A richly flavored, tender gluten-free caramel cake made with coconut sugar.
Gluten-Free Caramel Cake
So-good caramel cake that is a bit less sweet and riffed off a favorite recipe? Yes, please! This is one of my old beloveds, recently adapted to my "new" way of baking. When possible I'll be going through some of my most-made recipes on this site and updating them to be gluten and refined-sugar free. This lovely caramel cake is one of those: beautiful in its simplicity -- dense, richly flavored, and capped with a squidgy, dark coconut sugar-infused caramel sauce.
The flours called for in this recipe include almond, oat and tapioca. Tapioca is a nice starch here as it balances the denseness of the almond flour (see below for substitution options). The almond and oat flours bring moisture and a slightly sweet flavor that plays beautifully off the caramel topping (made with coconut sugar and heavy cream; you could use coconut milk in place of the cream if you want even more coconut flavor).
The original recipe is here if you would prefer to give it a try.
What You'll Need for Gluten-Free Caramel Cake
- Oat flour: A delicious and versatile gluten-free flour
- Almond flour: Use almond flour rather than almond meal
- Tapioca flour: Brings binding and lightness to gluten-free bakes
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Pure vanilla extract
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Butter
- Sugar or maple sugar
- Coconut sugar
- Heavy cream
Tips for Success
- Bring ingredients to room temperature before using
- Have a candy thermometer handy for the glaze
- You can use cane sugar and brown sugar in place of the maple sugar and coconut sugar
- See the "Notes" section following the recipe for substitution suggestions
How to Store
Store cake, well-covered in the fridge, for 3 days.
Recipe
Gluten-Free Caramel Cake
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 teaspoon 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 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
For Caramel Glaze
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 teaspoon 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 ½-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.
Fernando Alerts says
Lovely caramel cake. Perfect for next weekend. Thank you.