Gluten-Free Caramel Cake
This is a classic vanilla cake updated with gluten-free flours and natural sweeteners, elevated to something special by the dark caramel topping.
Equipment
- Candy thermometer
Ingredients
For Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup maple sugar or sugar
- ¼ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk well shaken
- 1 ¼ cup/140 g almond flour
- ¾ cup/85 g gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup/85 g tapioca flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
For Caramel Glaze
- cup heavy cream
- ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan and line with a square of parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined. Add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.
- Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Let rest for 10-15 minutes if possible. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.
Make Glaze
- Bring cream, coconut sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Boil until glaze registers 210 to 212°F on a candy thermometer, about 12 to 14 minutes, then stir in vanilla.
- Put rack with cooled cake in a shallow baking pan and pour hot glaze over top of cake, allowing it to run down sides. Cool until glaze is set, about 30 minutes.
- Cake may be stored, well-covered in the fridge for 3 days.
Notes
Swap tiger nut or another nut flour for the almond flour, sorghum flour for the oat, and cornstarch or arrowroot for the tapioca starch. Try sucanat in place of the sugars or just use granulated sugar.