Gluten Free Blackberry Cake
This honey-sweetened Gluten Free Blackberry Cake is loaded with juicy blackberries and topped with a scattering of toasted almonds. This one-bowl recipe is made with just one gluten-free flour, or you can substitute your favorite 1:1 blend.
Easy Gluten Free Blackberry Cake Recipe
My general philosophy is, in summer eat fruit and lots of it. Come winter, the memory (and perhaps preserves?) will keep us going when the blueberries are lackluster and the nectarines expensive. In-season fruit is the sweetest thing, literally. This easy gluten-free blackberry cake takes the best of seasonal blackberries and marries them with just enough honey to enhance their natural flavor.
To make this blackberry gluten free cake, you’ll fold beautiful blackberries into a buckwheat flour batter that’s sweetened with honey and seasoned with lemon zest and a tiny kiss of cinnamon. This gluten free berry cake is all that a summer fruit cake aspires to be.
I chose to use just buckwheat flour as the gluten-free flour in this cake and it is perfect. Honey is a natural companion and the two strong flavors balance each other nicely. You can substitute your favorite gluten-free baking mix if you prefer. Juicy, vibrant blackberries make this a lovely cake for late summer — or use frozen berries to make it all year round.
Why You’ll Love This Gluten Free Berry Cake
There’s so much to love about a simple fruit cake, and this one does not disappoint. Here’s why you’ll love this gluten free blackberry cake:
- Packed with fruit. There’s no skimping on the berries in this cake! If you’re lucky enough like we are to have access to blackberries growing nearby, get picking!
- Just one gluten-free flour. I love that you need just one gluten-free flour, earthy buckwheat flour, to make this cake!
- Simple ingredients. All the basics are in this recipe, nothing fancy is needed.
- Versatile. You can easily swap in another fruit for the blackberries, or try a mix of berries!
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need for this blackberry gluten free cake. You can find the full ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Butter
- Honey
- Raw sugar
- Eggs
- Pure vanilla extract
- Greek yogurt
- Lemons
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Fine sea salt
- Buckwheat flour
- Blackberries
- Sliced almonds
How to Make Gluten Free Blackberry Cake
Here’s my easy method for making gluten free blackberry cake:
- Prepare the pan. Grease an 8 or 9-inch cake round and line with a circle of parchment paper.
- Cream the butter and add the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, cream the butter, honey, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly on medium speed until well combined. Beat in the Greek yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest until well combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the buckwheat flour until incorporated; be careful not to over-mix. Then, equally as gently, fold in the blackberries.
- Heat the oven and rest the batter. Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Scatter the sliced almonds across the top if using. Let batter rest while the oven heats, then place pan in the oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes, checking at 35 minutes and at regular intervals, until the cake’s surface is slightly firm, a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the edges are just pulling away from the pan.
- Cool the cake. Remove the cake from the oven, place it on a wire rack, and let cool for 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Tips for Success
- Mix in the buckwheat flour at the end. Buckwheat flour can make bakes gummy if over-mixed, so folding it in gently before baking helps to alleviate this.
- Rest the batter. After you gently mix in the flour, let the batter rest while the oven heats so that the flour can hydrate.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Bring your ingredients to room temperature for about 15 minutes before using them so that they better incorporate into the batter.
- Use frozen fruit. You can easily use frozen blackberries in this recipe.
- Substitute another fruit. I know I know, this is a blackberry cake. But it’s also wonderful made with blueberries or raspberries.
Substitution Suggestions
Here are some easy substitutions you can make with this cake:
- Buckwheat flour – Try oat flour or a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
- Honey – Swap maple syrup or you can use granulated sugar.
- To make dairy-free – Substitute your favorite non-dairy butter for the butter and use non-dairy yogurt in place of the yogurt.
Storage Suggestions
Store the cake, well wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Gluten-Free Blackberry Honey Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup raw sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 2 lemons, zested
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 ¼ cup/210 g buckwheat flour
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Lightly grease an 8 or 9-inch cake round and line with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, honey, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly on medium speed until well combined. Beat in the Greek yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest until well combined.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the buckwheat flour until incorporated; be careful not to over mix. Then, equally as gently, fold in the blackberries.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Scatter the sliced almonds across the top if using. Let batter rest while oven heats, then place pan in oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes, checking at 35 minutes and at regular intervals, until the cake's surface is slightly firm, a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the edges are just pulling away from the pan.
- Remove cake from oven, place on a wire rack, and let cool for 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Cake will keep, well wrapped in plastic, for 3 days in the fridge.