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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.
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.
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!)
Gluten Free White Cake Recipe
- 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.
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.
The Best Gluten Free White Cake
Ingredients
- 1½ cups brown rice flour
- ⅔ cup potato starch
- ⅓ 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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 4/1/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 8/17/21}
When you say "beat the eggs and sugar together until creamy", how long do you mix them for, and what should they look like? Do you have to beat until they double in volume or anything? This cake looks yum by the way!!:)
Beat them together until they are well combined and smooth, they don't need to double in size or anything like that. It shouldn't take more than a minute or so. Enjoy!
I made this cake today..OMG! It is the best gluten free cake I've made, and is better than some of the non gf cakes I've had. I used white rice flour instead, and used all vanilla essence. Thanks so much for this recipe – I LOVE it!
I totally agree! This tastes amazing!! I served it with other non gf cakes and this one was the the first to go.
I absolutely love this recipe. The first time made it I substituted the extracts for rum. I also did a rum frosting. I let set for 24 hours and the cake was incredible. The next time I made it I followed the recipe exactly, and made a chocolate frosting and a' la' yum! Both times I froze part of the cake a upon defrosting the cake was as good or better tasting. Thank you so much for this recipe Mary and have a happy gluten free day.
Hi, I am excited to make your cake recipe for my birthday this weekend! Just a couple questions… can you do this all in a 9×13 pan instead of two round pans? Just wondering if that would be an option. Also, for the melted butter in the cake recipe AND in the butter used in the fresh strawberry frosting, are you using salted or unsalted butter? I don't want to mess it up! Thanks for your help!! 🙂
This should work fine in a 9×13 pan, Lindsay. I use regular salted butter for both recipes. Enjoy!
Hi,
Quick Question?? How will freezing affect a GF cake until time to frost. Would like to pre- make for my daughters baby shower for a time saver. By the way, I did 3 test recipes and this cake turned out FABULOUS on my test version, and is definitely the winner!!! None of my taste testers could tell it was GF at all. Thanks for the time and cost you devoted to perfect something, that is not so easy to do.
It should freeze the same as any other cake. Just wrap it airtight. I'm thrilled that you love the recipe!
I am so excited to try this! I am GF baker, and having been baking GF for years, but I have never been able to find a cake recipe that I liked! They have mixes now that are pretty good, but at $6 a box, its just way to much!! And I'm a traditionalist in that when someone compliments the cake, I like being able to say that I made it, not just mixed it together! 😉
I have a question though, I am doing a 3 tiered cake for my sons 1st birthday this Saturday, and I'm wanting to do a 10 inch round base. Would you keep the cooking time the same, or increase it, say maybe by 10 minutes?
If you are doing (3) 10" layers, are you planning to double the recipe? I'm guessing that you'll definitely need a few extra minutes. Bake it until very lightly browned and test with a toothpick. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Okay, thank you. Actually, just the base a 10 inch, then a 9 inch and then an 8 inch, that will be carved into the shape of circus tent (I hope!). Do you think one recipe would be enough for a 10 inch round? (I would do a separate batch for the other ones as the baking time would be different.)
One recipe should be plenty for a single 10" layer. I assumed you were doing three 10" layers. The cake sounds great!
The cake turned out amazing, thank you so much for this recipe!! Everyone loved it and didn't know it was gluten free!! It is also good for craving and stacking, if anyone is looking to make a tier cake like I did. I will be using this recipe from now on!!
The only thing I found in that making the 10 inch cake and having to bake it longer, the bottom did get a little dark. I'm going to try putting a baking sheet on the rack underneath it next time so it doesn't get as much direct heat and see if that helps.
This recipe is great. But even better if you substitute the butter for oil. The oil makes it more moist.
Did you have to change the measurements for liquid ingredients?
I love this cake! I have made it several times. People that don't eat gluten free rave and gobble it up! If I were to add some pumpkin to this, would I take anything out of just add it?
I don't think that pumpkin will substitute smoothly into this cake. You could try it, maybe with removing some of the liquids, but honestly, I am doubtful it will work. Most pumpkin cakes are much more dense and not at all fluffy. While it might be a delicious cake with the pumpkin, it definitely won't have the same fluffy texture.
If you are looking for a great pumpkin cake, you can search "pumpkin" here on the site and there are a few options. I hope that helps!
Hi! I am new to GF baking and I am wondering if I would get the same wonderful results if I substituted Cup4Cup GF flour for your different flours and xanthum gum?
I haven't tried that myself, but I've heard great reviews for the Cup4Cup flour blend. I'm guessing that it will work well. If you do try it, please let me know how it turns out!
Hello!
Did you try this cake with Cup4Cup?? If so, how did it turn out and how much C4C did you use?? I swear by that stuff and would love to use this recipe for my daughter's birthday cake tomorrow. Thank you!!
I just tried this recipe as a test run for my daughter's upcoming birthday. It was really good, but after I put it in the refrigerator overnight and tried it in the morning, it was really dry and hard to eat. Did I do something wrong? Maybe I did overcook it. Someone suggested replacing butter for oil. Has anyone tried that and found it more moist? I'm going to try it again, but it tasted great fresh out of the oven! Thanks for the recipe!!
Did you cover it in the fridge? Did you allow it to return to room temperature? I've eaten it after refrigerating it without any problem, but I do usually let it warm up a bit. Hopefully that helps!
BEST cake I've made GF!! Made it for a birthday party and used my own apricot vanilla jam for he filling and a vanilla bean buttercream. Everyone raved about it…not a slice left and not a morsel left on anyone's plate. Can't wait to make another! Thank you so much!!
I recently got an order for a gluten free cake. I must admit I was a little intimidated. But not for long. Stumbled on your recipe after I tried two other recipes from other websites that were not good. Your recipe was a hit. Delicious. A friend of mine recommended I let the batter sit for 20 minutes in the mixing bowl, which I did before I baked the cake. It was awesome. Thank you for sharing. You are truly appreciated.
THE BEST GF White Cake!
From a family of bakers, confectioners and perfectionists! Made this with the usual low GF/CF expectations for my grandson's 8th birthday. Did a 1/2 sheet. We usually make a small GF for the kids and a regular cake for everyone else. Didn't have time to make 2 cakes this year so I just went for it – and glad I did.
Baked up beautifully, nice texture & moisture content. I did use Better Batter GF flour, as I was out of my blend.
Instead of portioning out and freezing the leftovers – the entire cake was consumed – on the spot. The non GF'ers went back for seconds and thirds before the evening was over. That has never happened in our house with GF/CF goods – ever, not once in 8 years. We are avid GF/CFbakers.
YUMMM. You know how he GF crowd always says "You can't tell the difference" – with this cake you won't be able to.
This is the new BDay cake recipe for everyone in our family, GF or not.You can bake this recipe with confidence.
Many Thanks for sharing.
SA Seattle
A shot in the dark at getting a response quickly enough, but when using “Better Batter” do the xanthan gum, tapioca and potato starches still need to be added? They are already part of the BB mix…
I’ve never used Better Batter mix. So, I can’t answer that. If you look at the ingredient list, assuming it’s a complete GF all purpose mix, you should be able to determine if those things are included.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! My husband has Celiac disease and while he and the kids are not picky about GF food, I am. I'm so looking forward to making this!
As a gfree and casein free family, we can't have buttermilk, but ok with the butter. Can we subsitute almond milk/coconut milk and add a TBSP of vinegar?
I'd try it with almond milk and vinegar. I'm guessing it will work fine. If you try it, definitely let me know how it works!!
Thanks for this recipe, it sounds amazing! I make my girls birthday cakes every year – there is no GF bakery around me. This year I'm using a large loaf pan (16x4x4-1/2"). The original recipe calls for 2 boxes of cake mix and says to bake for 70-90 minutes. How do you think this would translate to your recipe?
Thanks in advance!!
I have no idea what the (2) boxes of cake mix called for in the recipe are referring to, but the recipe above should fill the 16×4 pan without any problems. It fills 2 round pans generously and will also fill a 9×13 cake pan or a professional half sheet pan. You shouldn't need to double this one for just the large loaf pan. I hope that helps!
This looks great! Do you happen to know the weights of the flour and starch amounts used in this recipe? If not, can you please tell me whether you're spooning them into measuring cups or scooping directly with the measuring cup? Thanks in advance!
I do not have the weights, but I will weigh the flours next time I make this cake and add them to the recipe. I usually spoon or very lightly scoop the flours into the measuring cups. (I level them off with a knife or side of the spoon.) I hope that helps!
I’m interested in the weights as well, but don’t see them listed. Any chance that you will update the recipe to reflect these? That would be so appreciated! Thanks!
Thank you for all of your replies (you are the best I've ever seen) and for this recipe! I'm making a "rainbow cake" for my daughter's birthday and it looks like this cake is easily frosted and will hold up being stacked. Is that your assessment? Also, do you think I could substitute liquid yogurt for the buttermilk? I live in Serbia and buttermilk doesn't exist here. Thank you so much!
Yes, the cake holds up to stacking. I have no idea how the yogurt would work, but I typically create a buttermilk substitute by adding a tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk and letting it rest for five minutes before adding it to the batter. I hope that helps!
Wow! What a quick reply! Thank you! I'll give your suggestion a try. Thanks, again!