Gluten free cake that is quick and easy?
Have you ever had some gluten free dessert that just tasted like cardboard? (No, I’ve not eaten cardboard before but I can imagine what it would taste like!) You may have wondered like me, why bother eating gluten free if it is going to taste like garbage? So when my daughter was turning 3 and wanted a unicorn cake that was gluten free, I knew I had to come up with a solution for her, and since I am too lazy to make a cake from scratch so off to Aldi’s I went!
I improved the recipe
I prefer to eat whole food plant-based which means no processed foods or sugar (to read why I made the change, check out that blog post here) but since I wasn’t going to eat the whole cake myself, I figured a cheat day was in order! This particular mix contains sugar and if I made my own cake I would figure out something else but let’s be real: I have three kids I chase around so that was not going to happen haha! I did make some changes to the ingredients. Instead of using eggs, for example, I used flax seed “eggs”. To make it dairy-free, I used a banana instead of butter and in place of dairy milk, I used almond milk.
Frosting (Also Gluten free)
The frosting I used for this cake was not my own recipe. If you want to find some amazing whole food plant based content, be sure to check out my friends at The Whole Food Plant Based Cooking Show! Jill is a wiz in the kitchen and inspires me with her super simple and fun recipes! The ingredients for the frosting include cashews, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla, and dates. That is it! I did not have vanilla on hand when I made this recipe so I used maple syrup instead of vanilla and it was still amazing!
What Do I Need?
This recipe could not be simpler! For the cake you will need a mixing bowl, spatula, mixing spoon, and round cake tin. For the recipe, you need a blender. That is all! You only need 10 minutes of prep time, 30 minutes in the oven, and enough time for it to cool and you are all set! Please leave me a comment and review on how you loved this recipe! Let’s get baking!
Quick and Easy Gluten Free Box Cake
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Blender
- Mixing Spoon
- 9in non stick round cake pan
Ingredients
- 1 15oz gluten free yellow cake mix box from Aldi
- 1/2 cup mashed banana (1 large banana)
- 3 flax eggs
- 6 tbsp water for the flax eggs
- 2/3 cup almond or plant based milk
- 2 bananas for garnish set aside
Frosting
- 2 cups soaked and drained raw cashews
- 9 pitted dates
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
Cake
- Combine the water and flax meal in a small bowl and stir until well combined. Let sit for 5 minutes and set aside.
- To the mixing bowl add the cake mix, almond milk, and mashed banana and stir until incorporated. Fold in the flax eggs and stir well.
- Preheat the oven to 350 farenheight. Lightly grease a 9in round cake pan with plant-based butter or oil and pour the batter into the cake pan.
- Set on the middle rack and bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the top is slightly browned. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. The frosting will spread best when the cake is completly cool
Frosting
- Add all ingredients to the blender and blend on high for 30 seconds or until smooth. It will be very thick so it takes a while. You may need to stop the blender and scrape the edges to make sure it all gets blended well.
- Once the cake is cooled, spread the frosting with a spatula over the top and sides of the cake. There will be extra frosting for snacking on 🙂
- Top with sprinkles of vegan chocolate chips. With the 2 bananas, make small slices and stick them to the side of the cake. (Optional) Makes 8 servings. Enjoy!