Planning a gluten free wedding? Wonder if you can pull off a gluten free wedding? Can you have a gluten free wedding cake that everyone will enjoy? What about other dietary challenges like dairy-free or vegan?
I’m here to tell you that they’re all possible (and delicious) and they don’t even have to cost a fortune. Get creative, call on friends and family, and make your wedding what YOU want it to be.
Gluten Free Wedding Cake
I am so blessed to get lots of emails and wonderful Facebook postings that give me pause, get me all choked up and humble me.
Reading these messages keeps me going on late nights, reassuring me that I am truly helping people living the life I’ve led — struggling to find normalcy in a gluten free world.
Some of these special postings even include photos readers have taken of my recipes, and of amazing recipes folks have made using my gfJules Flour or my gfJules Best Gluten Free Cake Mix. Which brings me to the wedding cake (gluten free, of course).
I have received many requests for gluten free wedding cake recipes (yes, even before Chelsea Clinton’s gluten free wedding cake), and as many emails detailing how thrilled people have been with the results!
Many of the
se emails and postings have actually been from non-gluten-free wedding cake bakers who were skeptical — at first — about how well a gluten free wedding cake could really turn out. I smile, knowingly, fully understanding that preconceived notions about gluten free still pervade, but also fully expecting amazing results that will turn heads and forever change expectations.
Recently I read a posting on my Facebook page that so succinctly embodied all these experiences and so completely moved me, that I thought I must share. MaryEllen wrote,
I got married last Saturday and had a friend who makes wedding cakes make the cake for me. She did the top of the cake gluten-free using your flour. I wish I had done the whole cake this way because it was SO delicious!! Isn’t it just the most gorgeous you’ve ever seen?
“Yes! Yes it is!” I thought, choking back several wet-eyed, heart-swelling emotions.
My wish is that everyone reading this posting could share in her pride, her satisfaction and yes, likely even a bit of her relief, when she realized that her gluten free wedding cake was everything she dreamed it would be … and more.
I have experienced this feeling quite personally with my own wedding. Dear friends offered to make our gluten free wedding cake, and I wanted it to be whimsical, fun and festive on the outside, but delicious and gluten free on the inside. We heard nothing but amazed comments from guests who went back for more, hardly any of whom had to eat gluten free. That’s the way it should be, isn’t it?
gfJules Best Gluten Free Cake Mix
Gluten Free Yellow, White or Chocolate Cake recipe
Gluten Free Best Gluten Free Cake recipe
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake recipe
Gluten Free Salted Caramel Cupcakes recipe
Gluten Free Wedding Cupcakes
Don’t feel constrained to making or ordering a special gluten free cake if you don’t want to, or don’t know someone who can help with it. We’ve all made cupcakes before, and there’s a good argument that it’s way easier to serve and to enjoy a cupcake at a wedding reception than it is to cut and serve cake.
How inviting is this gluten free cupcake tower?And who wouldn’t want to wander over and sample some delicious and festive cupcakes?
For my brother’s wedding, we offered both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes — both served with bourbon buttercream. Let’s just say there were no morning-after cupcakes to be had! They were quite popular!
Gluten Free Bourbon Buttercream Frosting
Gluten Free Bourbon Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Delectable, creamy frosting with a kick!
Ingredients
- 1 cup shortening OR butter or dairy-free butter alternative, only slightly softened*
- 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- milk or dairy-free milk of choice (vanilla flavor preferred), such as soy, almond, flax or coconut milk
- ¼–⅓ cup bourbon (distilled alcohols without mash added after distillation are gluten free)
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Beat shortening or butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
- Gradually add sifted confectioners’ sugar, alternating with ¼ cup bourbon and vanilla, beating on low speed until incorporated after each addition. If the frosting is too stiff, whip in the remaining bourbon (up to total ⅓ cup) and add milk by the tablespoon, only if necessary; if the frosting is too thin, beat in ½ cup additional sifted confectioners’ sugar.
Notes
*For best results -- especially in hot climates -- don’t choose butter or even vegan butter, and for heaven’s sake DO NOT use the Melt vegan butter product (I made that mistake once and that was enough! Talk about an aptly named product!). I like using Spectrum Organic Palm Oil Shortening for my frostings, but there are other options. Check my dairy-free product recommendations for others.
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Gluten Free Wedding Reception
The reception isn’t all about the cake or cupcakes, although when they’re this good, you might want them to be!
At our wedding reception, we had gluten free pretzels and other snacks sitting about, and offered gluten free and vegan choices at various stations around the dance floor.
One particularly popular area was the mashed potato and sweet potato bar. Guests could choose their own toppings and fill a martini glass: they were portable, novel and filling — the perfect combination for party fare. And it even looked fancy!
For more gluten free reception ideas, venue tips, catering and alcohol information, and so much more all to help you PLAN your GLUTEN FREE WEDDING, jump over to my comprehensive gluten free wedding post!
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I am making my daughter’s wedding cake (we are both gf). I would like to make all layers gf, not just the top (as I read many do). It will be a 3 tiered cake (10″, 8″, 6″). Sometimes cake mixes don’t bake up as nice in a larger layer (has to do with proportions, and sometimes the larger cakes come out heavy). Have you baked a larger layer with your recipes, and did the texture, etc come out the same?
Hi Dawn, this cake recipe is quite reliable in larger layers. Of course I always recommend folks try recipes before something as important as a wedding cake, but I think you’ll be pleased. Let me know what you think!
~jules
Hello Your recipe links donot work, where can I receive you white gf receipe. Thank you Marg
Hi Marg, some of the links in my blog posts broke when we migrated the site over to the new platform. I think I’ve fixed them all now! But you can always just search my site for any recipe you need!
~jules
Hi Jules,
Trying again to get your recipes, we need to decide on a wedding cake flavor. These are good reviews, however the recipe is not displayed and your link takes me to Jules Gluten Free website, where there are no recipes
Hope you can get this glitch fixed .
Thanks,
Leslie
Hi Leslie – since we have transferred the blog and recipes to my new site, there are thousands of embedded links that need to be redirected. We are building the new site in the background and the links should be fixed when that site goes live. In the meantime, you can search for whichever of my recipes you need on the search bar of my recipe blog. Here’s my white cake recipe and my lemon cake recipe (which I just used for my own wedding cake!)
Thank you so much, we are going to have a tasting day of your carrot cake, chocolate beer cake, lemon cake with strawberry filling, and of course the white cake. It will be a delicious treat trying to determine the wedding cake layers. Thank you so much for your product and of course for sharing your recipes, It would be a daunting task to develop cake recipes . I have tried gluten free pastry / bread recipes from other authors, but they never come out very well. Your recipes always shine.
Again, thank you,
Leslie
Oh Leslie, that’s wonderful to hear! I wish I could be with you to taste-test my way through all those delicious cakes – WOW!!! How much fun and how exciting to have amazing options for your wedding cake! Please let me know what you decide on — I’ll live vicariously through your cake testing experience!!
~jules
I’m on my second month of gluten free diet and I’ve shaved off some pounds. I like the intricate design of the cake, seems like a lot of love and dedication has been poured on it. Gluten free diet is the new fad for health conscious fellows.
I live in NM at about 6500 ft. What are the adjustments I will need to make? Thank You!
Jane – I have not had trouble with adjusting my cake recipes to altitude. For cookies, I add 1/4 cup more of my GF flour, but breads and cakes seem to do just fine!
After going through a myriad of health problems, my wife discovered she had to be on a gluten free diet. It was a real challenge and sometimes she gets discouraged trying to figure out what to eat, especially when we go out. I can’t wait to share this with her, it offers so much hope. She will love the idea of a gluten free wedding cake!
That’s fantastic, Artie! I hope it brings her inspiration and excitement for her gluten-free future!
Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds
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