White Cake for a Birthday Party

This recipe is still from last week's birthday party. This is the cake that I made for my 6 year old's family party. She loves Disney Princesses, so here is her Disney cake. She loved it! To make the cake, I baked two 9x13-inch cakes, one a chocolate cake, and the second layer I did a new recipe for a White Cake. I'm not a fan of cake mix in a box, so after searching the web, I found a recipe for a white cake. We really liked it, it is a very soft, delicate cake. If you have made the chocolate cake before, this cake is softer than that one, with smaller bubbles in it. The flavour was really, really good. Very strong on the vanilla with a hint of almond. But, by day 3, it was getting a little gummy already (may have been the Bavarian cream making it too moist, I'm not sure), so I'd suggest baking it the day before you'll be eating it. I know I will definitely be using this recipe again, it was a nice change from chocolate cake.

Source: Food Philosopher's Gluten-Free

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 cups sugar plus 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups brown rice flour mix *(see below)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
• baking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans with wax paper or parchment paper. Very lightly grease and flour sides of pan with baking spray and approximately 1/2 tsp rice flour.
2. Beat egg whites until foamy in a large clean mixing bowl. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar in another large bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, blending each one in before adding the next. Add flour, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, milk and vanilla (and almond extract if using); beat at medium speed for 1 minute. Fold in 1/3 of beaten egg whites to lighten batter. Gently fold in remaining egg whites until no stripes remain.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans. Place in center of oven and bake for about 28 minutes (for 8" rounds) until toothpick inserted into center comes back clean (about 24 minutes for 9" rounds).
5. Cool on rack for 7 minutes. Using a small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen layers. Invert layers onto rack. Peel off parchment paper and cool completely before icing. To slice each layer in half (in order to make four layers) chill layers until very cold.

NOTES:

For a 9"x13" size, lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Brown Rice Flour Mix:
2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch