Gluten Free Raspberry White Chocolate Amaretto Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes I’ve ever made – inspired by the absolutely glorious-looking raspberry, white chocolate, and almond cake by Baker by Nature – though tweaked to be gluten free, a bit less sweet, heavy on the white chocolate (full-on whipped ganache instead of a white chocolate buttercream), with lots of fresh raspberries with the raspberry jam, fresh whipped cream and extra almond buttercream to boot – and toasted almonds to add a final touch! I highly recommend checking out the initial recipe-inspiration linked above, but if you’re looking for a less sweet, lots-of-white-chocolate, extra fillings, gluten free version, this is the recipe for you! The almond/amaretto flavor is diviiiiine – one I didn’t realize how much I loved until this past year. Give me anything with almond extract (be it maraschino cherries, almond cookies, or this cake!) and I will be a happy camper. White chocolate is another ingredient I thought I didn’t like, but low and behold, when you level up and find some really amazing good-quality white chocolate it is a GAME CHANGER. Check out our caramelized white chocolate blondies, or these almond white chocolate sprinkle cookies, or this black sesame and white chocolate cake for a few of my recent white chocolate binges.

This was a custom birthday cake for the mom of a friend here in the Bay Area (introduced to us through another friend – YAY for spreading the work about good gluten free baking!), and it was such a fun decor and construction. The toasted almonds were trickier than I anticipated – they certainly aren’t as easy to apply as a bunch of sprinkles (see our smooth-as-heck sprinkle application on our ultimate funfetti cake!), but they taste and smell amazing, especially when paired with the amaretto throughout the cake and the caramelly notes of the white chocolate whipped ganache. I ended up finally using my cake pan strips for these cakes too and it really make it more efficient – who else had NEVER heard of cake pan strips until this moment?? Apparently they’re a big deal and I apparently completely missed the memo for 28 years. Ah well, it’s never to late to up your baking game. They’re essentially strips of padded fabric in a circle that you soak in water and then snugly fit around your cake pan, allowing your cakes to bake smoothly, without the edges getting hard or crusty. It also means your cakes won’t dome – they’ll rise evenly across the top so you won’t need to trim off the tops!! Less cake waste/more cake going into your actual layer cake! I’m now a convert and will be using them on all of my cakes. (not sponsored, just genuinely a hot tip y’all).

So, thank you to Laura for ordering this cake so that I could make it (and snag some awesome photos), and happy happy 60th to your mom! Baking something for someone’s special occasion is always fun, and makes the construction and decoration so exciting knowing it’s a surprise for someone! If you’re looking for other cakes for a birthday or anniversary or just to brighten someone’s day, check out our chocolate mousse cake, or our strawberries ‘n cream cake, or this strawberry lemonade cake, or our chocolate hazelnut cake!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Raspberry White Chocolate Amaretto Cake

A decadent almond cake layered with white chocolate amaretto ganache, fresh raspberries, and fresh whipped cream!

Prep Time3 hours hrs

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Chilling time2 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: almond, almond cake, amaretto, birthday cake, buttercream, cake, ganache, gluten free, layer cake, raspberry, white chocolate

Servings: 12 people

Calories: 500kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Two 9-inch round cake pans
• Two cake pan strips (info below)
• Electric mixer
• Piping bags and tips

Ingredients

For the cake layers:

• 1 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum added (if it doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
• 1/2 Cup blanched almond flour
• 1/4 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 Cup arrowroot starch
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Cup salted butter room temperature
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 3/4 Cup sour cream
• 1 Cup milk

For the white chocolate whipped ganache:

• 24 oz good quality white chocolate
• 1 Cup minus 2 Tbsp, heavy cream
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Amaretto
• 1 tsp almond extract

For the buttercream:

• 2 Cups salted butter room temperature
• 4 Cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/2 tsp Amaretto

For the construction:

• 1 Cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Cup sliced almonds, toasted instructions for toasting below
• 1/2 Cup mashed fresh raspberries
• 1/2 Cup raspberry jam

Instructions

To make the cake layers:

• First, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit, and grease your two 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray or butter. Start soaking your cake pan strips (fabric that goes around the pan while wet to keep your cake edges from getting crusty/hard) so that they'll be ready to use.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, arrowroot starch and sweet rice flour, with the baking powder, soda, and salt, then set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the room temp butter with the sugar for 3-4 minutes until lighter and fluffy. Add in the egg whites, one at a time (beating in between additions) until all added. Continue to beat in the vanilla and almond extracts, sour cream, and milk. Finally, stir in the set-aside dry ingredients until smooth (it will be a thicker batter). Then scrape the batter evenly into the two prepared pans, smooth the top of the batter, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely before turning out.

To make the whipped ganache:

• While the cakes are baking, make the ganache! Bring the cream to simmer in a small pot, then pour over the 24 oz of good quality white chocolate (in a larger bowl) and add the Amaretto and almond extract. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to melt the chocolate, then slowly whisk together until completely smooth. If some of the white chocolate hasn't melted, pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds and stir again. Pour the ganache into a shallow pan to cool and pop it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Then remove and scrape into a medium bowl and beat on high using your electric mixer until smoother (it will have hardened a bit). You're looking for a spreadable but not runny consistency, so if it's too stiff, pop it in the microwave for just 5-10 seconds and beat again, or if it's still runny, chill longer.

To make the buttercream:

• In a large bowl, beat the butter for 3-4 minutes until much lighter and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beat until smooth, then add the Amaretto and almond extract and beat to combine. Add a Tbsp of cream if the buttercream is too stiff.

To construct the cake:

• First, toast your sliced almonds. Pour almonds into a frying pan and heat over medium, stirring frequently, until most of the almonds have gone a touch golden and smell nutty, then remove from heat and pour onto a paper towel to cool.
• Then make the whipped cream. Whisk the cold heavy cream vigorously until thicker, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whisk again until stiff peaks form.
• Then mash the raspberries and combine with the raspberry jam so that you have a tarter raspberry mixture.
• Finally, carefully slice each of the two cake layers in half so that you end up with four equal-sized cake layers. Place one layer on your cake board or platter, add a layer of the white chocolate buttercream, a layer of raspberry mixture (3 Tbsp each layer – save some for the very top of the cake), and a layer of whipped cream (about 1/3 cup each layer), and then add another cake layer and continue until all layers have been added. Then carefully crumb coat the cake with the buttercream (you should have used all of the white chocolate whipped ganache in layering). Then freeze the cake for at least 30 minutes to set it.
• Remove cake and apply the final buttercream coat and, while it's still fresh, pat on your toasted almonds – as high up the sides of the cake as you'd like. Then freeze again for 10-15 minutes. Then remove the cake and spread a layer of the raspberry mixture on the top of the cake, then pipe the extra buttercream around the top edge and add any final decorations. I recommend refrigerating the cake until the day you serve it and then letting it sit at room temperature for a few hours to soften.

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber