Butterscotch Cake - Gluten Free, Eggless

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This gluten free butterscotch cake is ultra rich and so soft and moist. The easy butterscotch frosting is the perfect finishing touch.

I'm a huge fan of butterscotch anything. Butterscotch pudding (I have a great recipe for that in my book, by the way!), butterscotch chocolate chip cookies, butterscotch pie, butterscotch candy. It's all completely irresistible, as far as I'm concerned! So it was only a matter of time before I came up with a butterscotch cake recipe, right?

Making a gluten free layer cake might seem intimidating, but I promise the process is so simple. And, like all of my cakes, no one will even be able to tell this is gluten free! It's perfectly soft, moist, and delicious.

I opted to use my 6-inch cake pans for this cake because I love the idea of making a little two-layer cake. Sometimes a whole 9-inch cake is a LOT, especially with all of that sweet frosting on top.

I think this is the perfect small batch dessert. You should be able to get 6-8 slices out of this cake, depending on how big you want your slices to be.

I think this is such a fun twist on a classic two-layer frosted cake and I am sure everyone you serve it to will be a fan! Let's talk through the process.

Why You'll Love This Butterscotch Cake...

• The flavor in this cake is unbelievably good. We're using brown sugar in the cake layers, for that warm flavor we all LOVE in butterscotch. And then we're making a butterscotch frosting to go on top (and between the layers!).
• If you want to whip up a cake that is sure to impress for a special occasion (or no occasion at all), this is the one for you. It's a straightforward recipe, with ingredients you likely already have on hand.
• You can get creative with the decorating! You can simply spread the frosting on the cake, or add some fun piping.

What You'll Need...

How To Make...

Make the cake layers:

To make my butterscotch cake, we'll start by combining all of our dry ingredients in a bowl, so that it's ready when we need it. Set that aside for now.

Use a mixer to cream the butter with both sugars. You'll want it to be smooth and slightly lighter in color. Add in the yogurt and vanilla extract and give it a good mix to incorporate.

Now, we'll be adding in the dry ingredients but we're alternating with the buttermilk. Start by adding in half of the dry mix, followed by all of the buttermilk, followed by the rest of the dry mix. Pause to mix just briefly after each addition.

Once all of that is nice and combined, go ahead and divide your cake batter evenly between two greased 6-inch pans. Bake on 350ºF for about 28 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for around 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Make the butterscotch frosting:

To make the butterscotch frosting, we're basically starting by making butterscotch sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once that's completely melted, add in the brown sugar, heavy cream, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and allow it to cook for around 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Once the sauce has cooled to room temperature, you can go ahead and add in the powdered sugar. Depending on the consistency, you may need to add some more heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time. Just add a bit and keep mixing until your frosting is spreadable. And there you have it! Butterscotch frosting. Easy, right?

Assemble the cake:

To assemble the cake, you will want to place one layer onto your cake stand or plate. You may need to use a serrated knife to level off the tops of the cakes, but I didn't do that here.

Top the first layer with about half a cup of frosting. Spread evenly before placing the second cake layer right on top. From here, you can go ahead and use up all of your frosting to coat the sides and top of the cake. I opted for some piping around the top, but you can do it however you like!

Tips For Making The Best Butterscotch Cake From Scratch...

• As with all of my recipes, my #1 tip is to use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour. This is the best way to ensure 100% accuracy, and accidentally adding too much flour can really mess with the texture of your baked goods. We'll need 197 grams of flour for this recipe.

• When you add the brown sugar, cream, and salt to the melted butter, it will likely start to bubble up. That's because we're adding cold cream to hot butter. This is nothing to be worried about and is totally normal, just be careful not to burn yourself.

• When it comes to frosting the cake, it's incredibly important that your cakes are completely cooled. This is why I often like to spread the process out over two days. I like to bake the cake layers the night before I plan to serve the cake. I'll then wrap them each individually in plastic wrap (make sure it's tight!) and store on my kitchen counter until the next day. I prefer to make the frosting the day I'm using it, but you can also make that the day before and refrigerate it overnight. You might have to beat it quickly just to get the fluffy consistency again.

• You shouldn't really need a crumb coat on this cake, as it's not really a crumbly cake.

Ingredient Substitutions...

• If you don't have buttermilk, there are a couple of easy alternatives. I like keeping powdered buttermilk in my refrigerator because it lasts so much longer. I mix it with water (follow the directions on the package) and use it that way rather than using it with my dry ingredients. Or, you can also make your own buttermilk by adding ½ cup of milk to 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar.

• Making this butterscotch cake vegan may be tricky. I haven't tested it, and I'm not saying it's impossible, but you would need to substitute your favorite non-dairy butter and Greek yogurt. You would also need to make your own buttermilk using non-dairy milk. I don't think the frosting can be made dairy-free, as the cream is essential to achieving the right consistency.

Did you try my butterscotch cake? Leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram @justastastyblog and #justastastyblog!

For More Gluten Free Cake Recipes, Check Out My...

• Tres leches cake
• Strawberry shortcake
• Chocolate orange cake
• Hummingbird cake
• Funfetti cake