Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Birthday Cake

Light and soft, this dairy and gluten-free birthday cake is the perfect way to celebrate! Made without wheat ingredients but with lots of flavor, this gluten-free vanilla cake is easy to make and can be topped with extra sprinkles for added color.

Even as a Certified Nutrition Coach, finding a balance of healthy ingredients plus flavor is a challenge. However, this dairy-free birthday cake does it!

This cake is naturally gluten-free but still ultra-light in texture. Instead of using traditional gluten-free flour (like 1:1 baking flour), it uses coconut flour. However, the texture still comes out as light. (which is rare sometimes with coconut flour!).

It’s a double-stacked gluten-free cake with easy, dairy-free icing smoothed between the layers and can be topped with any of your favorite sprinkles.

I’ve used this cake for birthdays, showers, and many kid-gatherings and it’s always a hit!

A dairy-free vanilla cake that combines the best of both worlds in terms of healthy eating and indulgence.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Coconut Flour: the base of the gluten-free birthday cake is made not with traditional a gluten-free flour blend but with coconut flour. This helps keep it naturally gluten-free.

Eggs: a staple when using coconut flour to help it bind and fluff up.

Applesauce: this is what helps keep the dairy-free vanilla cake light instead of dense which can often happen with coconut flour!

Olive oil: you can use olive oil or avocado oil for this recipe. However, coconut oil will change the texture and shouldn’t be substituted.

Honey: the gluten-free vanilla cake is naturally sweetened with honey! This makes the cake itself sweet but not too sweet. That way, you can adjust the flavor a bit based on the icing.

Baking Powder: make sure not to overlook the baking powder in this recipe because it does help keep the "fluffy" texture of the cake!

Likewise, it doesn't require ingredients like dairy-free milk (almond milk or canned coconut milk), apple cider vinegar, or even baking soda. Fewer ingredients mean you normally have all that you need on hand (especially if you have a stocked gluten-free pantry!)

Step By Step Photos

How To Make Dairy & Gluten-Free Birthday Cake

This gluten-free cake comes together very easily- one of the perks for busy moms!

1. Portion out the ingredients for one cake (so halve the recipe).
2. Whisk together the wet cake ingredients.
3. Add in the dry ingredients and mix extremely well.
4. Spray a circular, 8 inch cake pan with non-stick and pour in the cake batter. Take a moment to smooth it out.
5. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to absorb.
6. Repeat the process for the second cake. Bake for 33 minutes.
7. Remove and let cool completely in the pan before removing.
8. Whisk together the dairy-free icing ingredients & start decorating!

Ingredients For Dairy-Free Icing

The icing on this gluten-free cake is made using a vegan butter I get locally (it’s actually made using cashews).

However, most dairy-free butter should work for the icing. The difference might be in its texture. The cashew butter tends to melt easily whereas traditional lactose-free butter may not.

And though the recipe uses icing sugar, you can easily sub in homemade paleo, powdered sugar instead.

Decorating The Cake

While the amount of frosting in the recipe card is great if you're just icing the gluten-free cake, if you want to truly decorate it you may want to make 1.5x the batch.

If using the cashew vegan butter, make note that the icing tends to melt pretty quickly. This means that you need to move fast.

The other option is to do the decorating in batches and return the cake to the fridge between batches.

The icing is best pipped immediately after whipping. If you place it in the fridge for longer than five minutes it tends to harden and won't easily come through the piping bag.

Coloring & Topping Options

While traditional food dye will work, the following natural options work just as well:

• Pink – beet crystals or freeze-dried strawberries
• Blue – spirulina
• Green – Chlorella
• Purple – freeze-dried blueberries

It’s important to note that these “dyes” will change the flavor of the dairy-free icing slightly. Thus, only add the tiniest bit (¼ tsp) to get started.

As for cake toppings, use your imagination! We have added sprinkles, funfetti, mini chocolate chips, and even edible glitter to ours.

Important Teaching Tips

This dairy-free birthday cake is double layered. This means two cakes! However, because coconut flour absorbs so much, I find it better to make the cakes separately (mix the ingredients separately) then pour the batter into two cake pans.

If you mix all the ingredients together and divide the gluten-free vanilla cake batter, the texture ends up being a bit denser because the coconut flour has absorbed too much and the baking powder won't rise evenly.

Instead, take the time to measure it twice and mix it into different bowls.

Make sure not to substitute coconut oil for olive oil. Coconut oil changes consistency in cooler temperatures which will alter the “lightness” of the paleo cake recipe.

The cake is soft and therefore a bit delicate. It’s better to ice it after having it in the fridge a while (or at least making sure to cool completely), otherwise, you risk tearing it.

If you plan to use multiple icing colors, before adding the color, whip the ingredients and separate the icing into batches to color individually.

Lastly, you can't sub in a gluten-free flour blend for coconut flour. Otherwise, the cake will come out ultra-thick and dense.

Want to make gluten-free chocolate cake? Add in 2 tablespoons of cacao powder. It won't be dense chocolate but a subtle, light flavor.

How To Store It

The cake is iced best when it’s had time to cool fully. Thus, it can be stored in the fridge for a day or two before adding the frosting.

However, make sure the vanilla birthday cake has had time to cool fully before wrapping it in plastic wrap and putting it in the fridge. Otherwise, moisture could get in and it would alter the texture/make the cake soggy.

Letting it sit in the fridge for a bit actually allows the cake to firm up nicely.

Once the cake is fully finished it can be stored in the fridge until ready to eat! Simply let it sit out 3-5 minutes before eating.

The Yield

This vanilla birthday cake uses two 8 inch circular cake pans and yields roughly 10-12 servings. While this seems like a lot, I still urge you to make the whole thing!

The cake stores well in the fridge for 5-7 days and if it's not frosted you can actually pop it into the freezer and pull it out "when the mood hits".

How To Decorate The Gluten-Free Birthday Cake (Step By Step)

If you're new to cake decorating (like I was!) use these easy steps to ice your cake:

1. Place the base cake on the cake turntable.
2. Add a few scoops of icing to the cake and use the icing spatula to evenly cover the cake. You can make it as thick or thin as you want on top keeping in mind this will be the "middle" of the cake when cut.
3. When finished, add the other birthday cake on top and repeat the process. Spoon some of the icing onto the cake and use the icing spatula to smear it around while rotating the turntable.
4. Use the smaller icing spatula to add icing evenly to the sides of the cake so that it is fully coated.
5. Finally, spoon some of the icing into a piping bag with your tip of choice and pipe flowers on to the side of the cake (where the two cakes meet) as well as the top.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dairy & Gluten- Free Birthday Cake

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