is there any way this can be made GF without destroying a wonderful cake.

I finally got around to making this cake GF - it was fabulous. Yes Miranda I have been using the NYTimes GF flour blend for may items and they all turn out great. Susan g - I did weigh the ingredients and it does come out different than with measuring cups. beyoncelery - I used your suggested ingredients for 1cup and the NYTGF blend for the 1/4.

My family literally devoured the cake - and yes it will be made again and again.
Thank you all for your input.
ncy

thank you all for the great info - i will give it a try and let you know how successful i am.
ncy

Authentic Foods makes a wonderful all-purpose GF Flour blend for making muffins, cakes & cookies. It it a blend of superfine brown rice flour, potato starch & tapioca flour. I find this combination is head over heels above other baking mix substitutions when baking most cakes & muffins & cookies. I would tend to avoid any GF flour blend that uses beans (gritty), corn (can be highly irritating to those who are gluten sensitive as well as lending a mealy texture) and oats (which can be contaminated by near-by wheat fields - a note for those who are highly sensitive to gluten).

The Authentic Foods website provides retailer locations and you can also order it on Amazon. http://authenticfoods.com/products/item/43/GF-Classical-Blend

I also like Pamela's GF Baking Mix in a pinch, it would be my second choice. It contains most of the same flours as Authentic Foods, and it also has the xanthan gum, baking powder & soda already in it. As well as buttermilk powder.

For a cake this light, I'd probably use this blend for my first attempt:
(for 1 cup APF, or 125g)
45g white rice flour
40g sweet rice flour
40g tapioca flour/starch
To get a light texture, you need light flours. White rice flour is very light, brown rice flour is just slightly dense, rice bran or millet are both pretty dense. You'll also get a better cake texture using about 30% starch.

King Arthur Flour's gluten-free APF is also really good. It works the most like normal flour of any gluten-free mix I've tried.

Good article. Thanks, Miranda. An important made is that you should measure flour by weight, rather than volume. The same volume of flour would give different results, because the weight is different.

You could certainly give it a go! My gluten-free friends swear by this GF flour blend : http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/dining/gluten-free-flour-blend-recipe.html