Gluten Free Wednesday: Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Happy Gluten Free Wednesday!

After working in bakeries for so long and really really getting into the holiday baking, I cannot seem to stomach pumpkin so much anymore.  I remember the days when I would think about Thanksgiving and Christmas fondly, imagining eating the pumpkin pies, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin cookies.  Now when I think about pumpkin, I think about baking hundreds of pies, mixing the pie filling in empty 5 gallon buckets with a gigantic immersion blender, but which really resembles a jack-hammer more closely.  Mixing buckets upon buckets of the filling and making so many pumpkin cookies and cakes that your head is spinning, and every sheet tray you have is covered with pumpkin of some kind.  And of course, not to forget the pumpkin cake batter splattered hideously all over my apron and shirt. 

But of course, that's just me.  Most people are extremely excited when it comes to pumpkin.  And, a while ago, while I was coming up with the recipe ideas I would prepare for the gluten free classes I teach at the Natural Gourmet Institute, I had to face the fact that it was fall and what is fall without pumpkin?  So, I sucked it up, tested the recipe for the pumpkin cake base, which I made into a bundt cake, and sampled it ....  And .... it was actually delicious!  I ate two pieces of it if truth be known.  And it was damn good.  Maybe I just can only eat it once or so a year and I will be happy.  So, until next year .......

Gluten Free Soy Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake:



So moist and delicious, especially with that yummy topping!

Yields 1 Large Bundt Cake ~12 Slices

Cake:
1 ½ cups sorghum flour
1 ½ cups tapioca starch
1 ½ cups sucanat
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon sea salt
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
¾ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ heaping teaspoon cloves
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup + 3 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax mixed with 5 tablespoons water)
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
¾ cup almond milk
1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
1 ½ tablespoons maple extract

Glaze:
2 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2-6 tablespoons almond milk

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Oil a standard sized bundt pan and set aside until ready to use.
2.  Place the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, sucanat, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, xanthan gum, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a medium baking bowl. Whisk well to combine all ingredients.
3.  Add the maple syrup, canola oil, flax eggs, pumpkin puree, almond milk and vanilla and maple extracts to the dry ingredients. Using a whisk, vigorously whisk mixture until batter is thick and all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
4.  Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, using an oiled rubber spatula to smooth out the top. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until baked all the way through and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. While bundt cake is baking, prepare the glaze: in a mixing bowl, place the powdered sugar, nutmeg and enough almond milk to create a medium-thick glaze. 
6. Once cake has finished baking, allow to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place cake directly on cooling rack to continue cooling. Once completely cooled, pour the drizzle over top of the cake, allowing it to slide down the sides of the bundt on its own.  Eat.  Yum!




Another view of the delicious pumpkin bundt!

Enjoy!

-Koko