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 gluten-free vanilla cake recipe, 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 birthday cake (here's another delicious birthday cake option!) or wedding cake. To make up for the lack of gluten-free flour, the recipe uses almond meal and ground coconut – these two ingredients are the perfect pairing for this single-layer, moist cake.

Check out this gluten-free cake recipe that is an equally delicious and moist cake: gluten free oat cake.

As an affiliate partner of various brands and sponsored content, Zest for Baking may earn commission on qualifying purchases. Disclaimer

Flourless Vanilla Cake at a Glance

This tender cake is a cross between a moist sheet cake and a full bodied crumb cake. Whereas a cake that uses a gluten free flour or a gluten free flour blend, like these almond flour chocolate cupcakes, would be light and spongy, this gluten-free cake recipe is a bit more dense. Not in a bad way. But more substantial. I top this single layer cake with fruit and powdered sugar because that’s really all it needs.

Ingredients & Substitutions in this Easy Flourless Cake

The simple ingredients list and any acceptable substitutions:

Almond Meal - Almond meal is a key ingredient as a replacement for the flour. This is different from almond flour. There is no acceptable substitution.
Coconut - Use finely shredded, sweetened coconut for the best results. There is no substitute for the coconut, but unsweetened coconut will work also. This will be ground in a food processor.
Baking Powder - There is no substitute for the baking powder, but make sure yours is certified gluten free baking powder.
Salt - There is no substitute for the salt.
Granulated Sugar - Use granulated, white sugar for best results. You may substitute half of the sugar with Swerve sweetener. This will also be ground in a food processor to make caster sugar.
Vegan Butter - The Earth Balance brand was used in this recipe. Solid coconut oil may also be used. Vegetable oil results in a heavier texture of the cake and is not recommended.
Eggs - These are whole eggs - whites and egg yolks. In contrast to a white cake, where only egg whites are used. An egg replacer for the eggs has not been tested.
Pure Vanilla Extract - This is essential for a robust vanilla flavor. There is no substitute for pure vanilla extract.

Exact measurements and instructions for making this gluten free vanilla cake are below in the recipe card.

How to Make this Flourless Vanilla Cake Recipe

overhead shot of dry ingredients in a bowl

Step One: Mix the dry ingredients (almond meal, ground coconut, baking powder, salt, and ground granulated sugar) in the large bowl of a stand mixer on low speed for 10 seconds.

overhead shot of butter in dry ingredients

Step Two: Add the softened vegan butter to the bowl of the stand mixture and combine until mixture becomes creamed but still grainy (called the reverse cream method, see note below for more information).

Note About the Reverse-Cream Method

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.

Step Three: In a small bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla extract. (Picture is missing 3 additional eggs.)

Step Four: Turn the stand mixer on to low and slowly add the wet ingredients (egg mixture) to the creamed mixture.

Step Five: Turn the mixer to medium speed and continue to mix for 3 minutes until cake batter looks pale yellow.

Step Six: Prepare a 9" springform pan by lining with a sheet of parchment paper and spraying with cooking spray and sprinkling some gluten free flour on the paper.

Step Seven: Scrape the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top.

side shot of cake with knife along the side

Step Eight: Bake the cake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until the center of the cake tests done with a toothpick and the top is golden brown. Let cake cool on a wire cooling rack before loosening the sides to remove it.

Serving a Flourless Vanilla 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 delicious cake is super moist and really doesn’t need a thing. Now I’m not one to say no to frosting, so this gluten free buttercream frosting would be amazing on it (or even a chocolate frosting if that's more your thing), but here’s a way to keep it simple (and quick!)…

Once it’s completely cooled, carefully move the cake from the wire rack to a serving platter
Top it with sliced strawberries, blueberries and raspberries – I just randomly placed fresh fruit 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.

Storing this Gluten-Free Cake

This cake stores very well – the easiest way to store it is to move the slices left over to an airtight container. Then store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

This baked cake can also be frozen for longer storage. If freezing the entire cake, wrap it well with plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 1 month. Defrost on the counter and serve cool. Individual slices can also be frozen - defrost those in the microwave and serve.

Pro Tips for Making This Flourless Vanilla Cake

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 and is an essential step in gluten-free baking. About 30 minutes should do it.

2. Measuring Ingredients

For best results, use a digital scale to measure the ingredients. A measuring cup is less accurate and even a Tablespoon more or less of ingredients can drastically change this gf cake.

3. Caster Sugar (Finely Ground Granulated Sugar)

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.

4. Ground Coconut

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.

5. Line with 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.

6. Helpful Tools

These tools and equipment will get you the best results:

Stand mixer with paddle attachment
OR large mixing bowl
9-inch pan (Springform with removable sides)

Flourless Vanilla Cake FAQs

What’s the difference between a white cake and a gluten free 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, but moreso on a vanilla flavor.

What is caster sugar?

Caster sugar is a finely ground granulated sugar that is available to purchase online OR can be made at home by grounding granulated sugar in a food processor for 1 minute.

What is the reverse creaming method used in this flourless vanilla cake?

Do I have to use a Springform pan for this flourless vanilla cake recipe?

A 9” springform pan is the easiest way to successfully bake this cake. An alternative would be a regular 9-inch 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.

More Gluten-Free Cake Recipes

Did you make and love this recipe? Give it your review and rating below! And make sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook too!

Recipe

Christine