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This Gluten-Free Cherry Cake is a store cupboard staple bake. Fluffy and tender with a sugary crust and packed with fruity glacé cherries. It’s an easy cake to make, no frills, but packed with flavour from our well chosen gluten-free flours with absolutely no xanthan gum. The perfect accompaniment to any morning or afternoon tea.
This Gluten-Free Cherry Cake is all about its gorgeously fluffy sponge studded with plump and juicy glacé cherries sprinkled with a crunchy sugar dusting. This recipe is perfect for making the most of your Homemade Glacé Cherries but if you don’t have any to hand then try to get the best quality glacé cherries you can find and the better your cake will be.
This is not a cake destined for a royal wedding but a beautiful homely affair. Your Gluten-Free Cherry Cake doesn’t need a cake fork but can be casually served on a napkin or just in your hands. Children will be delighted by the glacé cherries and the older crowd will be reminded of the cakes they grew up with.
Table of contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- An easy no frills cake made with ingredients from your larder or pantry which is always delightfully received.
- Full of fruity glacé cherries. You can use shop bought but Homemade Glacé Cherries are even better!!
- No xanthan gum. We don’t need it. Instead we use a few well chosen gluten-free flours do the same job. READ MORE >>> Why I never bake with xanthan gum.
- It travels really well. This cake is just the ticket when you need to take a cake to a picnic, potluck or when you want to treat someone to something special. Just wrap up well.
Glacé cherries
Traditionally you make cherry cake with glacé cherries, meaning you can make this cake all year round. I heartily recommend trying your hand at Homemade Glacé Cherries to make the most of this recipe. However if you don’t have any to hand then try to get the best quality glacé cherries you can find. The bright red ones are pretty but taste of little more than sugar.
Can you make it with fresh cherries?
I don't recommend it. The fresh cherries have a lot more moisture which will be released into the cake, changing the consistency and making it too wet.
Gluten-free flours required
The flour blend in this cake uses 2 wholegrain flours, 1 starchy flour and 1 protein flour for an even balance to achieve the right texture and structure for our Gluten-Free Cherry Cake.
1. Rice flour
Wholegrain flour. You can use either white rice flour or brown rice flour – either work well here. The rice flour offers a delicate neutral flavour that lets the flavour of the cherries shine.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Rice Flour
Substitution
You can substitute for any neutral whole grain flour but my top choices for this cake are oat flour or sorghum flour.
2. Millet flour
Wholegrain flour. Millet Flour is chosen here as a balance to the rice flour. We don’t want to use just rice flour as it can be a little gritty. So we even it out with another neutral wholegrain flour. We don’t want to use just millet flour as millet can be a little bitter if used in excess. The balance between the rice flour and the millet flour is just right.
Substitution
You can substitute for another wholegrain flour like oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour.
3. Tapioca flour
Starchy flour. We need starch in the mix to mimic the binding power of gluten. Tapioca is a great choice as it’s neutral in flavour and it browns very well so our Gluten-Free Cherry Cake will have a lovely crust.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Tapioca Flour
Substitution
You can substitute the tapioca flour for arrowroot powder.
4. Ground almonds
Ground almonds are a traditional ingredient in a cherry cake as it gives the cake a beautiful flavour. Almonds and cherries are natural flavour companions. However, we also need the protein power of ground almonds in our gluten-free flour blend to give our Gluten-Free Cherry Cake the right structure. They lend moisture and stop our cake from crumbling apart.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Nut Flours
Substitution
If you cannot have nuts but can have seeds then it’s an easy swap to sunflower seed flour. However, this flour isn’t as neutral in flavour as the almonds. It has a distinctive but lovely taste.
Ingredients needed
- Glacé Cherries. You can use shop bought glacé cherries but Homemade Glacé Cherries will elevate your cake to another level.
- Gluten-Free Flours. Rice flour, millet flour, tapioca flour and ground almonds (as above).
- Butter. Unsalted and at room temperature.
- Sugar. We use caster sugar which is a fine light white sugar ideal for baking. We also use it to sprinkle over the top to create a lovely easy decoration and sweet crunch.
- Eggs. This recipe was tested with medium sized eggs, 60g each. If you can’t get hold of medium eggs then you can use by weight.
- Lemon. This recipe uses the zest and the juice (so make sure it is unwaxed and organic) for a little lemony lift.
- Baking powder. To lift our cake and for a tender crumb.
- Salt. Kosher salt or sea salt gives the best subtle flavour that elevates the other flavours in the cake.
Step-by-step instructions
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
This cake uses a straightforward creaming method and is very quick to whip up.
- The Cherries. Chop the cherries roughly, so some are halved, some quartered and some diced. Toss with the tapioca flour.
- The Batter. Beat your butter and sugar until light and creamy, add your eggs one at a time and combine. Then mix in your flours, baking powder and salt. Add the lemon and finally stir in your cherries.
- The Bake. Bake for 65-70 minutes then remove, allow to cool and sprinkle with sugar before serving.
Pro tips and troubleshooting
- Tossing the cherries with the tapioca flour is an important step. It helps keep the cherries suspended in the cake. The damper your cherries are the more they will sink. So Homemade Glacé Cherries tend to sink more than shop bought as they often have more moisture. Tapioca flour is the best choice as it really clings to the cherries.
- Room temperature. For all the ingredients to mix evenly together they must be at room temperature, including the eggs.
- Beating the butter and sugar. The main reason why this recipe calls for a stand mixer or electric beater is that you want to beat the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes so they are very light, pale and creamy. It gives the best results for a light fluffy cake.
- Adding the eggs. You should always break your eggs into a separate bowl before adding to the cake batter. This way you can avoid any errant shell making its way in but also very occasionally you do get a bad egg.
- Curdled mixture. Very occasionally this cake batter curdles. This may be down to your ingredients not being at room temperature. It’s nothing to worry about. Add your flour and it will bring your ingredients back together. You won’t notice anything in the final cake.
- Rest your batter. This cake mixture contains rice flour which likes a little rest before going into the oven. It helps the flour to absorb more liquid ingredients.
- Fan assisted oven. I recommend baking your cakes in a fan assisted oven (if you have one). Gluten-Free flours can retain more moisture so I find that by keeping the air circulating in the oven during the bake it lightens the cake a little. If not, you can bake in a regular oven at the settings written in the recipe.
Recommended equipment
Buy Now → 
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Buy Now → Make in advance
This is a great cake to make in advance as it keeps well for up to 3 days. Store in a cool dark place (but not the fridge) in an airtight container.
How to freeze
This Gluten-Free Cherry Cake freezes very well. Allow to cool fully then wrap up tightly in cling film and then aluminium foil to avoid any freezer spoilage. Freeze for up to 2 months.
To defrost, allow to sit out at room temperature overnight then unwrap, sprinkle with the sugar and serve.
Variations to try
- Other dried fruit. You can replace the cherries with any dried fruit you have to hand. Diced figs, apricots, sultanas or cranberries.
- Lemon for orange. Swap out the lemon juice and zest for orange and you’ll change the flavour entirely. This goes especially well with the cranberry swap too.
- Chocolate Chips. Add a handful of chocolate chips to the cake for a gorgeous Chocolate Cherry Cake. (swap out the lemon for the orange here too).
More gluten-free cake recipes you’ll love!
- Gluten-Free Fruit Cake
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Loaf Cake
- Rice Flour Madeira Cake
- Gluten-Free Christmas Cake
- Gluten-Free Apple Cake
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Tiffin
I urge you to give this Gluten-Free Cherry Cake a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Gluten-Free Cherry Cake
Ingredients
- 275 g glacé cherries*
- 125 g rice flour
- 70 g millet flour
- 30 g tapioca flour - + 1 tablespoon
- 120 g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 225 g unsalted butter - at room temperature
- 225 g caster sugar - + 3 teaspoons
- 4 eggs - medium sized, 60g each
- 1 lemon - unwaxed, organic
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted oven / gas mark 5.
- Grease and line an 8 inch x 4 inch round cake tin.
- Chop the cherries roughly, so some are halved and some quartered.
- Toss the cherries with the extra tablespoon of tapioca flour until all the cherries are well coated then set aside.
- Whisk together the flours, almonds, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar, using a stand mixer or electric beater, until light and creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after every addition.
- Pour in half the flour and mix in well, scraping down the sides. Mix in the zest and juice of the lemon then add the other half of the flour.
- Rest your cake batter for 20 minutes at this point to help the gluten-free flours absorb the liquid ingredients.
- Stir in the cherries until evenly dispersed then pour into the cake tin.
- Bake for about 70 minutes or until an inserted cocktail skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out carefully. Leave to cool fully on a wire rack then sprinkle the three teaspoons of sugar over the top of the cake.
Notes
My best tip for this cake
Using Homemade Glacé Cherries will take your cake to another flavour level. Click here for the recipe >>> Homemade Glacé CherriesGluten-free flour substitutions
- Rice Flour/ Millet Flour. You can replace either flour with sorghum flour, oat flour or buckwheat.
- Tapioca Flour. You can swap with arrowroot powder.
- Ground Almonds. You can swap with sunflower seed flour (which has a distinctive but lovely flavour)
Baking tips
- Room temperature. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature, including the eggs.
- Beating the butter and sugar. Beat the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes so they are very light, pale and creamy.
- Adding the eggs. Break your eggs into a separate bowl before adding to the cake batter.
- Curdled mixture. If your mixture looks curdled when you add the eggs don’t worry. Add your flour and it will bring your ingredients back together.
- Rest your batter. This cake mixture contains rice flour which likes a little rest before going into the oven. It helps the flour to absorb more liquid ingredients.
- Fan assisted oven. I recommend baking your cakes in a fan assisted oven (if you have one). Gluten-Free flours can retain more moisture so I find that by keeping the air circulating in the oven during the bake it lightens the cake a little. If not, you can bake in a regular oven at the settings written in the recipe.
Jill Bunney says
Hi Georgina
Tried your alternative suggestion adding choc chips and orange instead of lemon. Used 225g freee GF plain flour as suggested as alt to speciality flours + ground almonds. Looked fab straight out of the oven, then sank in the middle. All cherries and choc chips (melted) in a layer on the bottom and centre soggy (skewer was clean after 70mins). Cherries were coated in GF flour and batter was rested for 20 mins. I think the amount of juice in an orange is considerably greater than a lemon. Is this the problem? Maybe recipe needs to indicate an actual qty of lemon/orange juice, say 2 tablespoons? I followed recipe to the letter, all ingredients at room temp, eggs weighed etc. I am so disappointed!
Jill
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Jill, I'm so sorry to hear you were disappointed by the results of the cake. Yes the only thing I can suggest is that the orange you used was larger than a regular sized lemon and produced more juice and therefore more moisture in the cake - that would definitely result in this issue - I will amend the wording on the recipe to make it ultra clear how much citrus juice is used. I know you said you followed the recipe to the letter but can I just check as well that you rested the batter before adding the chocolate chips and cherries?
Jill Bunney says
Hi Georgina
I did rest the batter for 20 minutes and then folded in the cherries and choc chips. I will say, the cake smelled divine and looked amazing when it came out of the oven! I won't be giving up as you have done such an amazing job with your recipes and advice on your website! Fingers crossed for next attempt.
Pat says
Hi Georgina, can I substitute the eggs with the flaxseed egg substitute?
Georgina Hartley says
I haven't tried this recipe with flax eggs so I can't guarantee the results I'm afraid.
Bonnie Bryant says
I don't understand your measurements for the ingredients. Why don't you use cups, tsp., tlbs. Etc
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Bonnie, thank you for asking the question. I am from the UK and I was never taught to measure with cups (although we do use tsp and tbsp). However, I have continued not to use them (or for the most part include them in my recipe measurements) because you can't achieve the same level of accuracy with cups. Gluten-free flours vary so much in volume across different brands. One brand of rice flour may measure completely differently to another brand. However, by weighing the flours we can ensure that we are using exactly the same amount of rice flour that the recipe intended. This means that your recipe should turn out the same way that the author intended. Measuring by weight is a universal measurement. When you measure 100g of rice flour it will be exactly the same amount as my 100g rice flour. However, if I were to weigh a cup of rice flour and you were to weigh a cup of rice flour there is no guarantee that it would be the same. (also because UK cup sizes are measured differently to US or Australian cup sizes). I go into even more detail in this post >>> Why You Should Weigh Ingredients vs. Measure with cups. It's also worth noting that a digital measuring scale is only about $10-$15 - the cost of about 3 bags of gluten-free flour. It's well worth the investment to really get the baking results you want.
Beth Ward says
Hi Georgina...just wondering if I could substitute the butter with oil, say macadamia oil or olive oil, (cannot do coconut)?
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Beth, I wouldn't recommend it for this recipe as it would change the structure of the cake. Butter melts differently to a liquid based fat so the cake wouldn't work the same. Is it a dairy issue? If so, I would recommend a good brand of plant based butter as an alternative.
Annie says
It’s been years since I had eaten a cherry cake. For some reason a cherry cake induced instant ‘indigestion’ long before I was diagnosed as gluten intolerant. But this cake has always been a favourite of mine and I did yearn after it.
Finally got around to making this one after investing in millet flour. I followed the recipe exactly, it did need the full 70 mins cooking time. It’s delicious, perfect for elevenses with a cup of tea, and no ‘indigestion’! Thank you Georgina
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Annie - I'm so happy you like this recipe!! It's always a risk if you invest in a new flour I know so thank you for trusting in the recipe!!
Janet says
Hi, I don’t do well with millet, what would be a suitable substitute? Thanks, Janet
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Janet - oat flour or sorghum flour can be substituted. Thanks!
Janet says
Thank you Georgina