It's my birthday! What better way to celebrate than with an extra special cake. This Milk Bar birthday cake certainly fits the bill.
In case you don't know, Momofuku Milk Bar is a famous bakery in NYC whose owner and chef, Christina Tosi, specializes in nostalgic desserts with a new twist. And while Milk Bar does offer a gluten free cake option (for $67 ouch!) they do not offer one that is dairy free. So I have adapted this copycat recipe from the original shared by Tosi. My version is both gluten free and dairy free with a few other changes to simplify the preparation.
You will love this gluten free funfetti cake for your next special celebration!
If you're looking for more celebration cakes, I highly recommend these rainbow tie dye cupcakes or this amazing gluten free orange cake.
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Why You'll Love This Milk Bar Gluten Free Cake
- It's gluten free and dairy free!
- It's fun to make and you can customize it to make it a little easier to prepare.
- It's a lot cheaper than ordering online (and fresher too).
Equipment Needed
To make the cake exactly as it's prepared at Milk Bar, you do need a couple of special pieces of equipment.
First, a six-inch pastry ring. This serves both to cut the cake layers out of the sheet cake as well as holding things together while you're assembling and chilling.
Second, you need a sheet of acetate to keep the cake and filling contained until you're done assembling and chilling the cake.
Ingredient List
For the cake:
- Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend - I use Bob's Red Mill. You can use the flour blend of your choice, but the results may vary. As always, weigh your flour for the best outcome. The weight for this recipe should be 259 grams.
- Arrowroot Powder - You can also use cornstarch in the same measure. This helps us create a "cake flour" like mixture.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Rainbow Sprinkles - make sure you buy gluten free sprinkles. This is a common place for hidden gluten. I used these from Amazon.
- Non-Dairy Milk - I used coconut milk (the type in the carton). You can use any non-dairy milk or dairy milk in the same measure.
- Olive Oil - Any light flavored cooking oil will work.
- Vanilla - Tosi uses artificial vanilla extract, but I prefer the real stuff.
- Sugar
- Vegan Butter - I used Country Crock Plant Butter. Any vegan butter would work, as well as dairy butter if you're not dairy free.
- Eggs
For the frosting:
- Vegan Butter
- Vegan Cream Cheese
- Vanilla
- Powdered Sugar
- Salt
For the crunchy crumbs:
- Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend
- Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Rainbow Sprinkles
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Vegan Butter
- Vanilla
As you can see this cake has a lot going on. 🙂 See the recipe card for full ingredient list and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Not Dairy Free - use dairy butter, milk and cream cheese in the same measure.
- Make it Vegan - This cake uses 3 eggs, which can be tricky to replace. I would try a combination of a baking soda + vinegar egg and some applesauce.
How to Assemble a Milk Bar Birthday Cake
STEP 1: Prepare the cake batter and bake according to directions. Once the cake is cool, flip it onto a piece of parchment paper.
STEP 2: Use your pastry ring to cut two 6-inch circles and two half circles from the sheet cake.
STEP 3: Place your pastry ring on a serving plate and line the inside with acetate. If necessary, use a small piece of tape to secure the acetate. Start by placing the two half pieces of cake in the bottom and fill in the center with scraps from the sheet cake.
STEP 4: Use a pastry brush to soak the cake layer with a portion of the vanilla milk.
STEP 5: Top the bottom cake layer with about 3 tablespoons of frosting. Spread it all the way to the edge of the cake.
STEP 6: Top the frosting with crunchy crumbles and press them down to secure them in the frosting.
STEP 7: Top the crumbles with another 3 tablespoons of frosting and spread to the edge of the cake.
STEP 8: Repeat with the second and third layers (cake layer, milk soak, frosting, crumbles, more frosting). On the third layer, stop with the crunchy crumbles. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Variations
- Bake the cake in three 6-inch cake pans.
- Bake the cake in two 8-inch cake pans.
- Bake one single layer 9x13 cake.
- If you prefer not to use the cake ring and acetate, you could decorate as normal leaving the sides of the cake bare.
How to Store This Cake
This cake should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
If you love copycat recipes, check out these great posts!
If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.
Recipe
Gluten Free Milk Bar Birthday Cake
Equipment
- 1 6-inch pastry ring
- 1 Acetate sheet
- 1 9x13 baking pan
Ingredients
For the crunchy crumbles
- ⅔ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend I use Bob's Red Mill
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoon Rainbow Sprinkles
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Cup Vegan Butter melted
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
For the cake
- 1 ¾ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend 259 grams
- 2 Tablespoon Arrowroot Powder or Cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ⅓ Cup Vegan Butter room temperature
- ⅓ Cup Olive Oil
- 1 ¼ Cup Sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla
- 3 Eggs room temperature
- ⅔ Cup Non-Dairy Milk room temperature
- ⅓ Cup Rainbow Sprinkles
For the milk soak
- ¼ Cup Non-Dairy Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
For the frosting
- ½ Cup Vegan Butter
- 4 ounces Vegan Cream Cheese
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 ¼ Cup Powdered Sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice
Instructions
For the crunchy crumbles
- Preheat oven to 300F degrees. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the crumble ingredients. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together until they form a crumbly dough.⅔ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend, ½ Cup Sugar, 2 Tablespoon Light Brown Sugar, 2 Tablespoon Rainbow Sprinkles, ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt, ¼ Cup Vegan Butter, 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- Sprinkle the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, breaking it into various size clumps.
- Bake for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Remove from oven and cool completely on the baking sheet. They will continue to get more crunchy as they cool.
For the cake
- Once the crumbles are done baking, raise your oven temperature to 350F degrees.
- Grease a 13x9 inch pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.1 ¾ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend, 2 Tablespoon Arrowroot Powder, 2 teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter, oil and sugar. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl.⅓ Cup Vegan Butter, ⅓ Cup Olive Oil, 1 ¼ Cup Sugar
- Add the vanilla.1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla
- Add the eggs one at a time beating for 30 seconds in between each addition. Scrape down the bowl. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for 4 minutes. The mixture should become very fluffy.3 Eggs
- Turn your mixer to the lowest setting. Add half of your flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Mix just until combined. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients have been incorporated.⅔ Cup Non-Dairy Milk
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the rainbow sprinkles. Fold them in by hand, taking care not to over-mix and break the sprinkles (it will cause the colors to bleed when baked).⅓ Cup Rainbow Sprinkles
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Let rest for 10 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 32-35 minutes in preheated oven. The cake is done when the top springs back when gently poked near the middle and the sides are beginning to pull away from the pan.
- Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the milk soak
- Combine milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside until ready to assemble cake.¼ Cup Non-Dairy Milk, 1 teaspoon Vanilla
For the frosting
- Combine vegan butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Scrape down the bowl.½ Cup Vegan Butter, 4 ounces Vegan Cream Cheese
- Add the vanilla, salt, lemon juice and powdered sugar. Mix slowly at first until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Then turn your mixer to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until fluffy.2 teaspoon Vanilla, 1 ¼ Cup Powdered Sugar, ½ teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice
To assemble the cake
- Place cooled cake on a piece of parchment paper
- Use a 6-inch pastry ring to cut 2 full circles and 2 half circles out of the rectangular cake.
- Place your pastry ring on a serving plate. Use a piece of acetate to create a cake collar inside the ring. The acetate should stick up higher than the ring.
- First place the 2 half circles in the bottom of the pastry ring. This will be your bottom later. Use cake scraps to fill in any gaps in the center. Ensure that the layer is flat.
- Using a pastry brush, soak the first layer of cake with a little more than 1 tablespoon of the vanilla milk soak.
- Add 3 tablespoon of frosting on top of the cake layer and spread to the edge of the cake.
- Sprinkle the crunchy crumbles on top of the frosting, making an even layer. Press them down gently with your hand to settle them in the frosting.
- Add another 3 tablespoon of frosting on top of the crumbles. Again, spread it to the edge of the cake.
- Repeat the steps with the second layer of cake - cake, milk soak, frosting, crumbles, then more frosting.
- For the final layer, place the cake in the ring.
- Brush with the milk soak.
- Top with all of the remaining frosting and sprinkle with the remaining crumbles.
- Refrigerate or freeze the cake inside of the cake collar to set the icing. Once set, you can remove the acetate.
Notes
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
MH says
This looks delicious! Is it possible to sub the sugar and brown sugar used in the crumbles and cake with coconut sugar?
Hi Mary, I haven't tried it with this cake, but I have used coconut sugar as a 1-to-1 substitute in other recipes with good success.
Aimee says
Have you tried freezing the cake layers separately as an option to make ahead? Would assembly still work well with frozen layers in your opinion?
Hi Aimee, Freezing the layers should work just fine. Just make sure to wrap them well with several layers of plastic wrap so they don't dry out.
Mikah says
This cake is so good! I made it with cup-4-cup flour and you couldn’t tell it was gluten free. It almost had the consistency of angel food cake. I also did it in cupcakes. It seemed to make 12 and I baked it at the same temperature for around 25 minutes if anyone would be interested in that.
I'm so glad you liked it! This is a fun recipe 🙂
Sasha says
MAde this one and it was absolutely amazing! If I could add pictures to this review I would.
I did use butter-vanilla emulsion instead of vanilla extract.
Please make other versions of this cake! Would love to see a raspberry lemonade or a strawberry crunch version 🙂
or lemon blueberry or pineapple strawberry or maybe something exoticcccc like a combination of passionfruit, guava and coconut in one! yummers!
I'm so happy to hear that! I have been thinking about making another, you have some great ideas. One that has been on my mind for fall is an apple pie version. 🙂