The Best Gluten Free White Cake is tender and moist, while dense enough not to crumble at the touch of a fork, this is exactly what I want in a white cake. Topped with creamy fresh strawberry frosting, or a classic buttercream, this cake has received more thumbs up over the past couple of months than anything else I’ve baked. The flavor combination is absolutely perfect with both almond and vanilla flavors.
A few years ago, my best friend asked if I would make her a gluten free white cake. In my relative newness to gluten free baking, I assured her that I could do that. Ha. It took me 6, maybe 7-8, different recipe attempts, (I stopping counting after I dumped the third mess into the trash.) The taste and/or texture was never quite right.
If you are familiar with gluten free baking, then you likely already know that recipes for traditional chocolate desserts are fairly simple to convert to gluten-free most of the time. This is evidenced by The Best Gluten Free Chocolate Cake, no one ever believes that one is gluten-free. This is not true for all dessert recipes. Chocolate provides so much flavor that without it, the more “unique” flavors of the gluten free flour alternatives will often show through. This made it much harder to achieve a classic white cake flavor.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m rather picky about my gluten free baking. (It has caused many an eye roll from my husband as I decide something just isn’t quite right, while he and my kids are happily devouring it. ha) Because I am not restricted from eating the traditional versions myself, I often make both items side by side to taste the both versions and see if the gluten free recipe measures up. “Good enough for gluten free” isn’t something I ever want to share with you.
I’m thrilled to tell you that this is THE CAKE. This cake absolutely positively measures up. I’ve made this cake with the exact recipe below three times now and I’ve served it to over a dozen people. It received rave reviews from every single person and they all questioned me more than once regarding whether or not it was really gluten free. (That, my friends, is a sign of gluten free recipe success!)
Check out all of the Gluten Free Dessert Recipes on this website!
Kitchen Tip: I use this sheet pan, this cake pan, or this cupcake pan to make this recipe.
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
- 2/3 cup potato starch
- 1/3 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup butter melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (2) 8" round cake pans with butter and line the bottom of each pan with a greased parchment circle. Stir together the dry ingredients and set aside. Beat the eggs and the sugar together until creamy. Add half of the dry ingredients and beat again. Add the buttermilk, butter, vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat just until combined.
- Divide the batter between the greased cake pans. Bake in the center of the oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and let cool at least 30 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost as desired. Enjoy!
This recipe makes (40) cupcakes. Bake cupcakes at 350°F for 18 minutes. If you are looking for a traditional white cake recipe, not a gluten free version, I recommend I Am Baker's Perfect White Cake. The recipe has received amazing reviews from everyone who has made it.
{originally published 4/1/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/21/17}
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