Gluten Free Pound Cake Recipe
Pound cake and I have a long history. My mother used to serve it to us often. We would have it for dessert one night and the following day toasted for breakfast. Those were the only days I didn’t have to reluctantly drag myself to the breakfast table.
As a teenager, there was many a time when I nursed a broken heart with a loaf of Sara Lee Pound cake. Somehow it was the only thing that was able to restore my will to live in those tumultuous teen angst times.
I once spent a couple of weeks in an extremely impoverished country where the quality of food was so poor that my appetite completely deserted me. For some reason everywhere I went in that country had pound cake, it sustained me for 14 long days.
Of course all of this was before I went gluten free. I was bound and determined to make a great, classic, gluten free pound cake.
I consider pound cake one of the essentials of baking. Like a fabulous pair of jeans, it can be dressed up or down to suit the occasion.
After much trial and error I perfected (if I do say so myself) good old fashioned, classic, gluten free pound cake.
The original pound cake recipe calls for a pound of butter, a pound of flour, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar – thus the name pound cake.
I played with these proportions a bit to make a lighter version that still has the classic taste and texture because let’s face it – a cake made with a pound of each of those ingredients would probably feed an army. While it is never a bad thing to have too much pound cake, I rarely have the need to eat a whole pound cake all by myself as I did during my achy heart-breaky teen years.
For the flour, I think it is important to either use a pastry quality gluten free flour blend or make your own with a combination of superfine or Asian white rice flour and sweet rice flour plus potato and tapioca starches. You also need a little xanthan gum in there. I use Asian rice flours for two reasons – first, they are milled more finely than other rice flours thus are not gritty; secondly, they are a lot less expensive. Look for them in Asian stores or online. Unfortunately gluten free flours that are made with beans are just not going to give you a classic pound cake. If you want to make up a big batch of flour that will work great in this recipe, hop over to my Gluten Free Lemon Sugar Cookies recipe, I tell you how to make it there.
For butter, I use the best unsalted, organic butter I can get my hands on. There are not a lot of ingredients in this cake so each one counts!
Same goes for the eggs, if possible use organic pastured eggs.
As far as the sugar goes, I prefer to use Wholesome Sweeteners Organic sugar; it is not as sharp as bleached sugar and imparts a mellow sweetness to the cake.
Start with all your ingredients at room temperature and don’t skimp on the time in the mixer. There is a reason why I say to cream the butter and sugar for 5 minutes. There is a reason I say to add each egg separately and to beat well after each addition. I find that when people have trouble baking, it is usually because they don’t follow some basic rules and try to take shortcuts. While I am usually all for shortcuts in cooking, baking is another story.
Don’t be intimidated – use good quality ingredients and follow the directions and you too can have a long history and beautiful love affair with pound cake!
Gluten Free Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- Gluten free non-stick cooking spray
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine or Asian white rice flour
- 5 tablespoons superfine or Asian sweet rice also called glutinous rice flour
- 6 tablespoons potato starch
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- ½ cup milk at room temperature
- 1 cup organic unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup organic sugar
- 3 large organic eggs
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sweet rice flour blend, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium high speed for 5 minutes until it is very light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and milk to the creamed butter starting with half of the flour mixture then the milk then the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer and scrap the sides and bottom of the bowl well with a large spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check after 40 minutes and if the top is becoming too brown, place a sheet of foil over to protect it. Let cool in pan for a full 15 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- The cake will keep wrapped in the fridge for at least 3 days.
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe with any egg substitutes? I would love to make pound cake for Sophie, but she can’t have eggs.
I have not and usually with recipes containing more than 2 eggs I don’t recomned it but in this case, I think it will work. I would use actual egg replacers, not flax seed or chia seed. Good luck, I really hope it works!
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Oh my gosh! This is a lovely pound cake! I will be making it often. Thank you for sharing it with us.
My pleasure and thank you!
Hello, can I use egg yolks instead the whole eggs? Also can I substitute almond milk for the milk?
Yes, those substitutions should be fine in this recipe!
Do you think cup4 cup would work or better batter?
I have never tried either but I hear good things about them so they should work fine.
Made this tonight and it’s amazing!!!
So happy you enjoyed it Denise!
Please…what is the difference between Asian white rice flour and Asian sweet rice (also called glutinous) rice flour? Thank u…can’t wait to try this?
White rice flour is made with one kind of rice and sweet rice flour another, stickier, type of rice. The combination of the two makes for a more tneder crumb to the cake. Enjoy Doreen!
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I’ve just eaten a slice of the best pound cake ever, gluten free or not! :) Thank you so much Carol. Your recipe, instructions and the organic, superior ingredients that you recommend have worked like a charm!
Thank you Helen, I am so happy you enjoyed it!
Hi! Nice recipe! Any idea how much sugar there is per serving??
Thanks Mike, I am sorry I don’t know. There are on-line recipe caluculators you could run it though one of those and find out.
Hi, I am wanting to make this but I cannot have dairy. Would this recipe work with almond or rice milk?
Yes, and a really good dairy free butter substitute. Eithr almond or rice milk is fine, the almond will give it a biit of an almond flavor though.
Hi, I want to try this recipe but unfortunately I just bought Arrowhead mills all purpose baking mix and need to use it up. It has sorghum flour and starch and some of the tapioca and rice and already has xanthan gum in it and little baking powder. Can this work? and if so what would the measurements be for the flour and baking powder part?
It should work, just use 1 3/4 cups of your flour and use the same amount of baking powder, don’t add the xanthan gum. Good luck!
Hi Carol, I wrote a question earlier today but I have a more pressing one I forgot to ask. I have been experimenting with gluten free baking for weeks now and I keep having a problem with the centers being mushy even though I let them bake for longer than an hour. Is there a baking/ingredients cause for this? and how can I avoid a mushy middle of my cakes? otherwise it might just be my oven. Thank you so much for all your recipes.
Hi Faith. Oh I could probably write a whole post about mushy centers and gluten free baking! Without knowing what specific ingredients you are using a few things could be pan size and oven tempurature. For the most part gluten free baking will work better in a smaller pan size – steam gets trapped in tehe center and it is hard to escape as gluten free batter tend to be wetter than non gf ones. Many people like to use light pans instea of dark ones also, this helps with getting the inside cooked through without browning too much. If your recipes call for xanthan gum you could try cutting back on the amount ever so slightly. If you tell me more about what you are trying to bake, I can be more helpful.
Carol – if I use the flour blend from your lemon cookies, how much of that blend would be used in this pound cake? I assume the flour blend takes the place of the rice flours, starches and gum – but you would still use the Baking Powder
I use Authentic Foods all purpose flour, which is very fine also. Could I use that instead of all the flours you use?
Hi Nancy, I am not sure what makes up Authetic Foods all-purpose flour but if you like it, I am sure it will be fine!
Can you use only the gluten flour and not organic other things
Yes you can. Enjoy!
I’m new and I have bought Bobs Red Mill flours. Sweet whit rice,sweet white sorghum flour,potato starch, millet flour,almond meal/flour and coconut flour. What mixture can I use for pound cake? Please help. Thank you ,Jane
Hi Jane. You can use Bob’;s Red Mill flour is you like and add the xanthan gum. I personally do not care for the taste of beans that Bob’s flour has which is why I make my own. Coconut and almond flours work very differently so they wuill not be good substitutes in this recipe.
Carol – Can this be doubled and baked in a bundt pan?
Hi Lily, I have not tried it but I see no reason why not. You just might have to adjust the time a little, I would think it would bake in slightly less time.
hi, just wanted to let you know that I just tried this recipe with 1/3 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of maple sugar and it was delicious! Raised amazingly well and the flavor was perfect!
Thanks Katia – I love it when people tell me how they tweaked my recipes. Thanks for letting me know.
Hi, Carol… just found your site and I am so excited! Would love to make this for my husband, who thinks all pound cakes should be chocolate. Have you ever added cocoa to this batter, and if you have, how much did you use? Would you recommend any other ingredient adjustments? Thank you!
Hi Joanna. Thank you so much! OK, first let me say I have not tried this so it is just an educated guess – I would add 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the batter and then taste to see if it is still sweet enough for you. I don’t really think any other changes would be needed. Good luck!
Carol, I have your gluten free flour. Would this work in this recipe and what would I need to omit in the ingredient list above if I use it? I am fairly new to gluten free baking. Thanks so much!!
Hi Sherry,
You can leave out the Asian white rice flour, the Asian sweet rice (also called glutinous) rice flour, leave out the potato starch the tapioca starch and the xanthan gum. Then use 1¾ cups of my flour instead!
Enjoy,
Carol
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I to find this matter to be really something which I believe
I’d never understand. It sort of feels too complex and very huge for
me. I am having a look ahead for your next put up, I will try to get the dangle of it!
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Hi Carol,i has i question: is it ok if i not put the xanthan gum ?i can not find here.thank you
Monique, Well, you do need to add something, can you find guar gum or psyllium husks that you grind up? If so use an equal amount.
xo,
Carol
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Hi Carol,
This recipe looks great!! Unfortunately, my blood sugar is a little high. Is there a replacement I can use for sugar? Thanks!
Hi Jennie,
Yes, you can use a sugar substitute for baking. You could try Zero from Wholesome! http://wholesomesweet.com/product/all-natural-zero/ that’s the link. :)
xo,
Carol
Hi Carol, Can’t wait to make this … love pound cake. I can’t find Potato or Tapioca starch … can I use something else or leave them out? I have all of the other ingredients. Thank you.
Hi Judy,
Unfortunately you can’t leave them out or it won’t have the same taste and texture. You could try arrowroot starch but that may be harder to find than potato and tapioca starches and will change the texture a bit. You may have to try a health food store if your traditional grocery store doesn’t carry them – do you have a Whole Foods, Earth Fare, Nature’s Food Patch, Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, or something like that near you? Many Walmart locations that have a grocery store in them now have a gluten-free section and you can sometimes find potato and tapioca starches there. You could also buy them online.
Hope this helps!
xo,
Carol
Hello there. I just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I didn’t have the kind of rice flours you suggested, nor could I use regular butter, since I’m allergic to dairy. I only used well sifted Bob Mill’s white rice flour and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and the results were still amazing! I think it’s because I followed the rest of your instructions carefully. The extra mixing times are what I believe made a big difference.
Thank you, Ellah! I’m happy it came out well :)