Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Birthdays are a huge thing in our house, we love celebrating each other. And, who doesn’t love birthday cake?

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting

My Vanilla Birthday Cake recipe is made with six ingredients total. Yes! You’ve got that right. You can have an amazing gluten-free dessert for birthday celebrations that turns out perfectly every time.

Easy Gluten-Free Cake

Better yet, mixing the batter for this cake is as easy as using a cake mix. The difference? Homemade Birthday Cake tastes so much better, and it’s healthy too!

People fell hard for my Chocolate Birthday Cake, and then asked for a Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting, so I had to make another fabulously healthy dessert for y’all.

Happy Birthday Cake

This easy Gluten-Free Birthday Cake recipe is so simple that my boys used to throw it together when they were in grade school.

I love it when readers show me their little ones making my cake recipes over on Instagram.

Homemade Birthday Cake Recipe

Yup, my cake recipes from scratch are so easy an elementary school student can make them, and this homemade birthday cake recipe is one of my faves!

Birthday Cake Recipe

For this birthday cake recipe, all you do is throw the coconut flour and baking soda in the food processor, then pulse in the wet ingredients –eggs, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. That’s it!

To learn more about the main ingredient, coconut flour, check out my Ultimate Guide to Coconut Flour.

How to Make a Cake Tall

After that, transfer the batter to two greased 6-inch pans. If you want your cakes to be tall like mine, be sure to use the 6-inch pans.

If you use an 8-inch pan the batter will not fill the pan properly, in turn, your cake will be sad 😟 and flat.

Bake Cake

If you need to know how to bake cake, well, that’s even simpler. Place your cake pans with the batter on a baking sheet, put it in the oven and you’re off to the races.

Frosting Cake

Now let’s talk about frosting cake. There’s one basic step that ensures the results of frosting the cake will be gorgeous.

Let the cake cool for two hours minimum after it comes out of the oven. I have the best results frosting the cake when I bake the cake the night before, and then let it cool overnight at room temperature.

Make-Ahead Birthday Cake Recipe

When we throw a birthday bash that requires a lot of set-up, I make Vanilla Birthday Cake a couple of days ahead of time.

I bake the cakes and cool them in the pans overnight. The next morning I remove them from the pans and then wrap individually in foil. Store Vanilla Birthday Cake in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

I frost the cake with my homemade frosting the day of the birthday party.

Chocolate Frosting

My homemade chocolate frosting recipe really takes the cake here, no pun intended. I am one of those people who likes a little cake with my frosting.

Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Use a double batch of Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for this birthday cake. That’s what you see in the photo.

I serve my cakes on cake stands because they have a big wow-factor and look incredibly special this way. More on the best cake stands below!

Dairy-Free Frosting Recipes

If you don’t eat dairy, try my Dairy-Free Chocolate Frosting recipe for an all-out dairy-free birthday cake celebration.

Happy Birthday Wishes

Did you know I launched Elana’s Pantry in 2006? This year is our fifteenth birthday! I love this community so much.

We are a motley crew when it comes to food allergies and I work to create recipes that meet the needs of each person here.

Food Allergies

I want you to be able to break bread, and cake, with friends and loved ones. If a recipe doesn’t meet your food allergy needs, experiment and use substitutions to customize it for you.

That includes substitutions for this Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting recipe.

Substitutions

I wish I had a crystal ball when it comes to knowing how to make perfect recipes. Unfortunately, I don’t. This means I test each recipe dozens of times.

So, the only way to know if a substitution works is to try! Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Cake Stand

Here are some of my favorite cake stands! Use them to create a breath-taking presentation when you make Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting or any of the cake recipes from scratch below:

• 9 inch clear glass cake stand
• 9 inch white milk glass cake stand
• 9 inch green milk glass cake stand

Cake Recipes

Although these cakes may not be labeled as birthday cakes, I’ve received several comments that they have become family favorites for birthday celebrations.

Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake

Most strawberry shortcake recipes from scratch are complicated. My homemade Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake recipe is incredibly easy to put together.

I love it because the vanilla cake is made with six ingredients total. My family loves it too and tells me it’s one of the best cake recipes with fruit they’ve ever had.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Homemade Coffee Cake is one of my favorite comfort foods, and my gluten-free coffee cake is super healthy.

Nut-Free Carrot Cake

This Nut-Free Carrot Cake recipe made with coconut flour is another cake recipe from scratch that’s healthy and super easy to assemble. Throwing a party is enough work, why make the cake difficult?

Mug Cake

My Mug Cake is the perfect single-sized treat. It’s made with five ingredients total –almond flour, cacao powder, an egg, maple syrup, and baking soda.

Make this when you’re craving dessert, but either don’t want to take time to bake a full cake or want to allow everyone to add their own toppings. This would be so much fun with a group of friends.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Back when the boys were growing up, this strawberry cupcakes recipe was the perfect nut-free treat for school!

The recipe is an exclusive from my book Gluten-Free Cupcakes, but I’ve also shared the recipe here on the website with our Elana’s Pantry community.

Get the Book! Gluten-Free Cupcakes

Speaking of cupcakes Gluten-Free Cupcakes is a great investment if you’re looking for birthday cake style recipes.

And I have a Vegan Chocolate Cupcake recipe in the book for all of my egg-free, dairy-free readers!

Gluten-Free Orange Cake with Almond Flour

Because I loved chocolate-covered orange peel growing up, I’ve always wanted to smother Orange Cake in my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe, the same frosting used here in my Vanilla Birthday Cake recipe. I’ve had many readers try this and they all tell me it’s incredible!

Cake Recipes from Scratch

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting is one of my favorite cake recipes from scratch. Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite is!

This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first shared this Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting in September 2016.