Vanilla Gluten Free Dairy Free Cake

This delicious vanilla gluten free dairy free cake recipe is perfect for birthdays, holidays, or just a special anytime dessert.  It comes together quickly and easily, and is made with common ingredients.

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How to make a gluten free dairy free cake

You might be surprised that this recipe is actually made with simple ingredients.  If you already follow a gluten free dairy free diet, you’ve probably already got all these on hand already.  If not, the few “specialty” ingredients are easy to find at any major grocery store!

For the vanilla cake, here’s what you’ll need:

• Vanilla almond milk
• Vinegar
• Sugar
• Brown sugar
• Honey
• Vanilla
• Egg
• Canola oil (or another oil of your choice)
• Gluten free all-purpose flour
• Cornstarch
• Baking soda and baking powder
• Salt

If you’re just starting a gluten free diet, you may be wondering what type of flour to buy.  You want to look for a gluten free all-purpose flour substitute.  These are generally a blend of several different types of flour, and measure cup for cup like regular all-purpose flour.

For this particular recipe, I used NOW Foods Gluten Free Flour, which is a blend of White Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Organic Tapioca Flour, Potato Starch, Potato Flour, and Cellulose.  But you can also use another blend of your choice, including a few of my other favorites – Jovial Gluten Free Flour or King Arthur Gluten Free Flour.

(Side note – NOW is a client I work with often, so if you need to order anything from them, like flours, protein powders, or anything else, you can use code CHRISSYNOW10 for $10 off a $40 purchase on their website!).

Alright, once you’ve got your ingredients, you only need a few minutes to mix up your batter.  You’ll start by making a homemade dairy free “buttermilk” by mixing the almond milk with the vinegar.  Let that sit for a few minutes.

While that’s sitting, beat together you sugar, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, egg, and oil.  I used canola oil here but you can really use whatever neutral oil you’d like, or you can also use softened dairy-free butter.

After that, stir in your flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder.  If you want to do it true baker style you can mix those in another bowl first, but honestly I always just directly add everything into the bowl with the wet ingredients and it always comes out fine.

Add your almond milk mixture, stir everything until it’s combined, and your batter is ready!

You’ll want to pour this into two greased 9-inch cake pans.  That size works best for this recipe, but if you only have 8-inch cake pans, you can use them.  You’ll need to probably adjust the baking time a little bit to bake a smidge longer.

Bake ‘em up and you’ve got yummy vanilla cake.

How to make vanilla buttercream frosting

The last step is to make the vanilla buttercream frosting.  For this, you’ll need:

• Dairy-free butter (like Earth Balance or country crock plant butter sticks)
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla almond milk
• Vanilla extract

You want to wait to frost the cakes until they’re completely cool.  If you frost them while warm, this frosting will melt.  Heed that warning from my own past failures, friends! 😉

To make the frosting, you’ll just combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together with a stand mixer or hand mixer.  You want the consistency to be very light and fluffy, so give it a minute or two to really incorporate air and help get that texture.

Once it’s ready, you’ll frost the first cake, then layer the second one on top like this:

Then, frost up the top and sides of the entire cake.  YUM!

Allergens in this recipe

Disclaimer:  I try to note potential allergens in all recipes – but as you know, manufacturers can change ingredient formulations or I may miss something.  Always double check ingredients and labels prior to consuming if you have an allergy.

This recipe is dairy free and gluten free.

As long as you choose a flour that is soy-free (like the NOW Foods brand that I used and mentioned above) and a vegan butter that is soy-free (like the red tub of Earth Balance) – it’s also a soy-free recipe.

This recipe does contain eggs and tree nuts.  The egg is fairly essential to the structure here, so it may be tough to try to modify that.  If you do and find a way to do it successfully, feel free to leave a comment!

Removing tree nuts from this recipe is easy though – just use vanilla oat milk in place of the almond milk, and you’ve made the recipe nut-free.

More Gluten Free Dairy Free Desserts

If you want more delicious desserts that fit your dietary needs, here are a few ideas!

• Gluten free dairy free gingersnaps
• Gluten free vegan raspberry muffins
• Dairy free gluten free peanut butter cookies

I hope you enjoy this dairy free cake as much as my family does!  If you get a chance to try it, be sure to leave a recipe rating or comment below.

4.67 from 3 votes

Print

Vanilla Gluten Free Dairy Free Cake

This delicious vanilla gluten free dairy free cake is perfect for birthdays, holidays, or any time you need a special dessert!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword dairy free vanilla cake, gluten free dairy free cake, gluten free vanilla cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes

Total Time 42 minutes

Servings 14 slices

Calories 432 kcal

Author Dairy Free for Baby

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup canola oil (or another oil of your choice)
• 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 2/3 cup dairy-free butter (i.e. Enjoy Life red tub or another option; double check to ensure gluten-free)
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 to 4 tablespoons vanilla almond milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with canola oil.
2. Combine the almond milk and vinegar in a glass. Let sit for 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, egg, and oil.
4. Add the gluten-free flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the bowl. Pour in the almond milk mixture, and stir everything until combined.
5. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 22 minutes, or until a knife pulls out clean from the center. Let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes in the pan, then place a plate on top of each pan and invert to remove each cake.
6. When the cakes are completely cool, make the frosting. In a large bowl, combine the dairy-free butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons almond milk. Beat using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer or hand mixer until light and fluffy.
7. Spread the frosting on top of one cake, then place the other cake on top. Frost the top and sides of the layered cake. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Nutrition analysis (approximate per slice): 432 calories, 16.5 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 315 mg sodium, 69 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g fiber, 1.5 g protein, Vitamin A: 2%, Vitamin C: 0%, Calcium: 9%, Iron: 1%

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