One bite and you’ll never believe this flourless vanilla cake has NO flour whatsoever! It’s delicate, tender and topped with a light dusting of powdered sugar – gluten free and dairy free never tasted so good!
When you need something different than the typical cake, this is the recipe to turn to. It’s a delightful dessert that could easily be served at a bridal shower, baby shower or even as a weeknight treat. To make up for the flour, the recipe uses almond meal and ground coconut – these two ingredients are the perfect pairing for this single layer cake.
What’s the difference between a white cake and a vanilla cake?
At first glance you’d think the terms would be interchangeable. But the major difference between a white cake and a vanilla cake is the simply the color. A white cake is going to be white, using egg whites and clear vanilla extract. A vanilla cake like this one, doesn’t rely on a ‘white’ color.
What does this flourless cake taste like?
The best to describe this tender cake is a cross between a moist sheet cake and a full bodied crumb cake. Whereas a cake that uses flour, like these almond flour chocolate cupcakes, would be light and spongy, this flourless cake is a bit more dense. Not in a bad way. But more substantial. I top the cake with fruit and powdered sugar because that’s really all it needs.
What is the reverse creaming method used in this flourless vanilla cake?
The reverse creaming method is a way of mixing in the fats into a baked good. For reference, these oatmeal raisin cookies use the traditional creaming method. The butter and sugars are creamed then the eggs and rest of the dry ingredients are added. But with reverse creaming, you mix the dry ingredients first, then add the butter, then after the mixture is creamy, add the eggs.
The benefit of this method for this cake has more to do with the structure than the taste. Taste-wise, both methods produce an equally tasty cake, but the reverse cream method produces a more tender cake with a fine, smooth crumb.
Why is it necessary to let the batter rest before baking?
If you’ve ever mixed up a batter and then poured it right into the pan to bake only to be disappointed when it sinks or turns out dense and unappealing, a ‘rest time’ may immediately solve your problem. Gluten free baking needs time to give the liquid and dry ingredients time to completely absorb. Aim for at least 20 minutes and you’ll be amazed at the difference of your cakes, breads and muffins!
Do I have to use a springform pan for this cake?
A 9” springform pan is the easiest way to successfully bake this cake. An alternative would be a regular 9” baking pan but it may be a little more challenging to remove it.
With either pan, spray and flour the pan and the parchment paper well. This cake tends to stick to any unsprayed and unfloured surface.
What’s the best way to serve this cake?
There’s not many cakes out there that don’t need frosting. Most at least need a glaze to give them a little boost. But not this one. This cake is super moist and really doesn’t need a thing. Now I’m not one to say no to frosting, so this buttercream would be amazing on it, but here’s a way to keep it simple (and quick!)…
- Once it’s completely cooled, place the cake on a serving platter
- Top it with sliced strawberries, blueberries and raspberries – I just randomly placed these on the cake
- Then place a sifter on a plate and add a Tablespoon of powdered sugar
- Hold the sifter over the cake and lightly tap it to sprinkle the powdered sugar evenly over it
Note on serving: With all the fruit piled on the cake, it may sink a little in the middle – this is completely normal and does not affect the taste.
How do I store a no flour cake?
This cake stores very well – the easiest way to store it is to move the slices left over to a plastic container. Then store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
How to make a flourless vanilla cake
Pro tip #1 – Room temperature ingredients
All ingredients, from the eggs to the almond meal should be at room temperature before using. This creates a lighter, less dense cake. About 30 minutes should do it.
Pro tip #2 – Caster sugar (Finely ground sugar)
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- Before
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- After
The granulated sugar is this recipe is ground into a finer blend, called caster sugar, for a couple reasons:
- It dissolves quicker, so it eliminates any extra graininess in the cake
- It contributes the delicate texture in the cake
Caster sugar is tough to find in the US, but making your own is easy with a food processor. Place the 250 grams of sugar in the food processor. Turn it on to run for 1 minute. The result is the perfect blend of sugar – not powdery, but finer than granulated crystals.
Pro tip #3 – Ground coconut
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- Before
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- After
Sweetened coconut was used in this recipe – but for the consistency, you want something finer than just shredded coconut at the store. So after blending the sugar, add the shredded coconut to the blender to ground that up next. Add 60 grams to the food processor and mix for 30 seconds. The coconut will still have some shreds, but overall the pieces will be a little larger than the almond meal.
Pro tip #4 – Use parchment paper
Parchment paper makes a world of difference in baking this cake. Without it, the cake sticks to the pan terribly and becomes nearly impossible to remove (in one piece anyway!)
Cut a piece to fit the entire bottom of the pan and place it at the bottom – spray and flour it well.
Pro tip #5 – Let cool completely
After the cake has baked, you’ll want to give it time to cool both in the pan and on the wire rack. The springform makes it easy to remove the cake from the pan. Just run a knife along the side, pop the spring and turn it over on a wire rack.
Then using a knife, run it along the underside of the springform pan base. And then remove bottom portion from the cake. Allow it to finish cooling.
Serve this flourless vanilla cake with fresh fruit and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Flourless Vanilla Cake {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}
Ingredients
- 180 grams almond meal about 2 cups
- 60 grams coconut finely shredded, about 2/3 cup
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 250 grams granulated sugar finely ground, about 1 ¼ cups
- ½ cup dairy free butter cubed and softened
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the almond meal, finely shredded coconut, baking powder, salt and finely ground sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop machine.
- Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until mixture is creamed - about 2 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Turn on the stand mixer and with the mixer on low, slowly add the egg mixture and continue mixing. Scrape the bowl down a couple times.
- Turn the speed up to medium and beat for 3 minutes until batter is pale yellow.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and let batter rest for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 9” springform baking pan by spraying lightly with cooking spray.
- Then cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the base and spray the paper and the inside sides of the pan. Sprinkle with some gluten free flour to evenly coat the pan.
- Pour batter into the pan and let bake for 40 -45 minutes. Cake will be golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes.
- Use a knife to loosen the sides of the pan.
- Unhook the pan and turn the cake out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Flip the cake back over to decorate the top of the cake with berries and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Video
Notes
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- Use ground sugar (caster sugar) and ground coconut.
- Beat the batter for the full 3 minutes until it's pale yellow.
- Let the batter rest for at least 20 minutes before baking.
- Use parchment to line the bottom of the pan.
- Let cool completely before decorating with fresh fruit.
Nutrition
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connie knott
looks great ! if I was to add lemon zest and juice to this how much would I add? would like to try a lemon cake .thx
Christine
Hi Connie,
Sure, lemon would be a great addition – since it’s a single layer cake, I’d suggestion a teaspoon of zest.
~Christine
Dorcas
I tried this today and although it is tasty it seems very dense, almost raw in the middle – I even left it in for an extra 10mins – what might have gone wrong? Did I over mix? I did everything the recipe said (although I found it hard to judge how much a cup of cubed butter is, a weight would be more helpful) but the mixture did seem pretty liquid when it went in the pan.
Christine
Hi Dorcas,
Oh goodness, it definitely should not be raw in the middle – it’s not as light as a flour-vanilla cake, but shouldn’t be dense. I noticed you mentioned ‘cup of cubed butter’ – the recipe calls for 1/2 cup – did you happen to use a full cup? I ask because that could be it. Also, did the batter look like the pictures?
~Christine