Vegan Gluten-free Bake Off: Box vs. From Scratch

I have never baked gluten-free before… but I like baking challenges! I decided to try out both a ‘from scratch’ recipe (from the tried and trusted VCTOTW) and Cherrybrook Kitchen‘s yellow cake mix.

On the left, the Cherrybrook Kitchen’s mix. Batter was very sweet (the ingredients list both cane sugar and brown sugar.) and familiar-feeling although a bit granular. It didn’t rise all that much but was springy with a golden brown skin. The finished product held onto the super-sweet taste the batter had. It was yummy– it tasted a bit more like a packaged snack cake.

On the right, the Vanilla Gluten Freedom cake. This batter was also very granular. I subbed the ground flax for ground salba (cha-cha-cha-chia) for the egg replacement which did affect the taste a bit. Flax is more neutral. The cake did not rise all that much either, and came out of the oven a bit heavier, more dense. The hue was also a deeper yellow. It was very delicious but in a different way. Considering all, I prefer this recipe to the box. It tastes more… real, if that makes sense?

I would buy a box if I was in a bind… but a bind won’t likely happen soon. I have a huge collection of flours on hand and hope to experiment more with gluten-free baking. For now, I’ll feast on this vanilla layer cake.