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A true snacking cake, this simple, one-bowl gluten free spice cake is a soft, fragrant, and simple cake that's made in one bowl and packed with warm and cozy spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
Why you'll love this recipe
This spice cake has a dense, but incredibly moist, crumb that's rich with brown sugar and warm spices. It's made with a combination of melted butter for flavor and and a touch of oil for moist mouthfeel.
It's the type of cake where the crumbs are always in clumps, never alone, and stick to the tines of the fork. And it stays fresh for days at room temperature.
The crumb of this cake is tighter than gluten free vanilla cake. The texture is similar to gluten free carrot cake, but without carrots, of course, and with the flavors of nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, in addition to cinnamon.
Expert tips
Selecting spices
This cake calls for a fragrant combination of warm ground spices: ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, ground cloves, and a touch of ground ginger. It's similar to the pumpkin pie spice we use in gluten free pumpkin pie, but without allspice.
You can use pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, or even just ground cinnamon in this recipe. Just be sure to use the full amount of spices called for (nearly 3 teaspoons), since this is a spice cake, after all! You want the rich flavors of the spices to shine through.
Checking for doneness
You can test doneness by inserting a toothpick or other cake tester into the center to ensure that it comes out clean, or press the cake gently in the center. If it springs back, it's done. Because of the different types of sugar, it can begin to burn relatively easily so be careful not to overbake it.
Choosing the proper pan
This is a really forgiving recipe and can be baked in a variety of cake pan sizes. I like baking it in a 9-inch x 13-inch cake pan, since it bakes so quickly and makes generous but not oversized slices.
You can also bake this cake in 2 8-inch round cake pans, if you prefer. Just divide the batter evenly between greased pans, spread into an even layer, and bake until set in the center (it will take about 30 minutes, but may take a bit longer).
Cool completely before dusting or frosting
Never dust a warm cake with confectioners' sugar! If the cake has any warmth at all, the sugar will melt right into the cake. You'll still taste it, but you won't see it.
The same goes for frosting, if you wanted to make this cake with a cream cheese frosting. Try the frosting recipe from our gluten free zucchini cake for a soft, tangy, and decadent gf spice cake experience, but double it for this larger-size cake.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
To make this cake dairy free, you'll only need to replace the butter with a nondairy alternative. I recommend vegan butter; my favorite brands are Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen.
This is such a forgiving recipe, though, that you may be able to use Earth Balance buttery sticks here. They have too much moisture, though, so you might want to reduce the water by 1 to 2 teaspoons. And reduce the salt by half, since they're very salty.
Egg free
There are only 2 eggs in this recipe. You should be able to replace each of them with a “chia egg.”
To make one chia egg, combine 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds and 1 tablespoon lukewarm water in a small bowl. Mix, and allow the mixture to sit until it begins to gel.
Sugars
This cake has two granulated sugars: white, and light brown. I haven't tried replacing either of them with liquid sugars, but it might work. If you'd like to try replacing the granulated sugars with liquid sugar, you'll have to rebalance the recipe, since liquid sugars are sweeter, and have more moisture.
Try replacing the 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar with 75 grams corn syrup (for its neutral flavor), and the 1 cup (218 g) light brown sugar with a total of 165 grams liquid sugars (I'd try 125 grams honey and 40 grams unsulphured molasses). I don't recommend trying to replace the sugars with something like applesauce. That isn't nearly sweet enough to replace sugar, and your cake will be dense and not at all tender.
Additions and variations
Try mixing some of your favorite flavors into this simple cake. Here are some ideas (go easy, though, so you don't alter the cake's chemistry too much):
- 3 ounces chopped soft nuts, like walnuts or pecans
- 3 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- 3 ounces Thompson raisins or dried sweetened cranberries
Storage instructions
This cake in stays moist and tender wrapped tightly for at least 2 days at room temperature. For longer storage, slice the cake into squares, wrap each tightly in freezer-safe wrap, and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave, briefly.
Gluten Free Spice Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (315 g) all purpose gluten-free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground nutmeg is best
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (218 g) packed light brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) neutral oil, (vegetable, canola, grapeseed, etc.)
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) warm water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease or line a 9×13-inch baking pan and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and granulated sugar and whisk to combine well.
- Add the brown sugar and mix to combine, breaking up any lumps.
- Add the melted butter, oil, beaten eggs, water, and vanilla, and mix to combine. The batter will be relatively thick, but soft.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer with a moistened spatula. Shake the pan back and forth a bit to ensure even distribution of the batter.
- Place the cake in the center of the preheated oven and bake until set in the center, about 25 minutes. A toothpick should come out mostly clean (never wet; may have a few moist crumbs attached).
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely in the pan completely. It will take about 45 minutes at room temperature until completely cool.
- Once the cake is cool, dust the top of the cake with a thin layer of (the optional) confectioners’ sugar. Slice into squares and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
Most pure, single-ingredient spices are free of gluten ingredients, but they may not always be safely gluten free. If you're especially sensitive and are concerned about cross-contamination with gluten-containing ingredients, stick to Badia brand spices, which prominently claim gluten free status.
McCormick brand spices are also gluten free as long as they contain all safe ingredients, which will be prominently displayed on the label, so check your labels!
I haven't tried that, but I think it should work. They'll bake faster than cake, though, so start checking for doneness at about 18 minutes.
I don't know if this recipe would make a proper gluten free spice bundt cake, since it's very, very moist all the way through, and the best gluten free bundt cake has a crispier, buttery edge. Just multiply all the ingredients by 1.5 to make enough batter.
This cake is outstanding. When I made it, I substituted all of the sugar for 3/4 pure maple syrup, reduced the eggs to 1 egg and used 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk to replace the water. A definite keeper. Moist and very flavorful!!
Hi, do you think this would work in a Bundt pan? Thanks
Hi, Tonia, no definitely not, I’m afraid! It’s way too airy a crumb to hold up.
I make cupcakes with this all the time! I cook at 325F (I have a dark non-stick pan) for 12-17 min (oven heats vary, so I start watching at 10 min and adjust my cook time accordingly)
Hey there! Just wondering what the cooking temp/time would be if I could make this into cupcakes please? Thanks so much!!
I’m afraid I don’t think this recipe would work well as cupcakes, Michelle. Sorry!
Just FYI – We made it as instructed and cut it into 2 1/2 squares, essentially creating “cupcakes,” but not really.
That sounds perfect, Scott! I often say to slice a cake into 9 squares, but for my family often slice things smaller so people are more likely to eat “just a little piece.” :)
My family makes these into cupcakes and just uses 350°f until toothpick comes out clean or mostly clean. It works out just fine.
Good to know!
Two questions:
Could I substitute applesauce for the oil?
Would this cake work for a cake roll? I made your pumpkin one and it was a hit. Thinking of a Christmas Yule log?
Applesauce is not a fat and won’t substitute for oil, no, Terry. And this won’t work as a cake roll, but I do have a couple cake roll recipes which you’ll find with the search function.
Made this cake for Thanksgiving. With the not-recommended Bobs Redmill 1-for-1 baking flour (the blue bag, not the red) and it was simply DIVINE! It was light and fluffy, crumbly! Not dense like typical GF cakes I’ve tried to make. Absolutely recommend this cake recipe to anyone who loves spice cake. It wasn’t in the directions, but I sifted every powder ingredient and was careful to not over mix. I also added more ginger for a little kick. The flavor is phenomenal. If I find that BetterBatter, I will be trying the recipe again with the recommended flour. Next time I’m going to pair it up with an apple compote.
I made this using bobs red mill 1 to 1 flour (can’t afford the pricier flour especially living in Canada. My whole family loved the cake, we couldn’t even tell it was gluten free!
I made this for a family party yesterday, it was a hit! I used a store bought cream cheese frosting to top it with. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks Nicole for an awesome recipe!
Just made this. Easy as pie to make and the taste and texture was perfection! I used Bob’s Red Mill blend with anthem gum. It had the texture of a light slightly spongy cake. Not a heavy moist cake, which I like but sometimes I want a more traditional cake texture and this totally hit the spot. The spice combination was perfect, I used the freshly grated nutmeg and maybe went slightly heavy on the rest of the spice. Topped it with a cream cheese frosting made with only regular sugar and brown sugar( I realized I had no icing sugar) and it complemented the cake perfectly. I guess I’m going on a bit because I’ve made so many gluten free cakes that only my husband would eat. So to find one so lovely I’m kind of over the moon. Incidentally, I put 2/3 of the batter in an 8″ cake pan and the rest in an 8″ square pan.
Made this for my family tonight on a whim and so glad I did! This was super easy to whip up and is delicious! I made it dairy free also due to allergies (used Earth Balance sticks). Will definitely be making again!