Gluten Free Vanilla Cake
Move over cake mix! This delicious gluten free white cake recipe is moist and fluffy with loads of vanilla flavor. You will want to make this cake for birthday parties and celebrations year round!
Ingredients
Gluten Free Cake
- 2 ¾ cups (341 g) 1:1 gluten-free flour with xanthan gum
- ¼ cup (32 g) cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons (16 g) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (112 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup (59 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cup (315 g) granulated sugar
- 3 (150 g) eggs room temperature
- 1 cup (236 ml) whole milk room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening optional but recommended for stiffness
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- food coloring optional
Instructions
Gluten Free Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans. Lining the bottoms with parchment paper is recommended.
- In a small bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and oil in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, at least 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as you go.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Mixing on low speed, begin adding the dry ingredients and milk a little at a time, alternating between the two.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Let rest for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The top of the cakes should be a light golden color, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then carefully turn them out and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream
- Add the butter and shortening to your mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer set to high speed, beat the butter for around 10 minutes. It should start to lighten in color.
- Sift in the powdered sugar (to remove any lumps), one cup at a time, while mixing on low speed until smooth.
- Add the cream and vanilla. Start mixing on low speed, and once combined, increase to medium-high speed. Continue beating the buttercream for at least 5 minutes, or until it looks fluffy and smooth.
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- electric mixer or stand mixer
Notes
- Egg weight is out of the shell.
- If the sugar is still gritty, the batter is UNDER mixed.
- Wrapping with damp cake bands will keep the edges from drying out and over browning.
- The butter adds most of the flavor to the frosting so use a butter you like the taste of.
- You must use room temp butter for the frosting or the buttercream will have lumps in it.
- If you want to pipe on the frosting, replace up to half the butter with shortening.
- Heavy crema makes the frosting fluffy, but you can also use regular milk.
- To whiten your buttercream, add a tiny amount of purple or violet food coloring gel. The purple will cancel out yellow tones.