“A gluten free cake lamb cake?”, my husband asked when he saw the credit card bill for the lamb mold I’d purchased. “Why yes, of course!” I naturally responded.
His dumbfounded look necessitated a thorough historical response, covering the fact that there are many food traditions that go hand-in-hand with religious holidays. The Easter Lamb Cake is one with a wonderful history.
A tradition with origins primarily in Eastern European Catholic families, the lamb cake symbolizes the “Lamb of God,” the sacrifice of the lamb, and new lambs/new birth in the spring at this most holy of Christian holidays. Made in cast medal molds passed down through the generations, these cakes often have deep sentimental roots as well.
I decided to invest in one of the heavy cast aluminum molds that I could pass on to my children (hey, there’s no time like the present to start a new family tradition!), because I knew I would love making this cake. As you can see, I made a chocolate cake so that my cake would be a Suffolk Lamb, with distinctive black faces and white wool (you could tell it was a Suffolk Lamb, couldn’t you?).
(Here’s an affiliate link to a similar lamb cake mold I found, but it’s much cheaper)
My husband had to admit he was impressed when all was said and done. And it made a lovely Easter dinner centerpiece! Make this gluten free Lamb Cake a part of your family’s Easter tradition with this delicious recipe!
Gluten Free Lamb Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Choose your base gluten free cake recipe:
- One recipe gfJules White or Chocolate Cake Recipe
OR
AND add frosting:
Instructions
Make cake batter according to scratch recipe (link above).
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Prepare the lamb mold by oiling it very well, particularly the nooks and crannies (i.e. the ears, nose, etc.). Fill face side of the mold to within 1/4 inch of the rim. Place the back side of the mold on top of the filled mold. Place filled mold onto a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Test for doneness by lifting off the top side of the mold using potholders and test with a toothpick. The cake is done if the toothpick comes out clean. Remove to completely cool before frosting.
(*Note: if your mold comes with directions, follow the specific baking directions prescribed for your mold. For example, if your mold is not made of a heavier cast metal material, you may need to tie a string around the two mold pieces to keep them together during the bake.)
Since my lamb mold is only 7 inches, I had enough batter leftover to make about 16 more chocolate cupcakes (bonus!).
To frost, make your favorite white frosting and fill a piping bag with frosting and a small star-shaped tip. Place stars of frosting all over the cake where the “wool” should be. Go around the stars loosely with a toothpick, swirling the stars into puffs of “wool.”
Notes
To make the green “grass,” fill a small zip-top bag with shredded coconut and 3-4 drops of green food coloring. Shake to distribute, then sprinkle around the cake.
If you have extra cupcakes and any extra colored coconut, consider making another Easter treat: Easter Basket Cupcakes!
Pin it for later!
Based on 18 Review(s)
I will try this with the Bunny cake pan that my mom passed down to me. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Mary – such a great idea! Happy Easter!
~jules
Can I make this in a loaf or a bundt pan. If so, how long should it take to bake? Thanks
Hi Phylis, you can bake this in another type of pan, just start checking the cake after 30 minutes to be sure it doesn’t over-cook!
Wow! This is very adventurous. I think I would be afraid the head would fall off of mine! Have your molds always turned out? It’s beautiful!
Thanks, Laurie! The head stayed on mine just fine, but if you have troubles, use wooden skewers or toothpicks baked into the batter for support. A pound cake, or more dense type of cake, is a good bet for molds, as well. Try it! I’d love to see your results too!!
I was absolutely giddy when I saw your post about Angel food cake. One of my favorites that I haven’t had for YEARS.
Great Sarah! So happy the recipe will be useful to you!
You mentioned Angel Food Cake, which has been an important part of out family traditions, do you have a recipe??
I’m also lost for egg noodles- another tradition. My mom always made noodle pudding– I can’t figure out what to substitute for the wide egg noodles.
My other sad item was bread/french toast casseroles. However I did find your challah crown recipe and I plan to attempt it!!
Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and being green to boot. I was so excited that your print commands had all the info to delete extra text,etc!! Yeah Jules!! Now when will you be in Raleigh NC?
Hi Rachelle, I have Angel Food Cake recipes in my cookbooks. Here is another of mine, called “Angel Food Cake with an Irish Twist.”
As for Gluten-Free Egg Noodles, check with Manischewitz! They now make a fine and a wide GF egg noodle!
French Toast Casserole is one of my recipes on this site – you can use the search function to search here first to make things easier.
Glad the “Clean Print” is useful to you, as well. I couldn’t stand wasting all that paper to print recipes! FYI I hope to be in Raleigh again one day soon – I still have family there. I love to teach at the Earth Fare there!
I print most of your recipes and keep in a GF recipe binder.
Barbara, you’re a smart cookie! I know many bakeries around the US that do the same thing.
So glad you are loving my flour and that your grandson can have his great-gram’s Lamb Cake again!!! Oh, and angel food cake – another winner! So happy it’s back on your family menu!!!!
Tried your Easter cupcake recipe for lamb cake when you initially sent out,last year I think.
It was the closest to my mother’s lamb cake recipe from more than 50 years ago. Now my grandson can have great-gram’s lamb cake and he loves it.
FYI, also tried your flour to make her angel food cake, which came out perfect, as did her boiled frosting.
Love that flour!
Very nice and colorful your Easter Lamb Cake. Easter is a time when the stomach is subjected to strain. A little advice do not forget pepper your delicious food with a good pepper as Kampot pepper. Indeed, black pepper has beneficial effects on health, especially digestion.
Happy Easter!