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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Hi there! What kind of oil is recommended?
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Any kind of plain, neutral oil like sunflower or refined avocado!
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Hi! Would this recipe work with a Bundt pan/how much baking time would you recommend?
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Yes, should be fine! Bake time will be around 45-50 minutes.
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Absolutely perfect! Make sure to read her notes on the flour she uses. This cake is moist and has great flavor. This is my second recipe to try by Eat with Clarity, and I have been thoroughly impressed both times.
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Thank you, Lauren! Can’t wait to see what else you make 🙂
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Absolutely LOVE this cake! Was wondering if this recipe can be made into cupcakes and if you have an idea how long to bake them?
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Yes! I’d probably start with about 16-20 minutes and adjust from there.
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Do you let your batter sit in pans 30 mins before baking ….I normally do this when baking anything with gluten free flour
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You don’t need to do that with this recipe!
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this cake turned out to be delicious also had a soft texture could not believe it was a gluten-free recipe
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My favorite kind of comment! Thank you 🙂
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Moist and tasty with excellent texture.
Several comments: The cake browned quickly; it looked fine but tasted a bit burned; next time I’ll tent it with a sheet of foil. The cake was done a bit early and passed the clean toothpick test; however the cake was jiggly like cheesecake; next time I’ll know that’s the reason to leave it in the pan for 15 minutes after baking. I recommend adding a comment that sugar is dry, but still it is traditionally added to the wet ingredients; the recipe could be written to mix the wet ingredients, and add dry in stages: first the sugar, next the dry ingredients once they’re thoroughly stirred, finishing with the vanilla. I used oat milk and had to remember to shake the carton before measuring.
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This recipe was excellent! Nobody could tell it was gluten free. I used my own flour blend and it still worked great.
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Makes me so happy to hear! Thanks, Natasha!
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I used my own gluten free flour blend, and the cake turned out awesome! My new go to recipe.
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Perfect, thanks Natasha!
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Hi! I just wanted to check on the butter part of the recipe. When you wrote about the ingredients you stated to use room temp butter but then your picture of ingredients and the list of ingredients at the bottom of the page say melted butter. Can you please clarify? Thank you!
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I have actually done it both ways and either works as long as the butter isn’t freshly melted. If you melt it completely, just let it chill for 10-15 minutes. Melted, then cooled or just softened will both work!
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Hi, I’m thinking of making the funfetti cake for an upcoming bbq of gluten free eaters! I need to make it in a 9x 13.5 pan. All I have. How long should I bake it for you think?
Thanks..-
I would guess around 35 minutes, but start with 30 and adjust from there!
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I plan on using your recipes for the chocolate cake and this funfetti to make a marble cake for my grandson’s birthday this weekend. Do you think this would work out? And would a 9×13 pan work? Thanks!
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That could work! If you want to do a 9×13, I would halve each recipe. Let me know how it turns out!
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I used the full recipe for each cake and used the extra batter for cupcakes. I only got six cupcakes of each flavor which was perfect. The chocolate and funfetti did not marble well. It could have been my technique or the fact that the chocolate batter was thinner. But the combination was delicious and it was gone very quickly. No one suspected it was gluten free. Thanks for your quick response to my questions. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
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Most likely because of the thinner batter, they’re more likely to bleed into each other. So glad it was good regardless! Will put a marble cake on my list for future recipes 🙂
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Have you tried any of your cake recipes with flax eggs?
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I recommend my vegan gluten free funfetti cake instead!
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Just started experimenting with gluten free baking and made this cake for my nephew’s 6th birthday. I mentioned to my brother, who has no dietary restrictions, that it was a GF cake just before he took his first bite. He has eaten lots of GF foods because of his in-laws, and was sure he’d be able to tell that it was GF (and that wasn’t meant as a compliment). He was pleasantly surprised by the cake, which was moist and flavourful – a traditional birthday cake. My nephew enjoyed it too! Made a typical chocolate buttercream frosting and kept the sprinkles for on top rather than in the batter.
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So happy it was a success! Thanks, Sonja!
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Hi there! hoping to make this for my sons birthday! Just want to clarify which type of sugar. Did you use regular white sugar?
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Yes, just regular white sugar!
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