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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Dessert Recipes » Vanilla Gluten-Free Cake Recipe

Vanilla Gluten-Free Cake Recipe

July 17, 2015 (Updated: July 30, 2019)   —  by Katie Wells

Gluten free buttercream cake recipe with fondant and buttercream

Reading Time: 4 minThis post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Vanilla Gluten-Free Cake Recipe+−
    • Buttercream Frosting Recipe
    • Fondant Frosting Recipe
    • Pulling it All Together
  • Vanilla Gluten-Free Cake Recipe
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I normally don’t share many dessert recipes, but that is because I don’t often make dessert. My husband and I don’t really like most sweet foods, and while the kids would probably eat dessert whenever we serve it, we try not to have sweets very often and to focus on quality proteins, vegetables, and fruits instead.

This recipe was born because I was trying to create a vanilla cake recipe that I loved and could use for making a friend’s baby shower cake.

The kids were, of course, willing taste testers, but I knew the cake was a winner when my husband liked it too. He isn’t a dessert guy at all, and the only dessert he will normally even eat is chocolate chip cookies, so the fact that he raved about this cake was a big deal.

Vanilla Gluten-Free Cake Recipe

This recipe is grain free, gluten free, and dairy optional, with a coconut and almond flour base. It does use some natural sweeteners, but is free of refined sugar and food dyes.

Even though this would fall in the “healthy” spectrum of desserts, this is absolutely not an everyday recipe!

As good as this cake was, a better option would still be a protein packed meal with some fresh fruit for dessert, but if you feel like splurging, this is a good alternative to most other cakes!

Gluten free buttercream cake recipe with fondant and buttercream
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3.86 from 7 votes

Vanilla Gluten-Free Cake Recipe

A lovely gluten-free, dairy optional, vanilla layer cake for special occasions. 
Calories 395kcal
Author Katie Wells
The ingredient links below are affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups coconut flour
  • 1 ½ cups almond flour
  • 1 ¼ tsp  baking powder
  • dash of salt
  • ¾ cup  coconut oil or butter melted
  • 1 cup  coconut sugar
  • 1 ½ cups homemade almond milk or coconut milk at room temperature
  • 2 TBSP  vanilla extract
  • 9 eggs at room temperature

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • Lightly grease and cake pans using  a small amount of coconut oil.
  • Mix together coconut flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
  • Beat the melted coconut oil/butter, coconut sugar, almond/coconut milk, vanilla, and eggs for about 2 minutes or until well mixed and fluffy.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients as they continue to mix. Mix until well incorporated.
  • Spread into two round 8-inch pans (if not making a layer cake, you can also make as cupcakes or a 9x13 cake. It makes about 24 cupcakes).
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes or until firm to the touch in the middle (if making a 9x13 cake or cupcakes adjust time up or down accordingly).
  • Remove from heat and let cool completely before frosting.
  • Frost with buttercream (if desired- see recipe below) and cover with fondant (completely optional).

Notes

Coconut flour varies a lot by brand. You may need to add slightly more flour if the batter is too thin or add slightly more coconut/almond milk if the mixture is too thick. This can be served without any type of frosting, or with fresh cream and berries or lemon zest. Though I included a recipe for fondant, we didn't actually eat the fondant and I just used it for decorating.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 395kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.3g | Protein: 8.3g | Fat: 27.3g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 147mg | Sodium: 111mg | Fiber: 2.8g | Sugar: 11.8g

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Again, this cake doesn’t need frosting, but if you want to add frosting, this recipe turned out great:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar or coconut sugar blended in a high powered blender to powder it
  • 1 TBSP vanilla extract
  • 2 TBSP heavy cream

Instructions:

  1. Beat the butter for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy.
  2. Add the sugar and other ingredients and beat for an additional 1 minute or until completely smooth.
  3. Use icing right away.

Fondant Frosting Recipe

We used this purely for decoration since the texture was great but it was too sweet for me! You could add natural food coloring to this to make any color you want for decoration.

Ingredients:

  • 2 (7 ounce) bags of organic marshmallows
  • 2 TBSP water
  • 2 lbs powdered sugar
  • coconut oil for hands and counter top

Instructions:

  1. Place the marshmallows and water in a microwave-safe bowl or double boiler and heat until melted.
  2. Add most of the powdered sugar to the melted marshmallow mixture and mix with a spoon or the kneading hook on a mixer for 1-2 minutes or until well incorporated and thick.
  3. Add some of the rest of the sugar and mix again.
  4. Grease hands with coconut oil and knead the icing until smooth and elastic.
  5. Refrigerate for a few hours (optional) or roll out using a rolling pin. Carefully drape over cake, or use knife or cookie cutters to cut desired shapes.

Pulling it All Together

Personally, I preferred the cake by itself with some fresh berries on top, but if you are making for a special event and want it to look more fancy, this is what I did for the picture:

  1. Let cakes cool completely. Place one on a flat baking sheet and ice with a thin layer of buttercream on top.
  2. Add the second layer of cake and ice the top and sides.
  3. Roll the fondant into a thin (1/8-1/4 inch) layer and placed carefully on top of the cake. I wanted more of a draped look, so I let the layers fall as they naturally did.
  4. Cut a “bow” out of the remaining fondant for decoration, but you could use any shape for this.

Ever made a (somewhat) healthier version of a treat? 

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Category: Dessert Recipes, Recipes

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder and CEO of Wellness Mama and Co-Founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

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Reader Interactions

Discussion (30 Comments)

  1. Shelby

    November 1, 2018 at 4:03 PM

    I never can figure out how long to adjust recipes for for cupcakes. What would you do?

    Reply
  2. Brenda A.

    July 9, 2018 at 12:45 AM

    Wow! I used Silk Almond dark chocolate milk bucause I was out coconut milk and the kids down 2 cupcakes each. Is was easy and delicious! – Thanks for sharing this recipe ?

    Reply
  3. Alexis

    January 5, 2018 at 7:06 AM

    Hi Katie,

    Thank you for sharing this recipe. My son can’t have coconut flour. What would be a nice alternative flour to use instead of coconut? And would I need to make any other adjustments to the ingredients if coconut flour is not used?

    Reply
    • Katie - Wellness Mama

      January 5, 2018 at 10:40 AM

      This post has some suggestions: https://wellnessmama.com/147959/almond-flour-alternatives/

      Reply
  4. Cassey

    March 16, 2016 at 4:09 PM

    I am looking for a yellow cake type cake (making a birthday cake). Is this something similar? Is it yellow cake like??

    Reply
  5. Megan Griffiths

    March 7, 2016 at 8:56 AM

    I’m looking for a butter free icing (milk & egg allergy) for a wheat free cake. Any suggestions before I try a coconut oil based one?

    Reply
  6. Mary

    March 6, 2016 at 4:36 AM

    I would love to try this, but I can’t eat eggs.
    Can I use something else?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      March 6, 2016 at 9:29 AM

      Here’s a few different options: https://wellnessmama.com/37022/egg-substitute-for-baking/

      Reply
  7. Lindsy

    March 5, 2016 at 10:18 PM

    5 stars
    Just tried this recipe. Thanks so much Katie! Very good cake. I love the flavor! I made mine as cupcakes.

    The batter was thick as the coconut flour absorbed so much of the liquid. I’m new to baking with coconut flour so I baked a test cupcake first (20min. for 1 cupcake, 25 min for the whole pan). It turned out just fine so I didn’t add more liquid to the batter. Also the test cupcake didn’t rise as much as a “traditional” American cake so i made sure to fill the rest of the cupcakes quite full. It made 17 cupcakes.

    The texture was grainier than traditional American cakes, but lighter/fluffier than the Norwegian almond flour cakes I’m used to. I can see that some people may be put off by the texture if they are not expecting it. Personally it doesn’t bother me at all. I enjoy it 🙂

    Also, I made mine in cupcake liners. The cake stuck to the liner quite a bit. It didn’t pull of cleanly. Maybe baking in a greased pan is better?

    I would definitely make this cake again! Absolutely Delicious!

    Reply
  8. Jo Anna

    March 5, 2016 at 8:25 PM

    My husband has a coconut allergy (eating Paleo for almost 3 years has been difficult) can you suggest an alternative to the flour? I use avocado oil instead of coconut oil and it’s usually ok but coconut flour has been more challenging.

    Reply
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