Birthday time is not an easy time to be gluten and dairy free. Especially when it comes to the cake. But sprinkles make all things better, don’t they? I adapted my funfetti cupcake recipe to be gluten and dairy free for those with allergies who still want a classic birthday cake. If you are not gluten or dairy free, I would recommend sticking with this recipe here.
This colorful celebration cake consists of layers of tender white cake riddled with sprinkles, layered with a fluffy, sweet non-butter buttercream frosting. Do keep in mind, as with all gluten-free versions of things normally made with flour: the texture will be a bit different. There really isn’t any getting around that.
This cake really is at its best if it is eaten on the same day it is made. Because of it’s gluten-free, dairy-free qualities, is doesn’t really sit well for long, so try and make it as close to the time is will be eaten as possible. I can’t believe I’m saying that. But it really is best in this instance. The frosting, however, can be made ahead of time. Just make sure to store it in an airtight container.
I used a gluten free flour blend that contains white rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum. Make sure the blend you use has xanthan or guar gum, as that will give it some of the binding properties needed to hold the cake together that you lose when you take out the gluten.
- 1¾ C. Gluten-free Flour Blend(must contain xanthan gum)
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 C. Coconut Milk(canned)
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 7 tablespoons Coconut Oil, solid
- ⅔ C. Granulated sugar
- ¼ C. + 1 tablespoon Colorful Cake Sprinkles(preferably the long type, not the small balls)
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- ½ C. Shortening
- ½ C. Margarine or dairy-free butter spread, softened
- 1 t. Vanilla Extract(clear, if possible)
- Food coloring, if desired
- 1½ lb. Powdered Sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons Coconut Milk(canned)
- Sprinkles, for topping
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour(using GF flour blend) 2 6" round cake pans.
- Whisk flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.
- Combine ¾ C. coconut milk and vanilla in another small bowl.
- In a medium bowl, beat egg whites on high speed of electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- In another bowl, beat the coconut oil and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy.
- Beat in remaining ¼ C. coconut milk until smooth.
- On medium speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk mixture in two additions, mixing until smooth.
- Whisk in one-third of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining egg whites using a rubber spatula.
- Add in the sprinkles and fold in until just distributed.
- Divide the batter evenly between prepared cake pans.
- Bake 30=35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean.
- Remove pans from oven to a wire rack to cool. After about 10 minutes, remove the cakes from the pans and let cool on wire rack.
- When the cakes have cooled, level the tops with a serrated knife and then slice each cake in half horizontally to make 4 layers.
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand and spread about ½" of frosting evenly on top of it. Top the frosting with another cake layer. Repeat until the cake is assembled, ending with the last layer of cake, bottom side up.
- Cover the cake in frosting and smooth the sides and top with a spatula(or butter knife). Place remaining frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe stars across the top of the cake, covering the whole surface.
- Using your hand, pat handfuls of sprinkles onto the bottom half of the cake.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with cake sprinkles.
- Serve the same day made.
- For the Frosting:
- Place the shortening and softened dairy-free butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a paddle attachment, beat together until smooth and well blended. Mix in the vanilla and food color of choice. Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing on low speed until all the sugar is incorporated. Scrape down the bowl once. Add 3 tablespoons of coconut milk and slowly mix in. Turn the speed up to medium/high and beat the frosting until smooth and light, adding more coconut milk to thin, if needed. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
What an amazing looking birthday cake. Absolutely beautiful. Love your honesty about preparing it close to eating time. Makes total sense and this is a work of art. Thanks!
Thank you so much, Matt! It’s impossible to get the same results without gluten and dairy that you would using them. So every little tip helps, I guess, haha.
Kayley this cake is absolutely stunning!!! So beautiful. And yes, sprinkles make everything better! Love that you were able to make this dairy and gluten free! Was this for your birthday?? If so happy birthday 🙂 Pinning this one for sure!
Thank you so much, Serene! It wasn’t my birthday(dreading the next, actually), but I developed the recipe for a friend who’s children are all gluten and dairy free and needed a birthday cake that they could actually eat! =)
I just really can’t say THANK YOU enough!!! You have saved the day in more then one way!!!
Rachelle, you are so welcome! I’m glad it could be helpful to you. I seriously respect anyone who has to make such major adjustments in their cooking to cater to allergies. That’s a tough gig. xoxo
Your pictures are so beautiful! Makes me wish I had a big slice of that right now! I love that it is both gluten free and dairy free. My husband and I both have birthdays coming up and I was beginning to wonder what I was going to make, but you have solved that problem for me! 🙂
Thank you so much, Isadora! I’m so glad that it will be useful to you! Happy upcoming birthday to both of you =)
what do you mean by coconut milk? the canned one used for pina colada or can it be just any milk?
Marie, the canned variety will work the best =)
I want to make cakes too! Is this the milk you are talking about? http://amzn.to/1RyBMay
Instead we suffer from it, by storing too much fat and rarely, if ever, burning it.
The Japanese speaking searchers spent 43% of their 391 thousand searches looking for specific
gluten free foods. Now we hear, wheat for man, oats for the horse and such.
If I use your original recipe, but bake it in 9″ pans will there be enough to make into a 2 layer cake? Making this today for my son’s birthday!
I’m so sorry I missed this when you posted it! I know it’s too late, but I would suggest X’ing the recipe by 1 1/2 to fill up two 9″ pans. Happy belated birthday to your son!
Will this recipe work to make as a 9X13 cake and not have layers and just frost the top?
I have gluten free flour that doesn’t contain xantham gum but I do have xantham gum separately. Any idea how much I should add?
Thanks
Hi Shelly! Try 1/2 t. xanthan gum to every 1 cup of flour blend you use =)
Although my cake will end up looking nothing close to this beauty, I can’t wait to try it out 🙂
Do you know if using egg replacer will work with this recipe?
Hi Deanna! It probably wouldn’t work too well, as the cake gets much of it’s volume specifically from the beaten egg whites.
Im looking to bake these cupcakes for friend of mine who is gluten free at work. Do you know the baking time for cupcakes?
Hi Courtney! I would bake them 17-20 minutes, but start checking them for done-ness around 15 minutes =)
Will this recipe work if I only substitute the dairy fee ingredients and use regular flour, etc?
Hi Krystyna! It will work just fine if you sub the gf flour for regular flour. Same amounts =)
Hi, do you think since I am only making this dairy free it will be ok to serve the next day as I definitely will not have time to make it same day… Thanks!
Hi Jessica!
You could always bake it, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it immediately. Then thaw it the next day and frost it. Then it would be fresher than if you’d make it the day before =)
This cake looks absolutely beautiful!! I’ve been looking for a good gluten-free/dairy-free funfetti recipe for ages, so I’m so glad to find yours! 🙂 Any chance you’d have any recommendations on how to swap out the eggs to make the cake 100% vegan? Thanks!
Thanks Breanna! I wish I could help you out, but this cake gets it’s texture almost entirely from whipped egg whites. I don’t do a lot of vegan baking, unfortunately. So sorry!
Hi there try aquafaba for a vegan egg white replacer.
I used aquafaba to replace and it worked beautifully!
I love this cake and am so excited to bake this for my birthday! Question though, if I wanted to achieve the same beautiful mint color what kind of dye would I use?
Hi Ashley! Happy upcoming birthday! I used a gel food color in a turquoise color and just used a little bit. You can find gel colors at craft stores and specialty baking stores =)
Thanks so much for adapting this for GF/DF. I have been looking, as has my daughter. We are going to try making some cute decorations this weekend for Valentine’s Day! Without this we wouldn’t have know what to do! Thanks for making our day that much more fun!
Can you taste the coconut from the coconut milk?
I don’t find it to be particularly notable, but if you’re sensitive to it, you might.
I have a surprise party for my mom on Saturday and don’t have any time to make the cake that day. Would it still be ok if I were to make the cake Tuesday, wrap it in plastic wrap and then foil to hold it until Saturday? I plan on doing my baking Tuesday and my decorating on Thursday, as that is the only time I have to do anything before the party
Hi,
With the coconut milk, does the C stand for cup or can? If it is can, how big is the can??
I am planning to make this for my friend’s birthday! It looks amazing!!
Thank you in advance!
Hi Marika! The C. stands for Cup =) happy baking!
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for making this recipe!!! I can not wait to try it for my birthday party! You definitely saved the day because I have one friend that is gf and another that dairy free. I did not think it was possible to have a cake that would work for all my friends! Thank you again! God bless you!
Smiles,
Elizabeth
I’m so glad this cake is something everyone can have! Have a happy birthday, Elizabeth!
Not a baker at all and made this as cupcakes.. so good! Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome! So glad you liked them =)
What colour food dye did you use?
I believe it was an Aqua blue =)
Thank you for this recipe – I make a homemade funfetti cake for my husband’s birthday every year but was diagnosed with celiac last month. I need to figure out how to make one GF! Anyway – I do not have any flour blends that contain Xanthan gum, as I either make my own blends, or the ones I do have (Cup4Cup, etc) don’t have it. Do you have any idea how much Xanthan gum to add to a Xanthan gum-free mix to make it work? I definitely know it’s an essential ingredient. Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth
I read in another person’s comment, where she replied to the same question, to use 1t per each c of flour 😉 I had the same question!
What icing tip did you use for the top? Thank you!
Hi Anne! I use a French star pastry tip. Here’s a link to the one I use:
I love this stunning cake and would like to make for Mother’s Day tomorrow. Can you tell me what tip number you used for the stars on top? Thanks so much!
Hi Nico!
I used a French star tip….I think it’s #869 🙂
Great, thanks!
Can you use another dairy free milk (e.g almond) instead of the coconut milk? (I just used all the coconut milk for ice cream!)
Yes! You can definitely switch out the milk for another type 🙂
Hi I just want to make a small cake. I have one tall 6” pan – if i pour all mixture into this pan and split in two afterwards will that work ??!
Thanks!
Hi Katie, I would bake it in two separate batches…if you bake it all in one pan it will be too dense and may not cook through in the middle =)
Hi Kayley, My sister made this cake for my best friend’s baby’s 1 year smash cake and not only did it come out beautiful, it also tasted amazing. He is severely allergic to dairy so my sister tweaked the recipe a bit. I would love to send you a picture. How can I send it to you?
Hi Rose! I’m so glad that your friends little one liked the cake! I would love to see a picture! You can email me at [email protected]
I really want to make this recipe. However I live at high altitude. How would I adjust my recipe so that it comes out the way it should?
I really want to make this for a friend’s 40th birthday……..there are a bunch of people coming to the party so I was thinking cupcakes or sheet cake…….will either of those options work?
Thank you! This looks so amazing!
I made this cake for my best friend’s birthday. It turned out beautiful. It has been a real challenge to find tasty gluten free and dairy free recipes. This was definitely a win. I will be adding this to my repertoire. If you are interested I would love to share some photos of the finish cake.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this, I’m making a cake for my daughters friend and they are gluten & dairy free. Looks like I’ll be up early for baking the morning of the party ?
Why did mine turn out like pancake cookies?
I made this cake and it did not rise very much. I folded the egg whites in very gently but maybe I still over-folded them to much.
Also, was I supposed to use both portions of the canned coconut milk – cream included or just the clearer part? I mixed the canned content together and used it that way, but I’d like to know for the next time I make it.
Either way, its moist and delicious. Thanks!
I use the whole can mixed together. Sorry yours didn’t rise much! I’ve never had that problem so it may have been overfolding or other levening agents being expired. =)
Hi there!
I am planning to make this for my boyfriend’s birthday later in May. I was wondering if I can swap the solid Coconut oil for a liquid vegetable oil or possibly a solid margarine alternative. Thanks and this looks fabulous!
Coconut oil should work great!
Hi Kayley,
My little 2 year old girl has been diagnosed as a celiac . I’m struggling to find a flour mix with xanthan gum in it. I do however have it on its own. How much do i need to add to the recipe to make it work.
Her little eyes lit up when i showed her the cake that daddy is going to attempt, so i cant let her down ha ha.
Thanks in advance
Hi Kayley,
Which brand of baking blend do you use?
Can this recipe be made into cupcakes?
definitely!