Healthy Gluten Free Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
This Gluten Free Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting is so light and fluffy, and sweet and addictive, it’s hard to comprehend that each bite is totally healthy and guilt-free! I’ve never tasted a cake as good as this before. Words cannot even BEGIN to describe this cake! I wish I could just hand you a slice right now through the screen so you could taste it for yourself, but uh, technology hasn’t caught up with that yet. But seriously though, you really need this in your life. ASAP.
This Gluten Free Vanilla Cake is shockingly similar to the boxed mixes from the grocery store and the prepared cakes you can buy from a bakery.
It tastes like it’s stuffed with sugar and packed with butter, but it’s sugar free and contains zero butter.
!!!!
OHHHH YES.
My first bite honestly took my breath away.
The cake itself is soft and delicate with a moist crumb, and it’s packed with a delicious, sweet vanilla flavor.
The frosting is above and beyond what I ever expected — it’s thick, it’s rich, it’s uber sweet and, just like the cake, it’s 100% vanilla-y. You can even see all the vanilla beans speckled throughout!
One bite will lead to two bites, and that’ll lead to like, the thirtieth bite. It’s THAT good. Oh, and it’s healthy, so you won’t feel guilty at all for eating this cake. Each bite and you’ll swear that the cake you’re eating is packed with sugar and butter and white flour, but nopity nope nope nope!
Healthy Gluten Free Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 224g (2 cups) Coconut Flour
- 192g (1 cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 1 tbs Double-Acting Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 369g (1½ cups) Unsweetened Applesauce
- 300g (1¼ cups) Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 227g (1 cup) Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- 6 Large Eggs
- 5 Large Egg Whites
- 1 tbs Vanilla Paste
- 1 tbs Liquid Stevia Extract
- 2 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray 2 8” cake pans with cooking spray and line with 8” circle parchment paper liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, erythritol, baking powder and salt.
- In an electric stand mixer bowl fitted with a beater attachment, add the applesauce, almond milk, yogurt, eggs, egg whites, vanilla paste, stevia extract and butter flavor. Mix on low speed. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and increase the mixer speed to medium. Mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Tap the pans on the counter a few times to make sure the batter is level. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the surface springs back when tapped. Let cool completely in the pan.
- Frost with your frosting of choice. Slice and serve, or store in the fridge covered with a cake dome for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
Recipe republished with permission from the Naughty or Nice Cookbook!
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I totally ate way more than my “cake quota” this week. But, this Gluten Free Vanilla Cake is 100% healthy and totally nutritious, so do I feel bad? Nope. Not one bit. Why the bleep would I feel bad about indulging in this (secretly) guilt-free cakey deliciousness??
Did I mention that I ate this for breakfast? Yes, it’s super sweet and totally dessert-worthy, but in my book, that’s what makes for a good great pretty damn awesome breakfast. Just thought I’d let you know, becaaauusseee I’m sure you’ll do the same 😉
Word to the wise: This Gluten Free Vanilla Cake goes great with coffee 😉
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
WHAT?! This looks SO GOOD!! I have everything to make this except for the stevia mix… i know you say you can’t sub sugar but do you think I could do 1/2 cup erythritol + 1/2 tsp more stevia extract? Because I want this, like, NOW. 🙂
Emily-
Thanks so much Emily 🙂
Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! I’m sure 1/2 cup erythritol + 1/2 tsp additional stevia extract will work just fine. Hope you like the cake!
-Jess
Hi, there I can’t seem to find the frosting recipe… could you please send it to me?
Nina
I have made this recipe 3 times and I love it. The best part is I feel zero guilt when eating it. I first used McCormick s butter extract…. It was just ok. Then I tried Watkins and the flavor is so much better. The secret to this cake is not over baking it. The first time I made it I left it in the oven just a couple minutes too long and it really dried out the cake. I actually had better luck baking it at 325. This is a great base to so many other recipes. Thank u!
This looks like total perfection! What a moist looking cake, and still possible with those low stats!! Great job, Jessica! I love how you added Greek yogurt to the frosting! It looks soo amazingly creamy!
Annie @ Natural Sweet Recipes-
Awww thanks Annie! I can’t believe how moist this cake is, despite having no butter or oil… it’s crazy but crazy good 🙂
I hope you get to try out the recipe!
-Jess
what do you think I could replace the yoghurt with? I’m not big on dairy. I was thinking coconut yoghurt but honestly i’m not 100% sold on that. Could coconut milk maybe work? Thanks! 🙂 Cake looks amazing
I’m afraid the Greek yogurt in the cake can’t be replaced, but the yogurt in the frosting definitely can! 🙂
Coconut yogurt, soy yogurt, almond yogurt… anything can work really, you just won’t get as much of a tangy cream cheese flavor. Because yogurt has a higher water content than Greek yogurt, I would recommend straining the yogurt you choose through a cheese cloth. Measure 2 cups after straining.
Or, if you don’t have a cheese cloth, try adding 2-3 tablespoons of organic cornstarch or arrowroot starch to help thicken it up. I haven’t tried this, but I think it’ll work! I hope this helps!
-Jess
Ohmygoodness. I made this yesterday and it’s almost half gone… I might live off of cake for the next few days, it’s THAT GOOD. I made a few substitutions based on the ingredients I had on hand and it worked out amazingly. I used baking splenda instead of baking stevia and doubled the amount (because it substitutes teaspoon for teaspoon with sugar), omitted the stevia extract, used vanilla extract instead of paste, and substituted 2 tablespoons of the applesauce with coconut oil. I steeped 2 vanilla earl grey tea bags in the almond milk (in the microwave but saucepan would work) for extra vanilla flavour, and it was AMAZING, I want to try chai next. For the icing I used baking splenda again (doubled) and added 2 scoops of protein powder for a higher protein content. I calculated the nutritional info and this cake has near perfect macronutrients… 35% carb, 31.5% protein, and 33.5% fat. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE, it was truly a game changer.
Stephanie-
I’m so glad you got a chance to make the cake! And I’m so glad you like it 🙂
I’m surprised the baking splenda/stevia worked as substitutes, usually those don’t turn out very well!
Oh, and your addition of the earl grey tea sounds AMAZING. I never would have thought to do that. SO many people like chai so I’m sure that variation would be pretty darn good too, especially with some extra cinnamon and spices. YUM.
Thanks for letting me know you made the recipe! 🙂
-Jess
OMG this is sooo good!! I have cutted the quantities in half and made a kind of blonde without the frosting and it still was amazing!! Moreover it has only 108 kcal per serving!! Great recipe <3
Tatiana-
YAY I’m so glad those adjustments worked out for you!! Good job 🙂
I think I ought to try that out soon 😉
-Jess
i am so in love with your blog!
Rachel-
Awww thanks Rachel!! 🙂
-Jess
This looks amazing! I’m looking for a white cake and frosting recipe to make for my son’s birthday soon. Could Almond Flour be substituted for Coconut Flour? If so, are there any other adjustments that would need to be made with the switch? I’m new to low-carb baking…Thank you!!
Nichole 🙂
Hi, I’m hoping to make this for my daughter’s birthday, did a trial run (just half the recipe) this morning and will be tasting later today! She’s having a ‘pink party’ so I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for making the cake pink? (I have natural food colouring but wondered about using a berry sauce instead of apple sauce?). Also, have you tried freezing it? I’m making it a four layer cake (with each layer a different shade of pink, so might be easier if i can make it ahead of time. Last question…any suggestions for a pink coloured icing between layers? Thanks so much!
Linda-
To make the cake pink, I would recommend replacing 1 tbs of the almond milk with 1 tbs of the natural food coloring. Berry sauce sounds like a great idea, but I’m not sure about how the color would turn out after baking. The berry sauce I see at the grocery store is slightly purple/brown in color and it might just turn the cake a faded brown color.
I haven’t tried freezing the cake, but freezing almost always works. Just thaw it in the fridge until it’s soft 🙂
To make the frosting pink, just add some natural food coloring. In case the food coloring waters down the frosting at all, I would recommend reducing the Greek yogurt to 1 cup and increasing the cream cheese to 12oz.
I hope you like the cake!!
-Jess
Hi Jess! Got everything I need and making this for an Easter/Birthday celebration this weekend. Just two questions, what is vanilla paste and how is the icing vanilla bean without any vanilla beans used? Saw you made your own vanilla paste but don’t see a recipe? Really anticipating the turnout on these. .. By the way, I am making them as cupcakes instead!
i wouldn’t exactly call it “low carb”, but it is a bit lowER carb.
Great recipe! It looks just awesome and I bet that it tastes the same. But I am wondering if it would be good to replace cream cheese with somehing helathier here, ex. yogurt cheese. Thanks for sharing anyways. Have a nice day!
Cheesy-
Thank you! As for the cream cheese in the frosting, I wouldn’t recommend replacing it. It’s incredibly thick and helps keep the frosting firm. If you use 100% Greek yogurt it will slide off the cake 🙁
-Jess
Would this cake be too moist/softbfor making multi-layered cake? I want to make rainbow cake for my sons birthday, using fruit purees instead of the apple sauce to achieve the different colours. I’m also making fondant to cover the cake and am not sure if the cream cheese frosting will work as a crumb coat instead of chocolate ganache.
Katrina-
Great idea with using different fruit purees for different colors! Strawberries for red, blueberries for blue (or even blackberries), carrots and orange juice for orange… yum!
I haven’t tried using this cake for more than 2 layers, so I can’t be sure… I think it can handle 3 layers, but it’s a soft cake, not firm, so I wouldn’t pile too much weight on top of it. If you do try it out, I hope it works!! 😀
-Jess
Hi Jess
My Daughter LOVES Chocolate frosting on Vanilla cake and her birthday is coming, I use to make an amazing cake but cannot anymore found out both Gluten intolorent !! Anyways, How can i Make a Chocolate cream cheese type frosting also is there any way to sneak some Vanilla protein powder in there to make it more Vanilla, If so how much would I Put in and add of extra wet ingredients?? Also Could i do 1/2 coconut flour 1/2 almond flour or would that not work?? Just wondering because found sometimes anything with all coconut flour has bad after taste or drying! Thanks I REALLY HOPE YOU Reply!! Thanks Again! LOVE YOUR BLOG!!
My Best Jen 🙂
Hi Jen!
For a Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, I would simply add 1/4 cup of Unsweetened Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder to the frosting recipe. No need to add more liquid! 😀 I wouldn’t recommend adding whey protein because it might thicken the frosting too much, especially along with the added in cocoa powder.
As for the flour altering, I wouldn’t recommend that either. There isn’t really a good substitute for coconut flour since it’s SOOOO absorbent.
Hope you and your daughter like the recipe 😀
-Jess
Hi Jess Thanks for reply Great idea for the frosting. Thankyou as for protein powder I was wondering about adding that to the cake not frosting. I thought maybe the protein powder woukd make the cake more moist and add more vanilla flavor to it ( using a good quality vanilla protein powder),do you have any suggestions or thoughts on that?? If so how would I incorporate it into the recipe and shoukd I add any extra liquid/ ingredients? Thanks so much Jess I know how busy you are and TRULY appreciate your feedback and reply. Thanks so much
Jen
Oops sorry forgot to add… is Hersheys baking cocoa powder ok to use or should it be unsweetened dutch ??
Sorry for the delayed response Jen!
I wouldn’t recommend adding protein powder to the cake. Protein powder really changes a baked goods’ texture and appearance, and most of the time, not in a good way. It’ll probably dry out the cake too :/
For the chocolate frosting, either cocoa powder will work. I just like the flavor of dutch processed cocoa better 😀
-Jess
Is this recipe no longer available?
Hi Kris!
The recipe is no longer on the blog because I made some improvements to it and included it in The Naughty or Nice Cookbook (along with 10 other cake/cupcake recipes)! 😀
Best,
-Jess
It’s like you knew my birthday was coming up and I needed a cake to make myself 😉
Can’t wait to try it!
This looks amazing but, unless I’m blind in not seeing the recipe in the post anywhere :/ am I missing something?
Hey Brittni! In case you didn’t see the bottom of the post, the recipes that were added to my new cookbook, The Naughty or Nice Cookbook, were taken off the blog since they were remade and improved specifically for the book. Don’t worry, the 450 or so remaining recipes are still available on the blog! 😀
-Jess
This cake looks so delicious but I can’t seem to find the recipe on your blog? Please let me know how to get it so I can make this ASAP!
Hey Erin! Thank you so much 😀
The recipes that were added to my cookbook were taken off the blog since they were remade and improved specifically for the book.
If you’re curious as to why I did this, I explain it in this post: http://dessertswithbenefits.com/about/why-i-removed-some-recipes-from-the-blog/
Best,
-Jess
Oh my, That looks tasty! I shouldn’t have visited your blog so close to lunch! Ha! Thanks for the recipe.
I will sure give your recipe a try.
We are gluten free and have a heck of a time finding anything that tastes good in the dessert category in most restaurants. This looks divine. I love desserts with coconut flour. Thank you for putting this together!
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Hey lovely! I’m using this recipe on a compilation post of healthy comfort foods, so you’ll be getting traffic from my audience. Cheers!
Yes!!!! This recipe is too good. Thanks!!!
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Hi Jessica,
I am diabetic and was wondering on how I can make this diabetic friendly, low carb.
This recipe is low carb, but if you want it to swap the applesauce with another ingredient, you can try 100% pure pumpkin puree or carrot puree/baby food 🙂
What temperature do you bake this at?
Nevermind. Just saw you took down the recipe. Guess I can not make the cake. What a let down.
I didn’t delete the recipe — it’s in my cookbook! It’s too good to delete 😉
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Can I substitute the coconut flour with almond flour or oat flour?
Unfortunately no. Coconut flour can’t be substituted.
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Cant believe you put up a recipe but dont give us the amounts , what a meanie !
I have over 600 free recipes on the blog, so I don’t think sharing a post featuring my cookbook makes me a meanie 😂
What a HUGE LETDOWN! To find a recipe with no sugar I can eat and go out and buy all the ingredients day before my birthday to go home and make it and realize you took the instructions down. That is not nice. If you want to promote your cookbook, find other ways rather than letting people down. Soo many free amazing recipes online
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This isn’t a good strategy to get people to buy your prodect. Burn in hell, bitch.
LOLOLOL 😂😂😂 maturity at its finest right there
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hi. I cant find the recipe for the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting?? and im making this one tomorrow.
🙂
I have a few cream cheese frosting recipes on the blog. You can take your pic! 🙂
https://dessertswithbenefits.com/?s=cream+cheese+frosting
Hi there, I’m wondering if if mascarpone cheese would work in place of the yogurt or in the icing, thanks for your reply
Since mascarpone isn’t super thick like cream cheese, I think it might actually work in the cake! It should definitely work in the frosting though 🙂
Okay, thanks Jessica!