The Best Gluten Free White Cake

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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 ten years than anything else I’ve baked. The flavor combination is absolutely perfect with both almond and vanilla flavors.

best gluten free white cake recipe

Gluten Free Cake Recipes

Several 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.

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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. Unfortunately, this is not true for all gluten free baking 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.

Gluten Free White Cake

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. Over the past few years, I’ve made this cake with the exact recipe below countless 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!)

best gluten free white cake recipe

Gluten Free White Cake Recipe

  1. 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.
  2. Stir together the dry ingredients and set aside.
  3. Beat the eggs and the sugar together until creamy.
  4. Add half of the dry ingredients and beat again.
  5. Add the buttermilk, butter, vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine.
  6. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat just until combined.
  7. Divide the batter between the greased cake pans.
  8. 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.
  9. Remove and let cool at least 30 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
  10. Frost as desired.
Gluten Free White Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Once you’ve fallen in love with this cake the way that we have, you can use this recipe to make a Strawberry Poke Cake, a Pineapple Crush Jello Cake, or this Strawberry Mousse Cake.

The Gluten-Free White Cake recipe works great as cupcakes for a gluten-free birthday cake. My middle son loves this cake with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting. The possibilities with this cake recipe are endless.

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.

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The Best Gluten Free White Cake

4.64 from 102 votes
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.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 16 servings

Ingredients 

  • cups brown rice flour
  • cup potato starch
  • cup tapioca starch
  • ½ 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

Instructions

  • 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!

Notes

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.

Nutrition

Calories: 312kcal · Carbohydrates: 45g · Protein: 3g · Fat: 13g · Saturated Fat: 8g · Cholesterol: 73mg · Sodium: 216mg · Potassium: 224mg · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 26g · Vitamin A: 440IU · Vitamin C: 0.2mg · Calcium: 65mg · Iron: 0.7mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @barefeetkitchen or tag #barefeetkitchen!

{originally published 4/1/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 8/17/21}

The BEST Gluten Free White Cake doesn't taste "gluten free" at all! get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

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Mary Younkin

Mary Younkin

Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.

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  1. Katrina Wildey says

    Made this gf white cake with double boiler frosting and coconut for my birthday. It was so light and fluffy, and delicious. It is the best white cake I have ever had!!!5 stars

  2. Angel says

    My GF friend can’t tolerate xanthan or other gums. Is there a substitute for xanthan or can I leave it out? Thanks!

    • Mary Younkin says

      Hi Angel, the xanthan is important for holding the cake holds together. However, this is a pretty sturdy cake and I’d try it without the gum before deciding it won’t work. It’s worth a shot.

    • marg says

      this is such an excellent recipe and have found using Agar which is 100% vegan powder as a gelatin works well, it is derived from red algae, and can be used as a thickener. so perhaps you can try this. marg5 stars

  3. Amy says

    Last year, I used this recipe and marbled it with a chocolate one to make a marbled cake — it turned out pretty well. This year, I’m making cupcakes to deliver to my daughter’s friends … but the recipe didn’t come anywhere close to making 40 cupcakes, for me. I may have overfilled a couple of papers, but not enough to have made this sort of difference — it made about 24 cupcakes. I haven’t yet decided whether to make more or just limit it to 1 cupcake per person (I was planning on bringing extras to everyone). Anyway, in case anyone else is thinking of making cupcakes, I wanted to put this out there. I love the recipe, though! Thanks!5 stars

  4. Penny Vere says

    I’d love to try this and currently out of brown rice flour and only have white rice flour, I don’t have access to special ingredients very often. Do you think this will make a difference. I am not sure whether it is a texture thing or a nutritional thing between the white or brown. Thanks looking forward to trying this.

  5. Chloe Swick says

    I’m so excited to try this recipe! I do have a question though. Your recipe calls for 4 whole eggs, correct? Most recipes for white cake only call for egg whites. Does the cake remain white even with the egg yolks? Thanks!

  6. Natalie says

    Have you ever tried this dairy free? I don’t tolerate dairy OR gluten 🥺 (feeling bad for me is the correct response- it sucks lol).

  7. Barbara Borntrager says

    This has a soft, fine texture close to wheat flour cupcakes. I reduced the sugar to 1 cup and found it sweet enough, especially if you add frosting. I’ll be adding this to my recipe binder to make again. Also, it made 24 regular size cupcakes.4 stars

  8. Candice says

    This has been my go to white cake for years now! It’s so good I don’t even fee it’s gluten free. I made it for my 3 year old birthday yesterday and people loved the cake like kept coming back for more! I love that I have found a recipe that is perfect and I feel no need to keep searching! It’s no fail! Consistently turns out great!5 stars

  9. Jamie says

    Hi, this is my first time baking a gluten free cake. I followed the recipe to a T and my batter is very thick, almost like dough. Is that normal??

    • Mary Younkin says

      Yes, the batter is thicker than a traditional cake, Jamie. It isn’t typically scoopable like cookie dough though. How did you measure your dry ingredients?

  10. Dava says

    So, I need to make this dairy free and would like to add lemon flavoring. Do you have a recipe for that?

    Thanks!

    • Mary Younkin says

      I’ve made it with Earth Balance butter and almond milk. I imagine it would be great with lemon extract added, but I haven’t made this as an actual lemon cake with zest and juice.

  11. Allie says

    I just have to say this recipe is absolutely delicious! I halved it and made cupcakes. I used King Arthur cup 4 cup gf flour, slightly less sugar and all vanilla extract. I don’t know if it’s as good as the original but they are wonderful! Light, fluffy and moist. I’ll be making these again!5 stars

  12. Beth Beaty says

    I have done this cake so many times now – no one can tell it’s GF. This last time I tried the fresh strawberry frosting and got rave reviews! I wondered if you could find time to perfect the recipe for a GF regular pound cake. I have tried some recipes but they just have not been as good as a regular pound cake. Since you did such an amazing job on this white cake, I am sure you could get the perfect GF pound cake :).5 stars

  13. Sandra M Henslee says

    I love your gluten free recipes. I was excited to see Texas sheet cake listed. When I looked at the recipe it only gives regular flour as an option. Is there a way to make it gluten free? Thanks, Sandra5 stars

  14. Beth Beaty says

    I love this recipe! I have made it multiple times and no one can tell it’s GF. Do you have a similar conversion to GF recipe for a regular (vanilla) pound cake? I have not found a recipe I like yet for that. My daughter-in-law has celiacs so I could love to see you create the perfect one 🙂5 stars

    • Mary Younkin says

      I’m so glad you love this cake, Beth! I actually do have a GF pound cake, but I haven’t published it here. I’ll try to get it on the site soon!

    • Mary Younkin says

      I make this cake exactly as written, Beverly. However, many have made it successfully with gluten free flour blends. It’s worth scrolling through the comments a bit to see what has worked for other readers.

  15. Nyan Cat says

    Superb! I first tried the recipe with modifications after reading comments, and the cake fell. Tried it again, EXACTLY as the recipe states, and it turned out perfect. Even crumb, moist, fluffy, delicious! Thank you!5 stars