Fourteen ingredients and an hour of work, plus the cooling that a layer cake cannot be rushed through.
The cake is deliberately plain inside. No fruit, no chocolate, no nuts and no second filling — buttercream is the only thing between the layers.
Why This Recipe Works
- Creaming the butter and sugar properly is what gives a gluten-free crumb its lift.
- Beating the eggs in one at a time keeps the batter from splitting.
- Alternating the dry ingredients with the milk stops the flour overworking.
- Three 8-inch pans bake in twenty-four to thirty minutes rather than an hour.
- Beating the frosting to smooth and ivory is what makes it spreadable at that volume.
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten-free 1-to-1 flour with xanthan gum
- Three cups, and it must be a certified blend. The xanthan gum is what holds a layer together well enough to stack.
- Butter, in two amounts
- A cup in the cake and a cup and a half in the frosting. They are separate measures for separate jobs.
- Rainbow sprinkles labeled gluten-free
- A third of a cup. Not named in the title, visible on the finished cake, and the label matters as much as it does on the flour.
- Heavy cream, in the frosting
- Three to four tablespoons, added to taste. It is what takes five cups of powdered sugar from stiff to spreadable.
How to Make It
Three pans, lined
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and line three 8-inch round cake pans.
Dry whisked, butter creamed, eggs one at a time
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time and vanilla.
Dry and milk alternately, divided evenly
Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Divide evenly among the three pans.
Twenty-four to thirty minutes, then cool fully
Bake 24 to 30 minutes until the centers spring back and a tester comes out clean. Cool completely.
Buttercream to smooth and ivory
Beat frosting butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream until smooth and ivory.
Stack, frost, sprinkle — and nothing else
Stack the three layers with buttercream between them, frost the outside, and finish with rainbow sprinkles. Do not add fruit, chocolate, nuts, or another filling.
The Cake, Bottom to Top
A layer cake is one of the few things where the order of assembly IS the recipe. Everything below is read the way the cut slice reads, and the shortest entry is the most important one.
Rainbow sprinkles
1/3 cup, and they have to be LABELLED GLUTEN-FREE like the flour. They are the entire decoration, they are not named in the title, and they are visible on the finished cake - part of the recipe rather than optional.
The top layer, then the outside
The third round, then the whole cake frosted around the sides. The crumb underneath stays PALE GOLD AND EVEN - nothing is folded into the batter at any point.
Buttercream, again - and ONLY buttercream
This is the entry that defines the cake. Step 6 leaves out fruit, chocolate, nuts AND any other filling by name. There is no jam layer, no curd, no ganache: the same ivory buttercream sits in both gaps, and nothing else is visible between the layers.
The middle layer
Identical to the first. The three pans go into the oven together and come out together, which is why they bake evenly - one deep tin would need an hour and a different crumb.
Buttercream
1 1/2 cups of softened butter beaten with 5 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tsp vanilla and 3 to 4 tbsp of heavy cream until SMOOTH AND IVORY. Ivory rather than white is the giveaway of a real butter frosting, and it is the colour the photograph shows.
The bottom layer
One of three 8-inch rounds, baked 24 to 30 minutes at 350F from a batter of 3 cups certified gluten-free 1-to-1 flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt creamed into 1 cup of butter and 1 3/4 cups of sugar with 4 eggs beaten in ONE AT A TIME, then the dry alternated with 1 1/4 cups of whole milk. Alternating is what stops a gluten-free flour overworking into a tight crumb.
Success Tips
- Divide the batter by weight if you can — even layers stack straight.
- Cool completely before frosting; warm layers melt buttercream off the sides.
- Add the cream a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is smooth and ivory.
Serving Ideas
Twelve slices from a three-layer cake on a white stand, the pale gold crumb between thick ivory buttercream, the outside frosted and the top scattered with rainbow sprinkles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has to be gluten-free?
The flour blend, and also the sprinkles and the flavourings. That is the whole of the requirement here and nothing beyond it is claimed.
Can I put jam or fruit between the layers?
No. Step 6 rules out fruit, chocolate, nuts and any other filling — buttercream is the only thing between the layers.
Could I bake it in two pans instead of three?
The recipe is three distinct 8-inch layers, and the twenty-four to thirty minute bake is set for that depth.
