellite cakes!! This recipe is fantastic! My husband loved it and said it reminded him of the sugar cookies I make for him. I’m so excited to include this recipe in my collection!! Thank you for such a wonderful addition!! Do you happen to have a chocolate version??
K says
Can i swap out sour cream for buttermilk?
Elizabeth says
Hmmm…good question. I think so. It’s only 1/3 cup. My concern is that it might slightly change the texture of the cake and make it a bit more moist and dense.
Rick Genton says
Can I add strawberry jello to make this into a strawberry cake? Do you have a buttercream icing recipe with added strawberries?
Elizabeth says
I have a recipe for gluten-free strawberry cake.
Gisele Robitaille says
Is there A Dairy free alternative to the sour cream that I can use?
Elizabeth says
I haven’t tested it with a dairy-free sour cream but a few of my readers have used them with good success. You can also try using a dairy-free yogurt.
Joshua Luterman says
What speed do I beat the butter and shortening? It just says beat.
Thank you!
Josh
Elizabeth says
Great question. Medium-high. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect this.
FancyNancy says
Looks gorgeous! Yet to try.. I will need to bake the cake in advance (just over 24 hrs). Ideally want to ice and store it but is it best stored at room temperature without icing?
Elizabeth says
Hi Nancy,
The frosting acts as a great “food wrap” and keeps the cake moist. I’d make it, allow the cake to cool and then frost. The cake will taste great when you’re ready to serve.
Natalie O’Connell says
OMG! This was soooo good. Really couldn’t tell it was GF and I don’t need to be GF but daughter and son-in-law are so I try to find recipes that excellent for everyone. I used raspberry filling between the layers. Going to use this recipe today to make cupcakes.
nora Terwilliger says
Could you please tell me how many cupcakes did this make Thanks Nora
Elizabeth says
Hi Nora,
The recipe should make about 20 cupcakes. Have fun!
Sunny says
I split this recipe by 3 to make a third-batch and used King Arthur Measure for Measure flour. I didn’t have sour cream so I subbed Greek yogurt. There was a bit of tweaking (i.e., adding a bit more milk, as well as some cake batter flavor and a teaspoon of cake enhancer) but this is one of the most tender cake recipes I’ve made in a long time. Since I only made one third of the whole thing I split it between two 6 inch pans and baked it accordingly.
Very good, will be making again!
Eliana Gembola says
Can you split the batter into 2 pans instead of 3 to make higher cakes or will that affect anything?
Susan says
Hi! I’m making this for a wedding cake and my layers are turning out so thin. My baking powder is brand new and I’m following the recipe exactly. Help….
Elizabeth says
Let’s try to solve this for you.
What size pan are you using?
And what brand of gluten-free flour?
Jacki says
So tender, moist, beautiful crumb & quite delicious. I used King Arthur’s gf flour, (2) 9″ pans, baked for 28 minutes & got perfection. The layers don’t rise as high as a cake using regular flour but that wasn’t an issue for me because that’s normal using gf flour. I will definitely make it again.
Jenny says
I’m making a GF wedding cake for my nephew and his bride. I did a trial run with this recipe, and it is delicious! The texture is wonderful too. I’m making a two tiered cake, 8 in on top of 12in cake. Can you tell me how much batter I’ll need for the 12 in pan? How about baking time for 12in? Thanks in advance!
Elizabeth says
For a 12-inch round pan, you’ll need about 7 cups of batter for one 2-inch layer. I’d plan on one recipe. You will probably have a little extra batter left over. Use that to make a few cupcakes.
As for the bake time, check the cake at 35 minutes. Good luck!
Jenny says
Thank you so much!
Sheila Maureen says
Only have 2 – 8″ inch pans. How long would you recommend baking?
Elizabeth says
I’d follow the recipe as written and use the leftover batter for a few cupcakes. Enjoy!