This recipe is adapted from one I found on the King Arthur website. Their recipe called for cake enhancer, which I don’t keep in my pantry so I’ve omitted it here. Make sure you read the notes below for some variations I tried, and their results.
3 c Gluten-free flour blend *
1 t salt
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t xanthan gum
12 T soft butter
1 1/2 c sugar (I actually used fructose) – makes a very sweet cake. I may drop it to just 1 c next time
4 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1 c milk
Grease your pans using the Cook’s Illustrated method: brush pans with melted butter, dust with flour and knock out excess (softened, rather than melted, butter inevitably makes areas of heavier butter that leave floury patches on the cake). A close second is to use spray designed specifically for baking.
Sift GF flour, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum together in a bowl. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Alternately beat in the milk and flour mixture.
Finish by beating for 2 minutes, until fluffy.
Baking times @ 350:
25 mins for cupcakes
50 – 60 mins for 8″ x 3″ cake
* Gluten-free flour blend: 4 c fine ground white rice flour, 1 1/3 c potato starch, 2/3 c tapioca flour
NOTES:
Batch #1: I forgot to add the milk! doh! The batter was very thick (obviously), so it didn’t spread out in the pan or rise very much. It was also quite crumbly after you sliced it, and dry to taste. But it was tasty! It tastes a bit pound cake-y; we’ll see how it goes the next time I do it, and hopefully remember the milk!
Batch #2: I remembered the milk this time (and I did use dairy milk, not almond milk), but the finished batter is still very thick. (The butter was still in the freezer when it was time to bake so even after a zap in the microwave, it was cold. I wonder if that’s why the batter is so thick?) Their flour blend calls for potato starch which I didn’t have, so I substituted oat flour. The result is a delicious, moist cake, but one that’s a tad on the heavy/dense side.
Batch #3: I’m still using dairy milk, but I used potato starch instead of oat flour and the finished batter is the lightest I’ve made yet. The cake itself is a bit lighter than the oat flour one, though heavier than you’d expect a flour-based cake to be. But for some reason this one was a bit gritty! grrrr …. I used the same fine-ground white rice flour as last time.