Grain Free Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache—National Bundt Day and It’s My Birthday!

It’s my birthday!  It’s my birthday!  And if some will recall, my birthday is also National Bundt Day, so for the last few years, I’ve been making a bundt cake for my birthday.  Today is no exception.  However, in the last few months, I have started eating gluten free and refined sugar free—which posed as more of a problem finding just the right kind of treats.  Never fear—this bundt cake I made is just as delicious as any other chocolate bundt cake you’ve had and is not only gluten free, it’s grain free!  And has no refined sugar, it’s made with maple syrup. 

You cannot tell.  I love it.  I’m so happy with how it turned out.  Especially since I took a few other recipes I’ve seen and made it up.  Make this cake for your gluten free/grain free friends.  It’s practically health food.

It isn’t quite Paleo, if some are hoping for that, but could be if you leave the ganache off or using something else for the ganache.  I used a combination of 70% dark chocolate and 85% dark chocolate with a little heavy cream—that’s the only thing not Paleo about it.  I wish I’d baked it just a few minutes less, but it’s still super good and moist enough.

Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup coconut flour

1 cup almond flour/meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup natural cocoa powder

1 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup organic coconut oil, melted

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup Enjoy life mini chocolate chips (optional)

For the ganache--

1 oz. 85% dark chocolate, chopped

1  1/2 oz. 70% dark chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread coconut oil evenly (with your fingers) throughout the bundt pan, making sure to get in all the crevices, then sprinkle with cocoa powder and tap out the extra.  Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the arrowroot powder, coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.  Whisk together.  In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, then add the maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla extract.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk to combine well.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  (I did 25 and wish I’d checked it at 20.)  Remove from oven and let sit on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Turn cake in pan upside down and carefully tap around the pan to release the cake.  It should pop right out.  Let cool completely.

Make ganache.   Put chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Heat cream in microwave safe glass measuring cup just until starting to bubble.  Watch it in 20-25 second intervals.  It can boil over if you’re not watching, but it only took mine less than 45 seconds.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for a minute.  Slowly stir the melted chocolate and cream together until a smooth, glossy chocolate appears.  Let sit until cool.  Drizzle over cake.  I like to put it in a plastic zip top bag and cut the corner off and squeeze it over the cake.   

Hello, Delicious Chocolate Bundt Cake!  Try it.  I think if you didn’t tell people, they’d never know it wasn’t just a regular cake.   Happy Bundting!

Check out all of Mary’s bundt cakes at Food Librarian.  She rocks bundt cakes!

Corn Fritters with Green Chile Buttermilk Dip—Cooking from The New Midwestern Table Cookbook

Don’t you hate it when you make something, it’s really good, you snap a few photos for your blog before the family devours it, THEN find out when it’s too late that the photos were pretty bad.  Sigh.  Yep, I hate that.  I did that with this recipe. 

The corn fritters from Amy Thielen’s book, The New Midwestern Table, 200 Heartland Recipes were our groups’ pick for today.  I made them a couple days ago and realized the photos are not good.  Well, it is what it is.  What is really important is that the corn fritters with the spicy buttermilk dip were delicious.  What more, I changed the recipe a bit (okay, quite a bit) and made them gluten free and instead of deep frying them in oil, I fried them in a shallow amount of coconut oil (which is why they are flat and not round like fritters should be).

I’m telling you, if you don’t have this book yet and enjoy collecting cookbook and trying new recipes, you need this one.  It’s great.  Because of my current diet changes, I changed a number of things from the recipe. 

For instance—the recipe called for green banana peppers or poblanos—I used jalapenos.  Instead of regular sugar, I used an organic natural cane sugar (the recipe only had one teaspoon).  I also changed from using basil in the dip and tarragon in the fritters to using cilantro in both.  The recipe called for 3-4 ears of corn, since corn is no longer in season, I used frozen/thawed corn and blended up about 1/4 cup of it to get that corn “milk” that was supposed to be from scraping the corn cobs.  I know, brilliant of me. ;)  I used a gluten free flour rather than all purpose flour.  I used Club Soda instead of light beer.  And finally—I fried the fritters in about 1/2 an inch of organic Spectrum brand coconut oil instead of deep frying them in canola oil.  So there, it’s almost not the same recipe, but it is for the most part.  I never would have done any of this without following the recipe. 

I changed a lot of the recipe, but we as a group decided not to post the recipes so you’ll want go buy Amy’s book.  So do it.  And really, if you want MY recipe as I made it, let me know and I’ll get it to you.  These were very tasty.  I wasn’t even able to fry all the batter, so I poured the rest into a round 8-inch baking pan, poured the remaining coconut oil over the top (which was just a couple tablespoons) and baked it for 15-20 minutes.  It was like one big fritter!  I forgot to take pictures of it, but reheated in the oven it was just as good and crispy as the fried ones and we sliced it like a pizza.  The jalapeno buttermilk dip, which also has sour cream is delicious and would be a great dressing for a salad or a dip for corn chips or even crackers, also as a sauce for tacos, ooh, fish tacos.  I will make the dip again for sure.  Just a few simple ingredients blended up in the blender.

Yes, I hurried and snapped this photo under the lights just as I was serving dinner, so it’s got too much light.  You see, I know my photos stink, but I just don’t have the time I’d like to spend making everything so pretty and perfect.  So there. ;)

I was so happy to be able to taste this since I made it gluten free and used a healthier oil. 

If you missed my first post from this book, check out the Fried Onion Dip with Homemade Potato and Sweet Potato Chips.

Pumpkin Pie Bars-Gluten Free and Cranberry Almond Oat Breakfast Cookies-Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free—Secret Recipe Club

It’s time for this month’s Secret Recipe Club.  Can I just say what a month it’s been?  Phew. 

I loved looking through my assigned blog and had a number of recipes picked out.  Before I knew it, I had less than a week left to make something.  I’ve gotten it done just in the nick of time.  We have had quite the month with my husband’s brother passing away this past week after a very short stint of lung cancer that had spread all over his body (he lived 7 weeks after the diagnosis), to my health issues always making me tired and fatigued, to also dealing with my first grader deciding to have some serious separation anxiety and right now insisting he can’t go to school without one of his parents there.  I have gained the utmost appreciation for teachers!  If anyone has any bright ideas for us to get Sam to decide he will be okay at school we’re up for trying just about anything and feel like we already have tried everything.  We have taken him to a psychologist a few times, but he won’t even talk.  Not giving up.  Not sure how much longer I can go sit with him in class everyday.  Kevin has been great and gone when he can work it out with his schedule.

So, yes, what a month!  My assigned blog this month was Lisa’s blog, Cook Lisa Cook.  I was delighted with all her gluten free recipes to choose from and have on my short list to make soon her A-Maisie-ingly Wonderful Gluten Egg and Dairy Free Bread.

I found a cookie recipe that intrigued me enough to try them and cranked out a half batch of them one evening—they are not only gluten free, but completely sugar free, egg free and dairy free.  These Cranberry Almond Oat Breakfast Cookies turned out great.  I enjoyed all 10 of them in my school lunches (been packing school lunches since I’ve been there with Sam so much) throughout the last week.  These are simply made with gluten free oats, banana, applesauce, cranberries and almonds.  What’s that?  You see some chocolate in the photo?  Okay, okay, I added some Enjoy Life chocolate chips because I just can’t seem to make anything without chocolate. ;)

Cranberry Almond Oat Breakfast Cookies (Gluten Free, dairy free, egg free, sugar free) by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Cook Lisa Cook

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons (60 grams) gluten free oats

1 medium sized ripe banana

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/2 cup almond meal/flour

2 tablespoons Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium sized bowl or small food processor, puree the banana.  Stir in the applesauce and extracts.  Add the oats, cranberries, almonds and chocolate chips.  Scoop 10 cookies on to baking sheet and flatten slightly.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes then remove them to a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container. 

Not the prettiest cookies, but tasty for a great healthy addition to lunch or for a snack.  I didn’t want that to be the only thing I made from Lisa’s blog, so I also had these Pumpkin Pie Bars on my list and decided I could make them since I had some pumpkin puree in the fridge that I needed to use.  Lisa cooks gluten, dairy and egg free for her daughter, Maisie, who has allergies.  I adapted these bars by using organic pure cane sugar and almond milk instead of soy milk as well as light olive oil instead of vegetable oil.  These turned out like a really moist snack cake.  I think they are a great treat for me!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Bars, (also egg and dairy free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Cook Lisa Cook

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

pinch of ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons flax seed meal

1  1/2 cups organic pure cane sugar*

2 teaspoons molasses*  Stir the molasses into the sugar with a fork until you have the consistency of brown sugar.

6 tablespoons almond milk

1/2 cup light olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

7.5 ounces pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8 inch square baking pan with nonstick foil or spray with cooking spray.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the rice flour, tapioca flour, corn starch, xanthan gum, spices, baking soda, flax seed and sugar/molasses mixture.  Whisk all together.  Add the milk, oil and lemon juice and mix to combine.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the pumpkin.  Mix until combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let bars cool on a wire rack.  Serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream.

Sorry my photos aren’t great—I have barely had time to get things done and it’s been after dark lately, so I can’t seem to get a decent picture (not that mine are ever that great anyway). ;)