Gluten Free Cakes

I don’t know about you guys but I LOVE when someone in my family has a birthday! It is so fun to shop and spoil them with goodies! The special dinner is great and gifts too but in our family it’s all about the cake, which can be challenging when you have some dietary restrictions!

Gluten free cake is actually great!

There are so many options out in the store now, but I will tell you about my favorites!

Most of the Gluten free cake mix boxes on the shelf are a mix of different flours for example, almond, coconut, rice, tapioca, and potato. Most are dairy free too which is also a must in our house. Because some of them have almond flour please be sure to read the ingredients if you have a nut allergy. Soy is another sneaky allergy to look out for in gluten free mixes.

Here are some of the well know names:

      • Pillsbury Gluten Free Funfetti Cake: contains soy BUT no nuts, or dairy
      • Betty Crocker, Yellow Cake Mix: Gluten Free: no dairy or soy and nut free
      • Duncan Hines Keto & Gluten Free Classic Yellow Cake Mix: contains nuts BUT no soy or dairy

      Not so well-known name brands:

      • King Arthur Baking Company Yellow Cake Mix Gluten Free: no dairy or soy and nut free. *recipe does call for milk and butter (can be substituted with non-dairy milk and vegan butter)
      • Simple Mills Almond Flour Vanilla Cake Mix: contains nuts BUT no dairy or soy.
      • Namaste Foods Gluten Free Cake Mix: no dairy or soy and nut free. *recipe does call for butter(can be substituted with non-dairy milk and vegan butter or oil)
      • Pamela’s Classic Vanilla Cake Mix, Gluten Free: *This brand has one made with almond flour and one without, no dairy or soy.
      • Bob’s Red Mill, Vanilla Yellow Cake Mix: no dairy, soy or nuts. *recipe does call for butter(can be substituted with vegan butter or oil)
      • LiveGFree Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix: no dairy, soy or nuts *recipe does call for milk(can be substituted with non-dairy milk)

      Most of these brands also have chocolate and some have other flavors as well. Out of the store bought brands LiveGFree would be my go to! So if I were to make cake or cup cakes for a lot of people for a party or school event I might use one of the box mixes to speed up the process and save money!

      On the other hand I do love to bake so if I am making it for my close family and I plan ahead of time I will make gluten free cake from scratch. Here is my favorite recipe below. I used to make this cake before I changed to a gluten free diet so since then I have made some tweaks and it is a hit every time!

      How to Bake The Best White Cake

      To bake this cake, you’ll need these ingredients:

      1 cup butter (or 2 sticks) softened (I do use butter for baking because I know it will turn out right, Butter is a very high-fat dairy product that contains only trace amounts of lactose so doesn’t effect most dairy free diets.)

      ½ cup vegetable shortening (I use this soy free brand)

      3 cups granulated sugar

      5 large eggs at room temperature

      3 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-free)

      2 teaspoons baking powder

      ¼ teaspoon salt

      ½ cup whole milk, room temperature (I use 1/2 cup of almond or coconut milk (not canned coconut milk))

      ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature (I make a substitute:1 tsp of lemon juice mixed with enough of my dairy free milk to fill the rest of the 1/2 cup, stir and let rest for a few minutes)

      2 teaspoons vanilla extract

      Preheat the ovens

      Begin by preheating the oven to 350º Fahrenheit.

      Prepare cake pans

      Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or coat well with shortening or butter and flour the pans, taking care to remove all excess flour.

      Cream butter and shortening

      In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, you will cream together butter and shortening until light and fluffy with an electric mixer or stand mixer.

      Add sugar and eggs per instructions

      Then slowly add sugar one cup at a time to the butter/shortening mixture, making sure to fully incorporate each cup before adding another. Next, add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another.

      Dry ingredients; Get a separate bowl for your dry ingredients and sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

      Milks; Then in a measuring cup, pour milks and vanilla into the measuring cup and whisk together with a fork.

      Next, alternately add a small amount of the dry ingredient mixture to butter and shortening mixture, gently stirring after each addition. Then add a small amount of the milk mixture to butter/shortening mixture and gently stir until just combined. Continue alternating between adding small amounts of the dry mixture to the butter/shortening mixture with adding small amounts of the milk mixture to the butter/shortening mixture, just gently stirring until combined after the addition of each. Make sure to begin and end with the addition of the dry ingredients.

      Final Stir and Scrape the Bowl

      Gently stir all ingredients until well combined. Then, stop the mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, making sure to that all ingredients are mixed well.

      Distribute Cake Batter into Pans

      Next, evenly distribute cake batter between the three 9 inch cake pans and place pans into oven.

      Bake the Cake

      Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Please don’t open and close the oven door a lot while the cake is baking as the oven temperature drops each time the door is opened.**If following my gluten free dairy free cake recipe then these cakes will take 45-55 minutes! Be sure to poke the center of cakes with a toothpick before removing from the oven. If you take them out too soon the center will fall.

      Remove from Oven and Cool

      Remove the cakes from the oven when done and allow to cool slightly in cake pans for about 5 minutes. Then gently place the cake layers on a wire rack to finish cooling completely. This is important because cakes left in the cake pans the too long to cool may sweat, making it possible for the cakes to stick to the pans.

      Frost the Cake with your preferred frosting.

      Here is recipe of my Classic Vanilla Buttercream:

      2 pounds powder sugar

      2 stick SOFTENED unsalted butter

      2 stick SOFTENED salted butter

      2 tablespoons vanilla

      5 tablespoons milk (or dairy free kind of your choice, its very good with almond milk)

      Cream butter 1st. Be careful not to melt it, it will become too runny.

      Add 1/2 the powder sugar, then 3 tablespoons of milk.

      Add the rest of the powder sugar, then 2 tablespoons of milk.

      If you feel the frosting is too thick then add another tablespoon of milk.

      Enjoy!

      As always feel free to comment with you favorite, or not so favorite. Questions are always welcome.

      Aloha until next time,

      Kat

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