Gluten Free Funfetti Birthday Cake
My go-to gluten free birthday cake! With a vanilla cake base, lots of sprinkles for a funfetti twist and finished off with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting. The perfect recipe for any celebration!
We already have a lot of gluten free cake recipes on the blog, but this gluten free birthday cake is definitely one of my favorites and is perfect for any kind of celebration.
It has a rich buttery vanilla flavor, tons of sprinkles to make it funfetti and finished off with my classic dairy free buttercream frosting.
Plus, it’s so easy to make, requiring just one bowl and a few simple ingredients you probably already have on hand. My gluten free funfetti cookies are also a simple recipe that can feed a crowd!
I opted to make this a six inch 3 layer cake, but you can also make a 2 layer 8 inch instead. Either way, it will be enough to feed about 14-18 people, depending on how much everyone wants to eat. Try my dairy free birthday cake, funfetti blondies or gluten free strawberry cake next!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make
- Dairy free friendly
- Pantry staple ingredients
How to make a gluten free birthday cake
Spray and line two 8 inch round cake pans or three 6 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the softened (not melted!) butter and sugar to a bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and beat together for about 1 full minute.
Beat in the remaining wet ingredients, making sure the eggs and milk are at room temperature.
If they were in the fridge, microwave the milk for about 30-45 seconds and add the eggs to a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes to quickly bring to room temp.
Add in the dry ingredients aside from the sprinkles, making sure to spoon and level the flour using dry measuring cups, don’t scoop right from the bag.
Whisk together until a smooth batter forms, then fold in the sprinkles. Add to your prepared pans, trying to make each as even as possible for even baking.
Add to the oven on the center rack and bake for 38-42 minutes for 8 inch cakes or 45-52 for 6 inch cakes. Check with a toothpick for doneness, it should come out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs on it, but it should not be wet.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack and let finish cooling at room temperature. Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and either refrigerate or freeze before frosting.
For 6 inch cakes, I like to put about 1 cup of frosting in between each layer, or 1 1/2 cups for 8 inch cakes, then do a crumb coat, chill the cake, then do a final layer of frosting. Try my gluten free oreo cake next!
Tips for a moist texture
If this is your first time making or trying a gluten free birthday cake, or gluten free cake in general, you may be worried about it being either too dry, too dense, not moist enough etc.
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These are common (and valid) concerns with gluten free baking, so I’m going to fill you in on a few secrets to getting a moist and tender cake.
First and foremost, make sure you are measuring your flour properly! The best way to measure flour is to weight it, but my go to method is to spoon the flour into your measure cup, then level off the top with a knife.
Don’t ever pack it into the measuring cup as you will end up with far more flour than the recipe actually calls for.
Second, use enough butter or oil in the cake to add moisture. This recipe uses mostly butter because it creates a very rich flavor. Some cake recipes may also call for apple sauce or use brown sugar instead of white, however, for this recipe we’ll be using a bit of greek yogurt to create a moist cake.
Finally, do not over bake! There is a very fine line between under-baked and over-baked when it comes to anything gluten free, so be sure to watch your oven carefully and check the cake as it gets close to the end.
All ovens are different, so set your timer to the lower number in the time range provided, and add more time as needed in small increments.
Prep it in advance!
You can easily prep gluten free cakes in advance. My suggestion is to make the cake as usual, let it cool completely, then tightly wrap in plastic wrap, then place each layer in a freezer safe bag.
Freeze until you’re ready to frost! This is the best way to ensure it stays nice and moist before you serve it.
Why do cakes sink in the middle?
This is generally due to over-mixing the batter, too much leavening agent, or too much liquid.
Those are problems I usually encounter when testing a recipe, so you shouldn’t have any sunken middles if you follow the recipe as written! Just make sure you don’t underbake since this can also result in a sunken middle.
Substitutions
Dairy. You can use non-dairy milk such as almond, vegan butter and dairy free greek yogurt (I like Kite Hill). This recipe will work well with regular dairy or dairy free options.
Eggs. I do not recommend making this cake without eggs as those are key for the overall texture. Instead, try my vegan gluten free funfetti cake.
Flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour (blue bag) which I highly recommend for this recipe. You can try a different brand, but I cannot guarantee the results as all blends are different. Just be sure to use one that has xanthan gum!
I do not recommend subbing for almond flour, oat flour or any other type of gluten free flour other than all purpose!
You’ll also love…
- Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Lemon Cake
- Banana Snack Cake
- Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake
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Gluten Free Funfetti Birthday Cake
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- ½ cup butter melted then cooled slightly
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 ⅔ cup sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup room temperature milk dairy or non-dairy
- ⅓ cup greek yogurt dairy or non-dairy
Dry
- 3 cups gluten free all purpose flour see notes
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sprinkles
Frosting
- 1 batch vanilla buttercream click for recipe
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spray and line two 8 inch round cake pans or three 6 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add all wet ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds.
- Make sure the eggs and milk are at room temperature. If they were in the fridge, microwave the milk for about 30-45 seconds and add the eggs to a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes to quickly bring to room temp.
- Add in the dry ingredients aside from the sprinkles, making sure to spoon and level the flour using dry measuring cups, don’t scoop right from the bag.
- Whisk together until a smooth batter forms, then fold in the sprinkles.
- Add to your prepared pans, trying to make each as even as possible for even baking.
- Add to the oven on the center rack and bake for 38-42 minutes for 8 inch cakes or 45-52 for 6 inch cakes. Check with a toothpick for doneness, it should come out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs on it, but it should not be wet.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack and let finish cooling at room temperature. Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and either refrigerate or freeze before frosting.
- For 6 inch cakes, I like to put about 1 cup of frosting in between each layer, or 1 1/2 cups for 8 inch cakes, then do a crumb coat, chill the cake, then do a final layer of frosting.
Notes
Comments
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This sounds delicious! Any suggestions for converting it to a bundt cake recipe?
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Follow the recipe as usual but the bake time will likely be about 10 minutes longer!
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This looks and sounds amazing. I have a question – can I use this same recipe for a sheet cake (rectangle), and what adjustments would need to be made for type of pan, cooking time, and ingredients?
Thank you!
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Yes! Follow all of the same steps as usual, but grease and line a 9×13 pan. Bake time will be about 35 but keep an eye on it and check with a toothpick to test for doneness.
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The perfect gluten free funfetti cake!
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delicious. Made it for my parents’s anniversary. They loved it
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I was curious if you have made it into cupcakes? Do you have any bake time and temp suggestions? Can’t wait to try it!
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Should be fine! 350 Fahrenheit and I’d start with 16-18 minutes and adjust from there.
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I haven’t tasted it yet as it is still in the oven yet I have a question, the recipe calls for 408 grams but using the flour bag it should have been 444 grams. How did you come up with 408 grams?
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Those numbers are automatically calculated, so there is definitely a margin of error.
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That seems like so much sugar. Can I cut the amount in half?
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It’s a cake, not meant to be low sugar! You are welcome to try reducing if you want, but I can’t guarantee the flavor.
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I plan to make this cake and will almost halve the amount of sugar. I always do that with recipes, and the cakes still taste great. It’s a matter of preference. Thank you for this recipe; it’ll be a great fun cake for a party.
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Let me know how it turns out!
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Hi! Excited to try this for my daughter’s birthday! Do you think it would bake ok in a bundt pan, and if so, do you have a recommended bake time? Also, what about high altitude adjustments? I live at 7,000 feet. Thank you!
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Bundt pan should be fine! I’d start with 45 minutes and go from there. I don’t have much experience with high altitude baking unfortunately.
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I made this recipe as is – and it is amazing! The cake is “solid” – great texture while also being strong enough to handle the buttercream frosting (some gluten free cakes don’t hold up well). It’s a sweet cake, but that’s another reason why the density is just right. I also used the buttercream frosting recipe, also delicious.
I will be making this one again! We are on our third year being a gluten free household, and we hardly miss it! Recipes like this shine the light on GF eating!
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That makes me so happy! Thanks, Laura!
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Going to make this this weekend!! Did you use vanilla Greek yogurt or plain?
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Plain but vanilla would be fine!
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From all the rave reviews I was looking forward to making this cake for a family member that was gluten and dairy free. However, I am confused as to how this is dairy free when milk, butter and greek yogurt are dairy products. Do you have any suggestions on what I can use to replace these three? Thank you!🙂
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You just use dairy free milk (I suggest almond), dairy free butter and dairy free greek yogurt! For butter I like Earth Balance and for greek yogurt I like Kite H9ll.
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