This was the cakes to end all cakes. Every year, my sister and I would enter things into the Jackson county fair. Yes, it does sound like we just stepped out of a mid-20th-century Rogers and Hammerstein musical, but honestly these were some of the most exciting parts of summers in Southern Oregon! There were loads of categories too, which meant you could enter photographs, canned goods, home-sewn dresses, paintings, drawings, and baked goods all at once and vie for county-fair fame by coming out with one of those multi-colored, frilled, glorious objects: the GRAND PRIZE ribbon. The first price ribbon wasn’t too bad either but the grand prize, or even the reserve champion, now those were coveted bits of ribbon. I have one of them tucked away in my treasure chest from summers gone by, and my sister has a couple as well, one for this gosh darn good velvet spice cake.
See? Now you know it’s good. This spice cake beat out ALL other cakes in its category, made by my baby sister when she still had a head full of curls and was shorter than me (that changed pretty fast and I’ll forever be looking up to her). We should call this recipe a “Prize Winning” spice because, in all honesty, it is! And it’s incredibly simple and fast to make (aside from the long bake time). It’s perfectly-spiced, not overpowering, surprisingly light, and glorious in any season. That original spice cake was, admittedly, glutenous, but this version is just as good and just as easy to make! Now you can make that childhood favorite with none of the gluten!
If you’re into bundts and other spiced creations, check out our caramel apple brandy bundt, or this heavily-spiced persimmon pudding, or this mandarin orange pound cake, or these spiced pear cupcakes, or this cranberry bundt! So many bundts!
Kendra’s Gluten Free Velvet Spice Cake
Equipment
- 10-cup bundt pan
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3 large eggs separate whites from yolks into two large bowls
- 3/4 Cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 Cup white sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3/4 Cup plus 1 Tbsp buttermilk
- 2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 3/4 tsp of it now)
- 1/2 Cup packed blanched almond flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
For the spiced glaze:
- 2 Cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
Instructions
- First, make your cake! Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and generously butter (don't spray) your 10-cup bundt pan (or your cake will stick). In a clean, dry, medium bowl, separate out your egg whites (make sure there are no bits of yolk) and beat using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, then set aside.
- In a second large bowl, beat together your butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add in the egg yolks and buttermilk and beat to combine. Then, whisk in the flour, almond flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and all spices until smooth and combined. Finally, fold in your egg whites 1/3 at a time until smooth, and pour batter into your buttered bundt pan.
- Bake for 60-80 minutes, depending on your oven, or until a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before turning out of pan onto a serving tray.
- Once the cake is cool, make your glaze (optional). In a small bowl, stir together all of the glaze ingredients until smooth. For a thicker glaze, add less milk/more powdered sugar, and for a thinner glaze do the opposite. Pour over cake and then serve!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
