Bundts revisited – Gluten Free!

Often, my ideas for recipes come from friends’ requests.  Recently, a close friend saw all my posts on facebook recounting my Bundtapolooza weekend.  She asked if any of them might be gluten free.  Unfortunately, none of them were gluten free, BUT, I do love a challenge.  So, I whipped out my apron and headed to Austin to hang out with an old friend and develop a really good gluten free bundt cake.  I have toyed around with bergamot in recipes and thought that a lemon bergamot might be just the ticket.  The cake came out fabulous on the first try.  I tend to lean on almond meal for most of my gluten free efforts and this was no exception.    While I have baked all almond meal cakes in a springform pan, like the delectable Clementine Cake by Nigella Lawson, attempting this in bundt form presented a challenge.  The gluten in flour lends structure to cakes.  The integrity of the crumb would need to be considered given the lack of strength resulting from lack of gluten.  I used 6 eggs (yes, 6 large eggs) in this recipe to help support the crumb and it worked out quite well.  The bergamot flavor was provided by grinding the contents of 3 Earl Grey tea bags.  Because this bakes differently than a flour based cake, it will need to bake longer to make sure the center of the cake is fully cooked.  I recommend tenting the cake in foil for nearly the entire bake.  Also, take care with the toothpick method testing for doneness as an almond flour based cake does not cling to a skewer or pick when undercooked in the same way that a flour based cake batter does.  The recipe for the Lemon Bergamot Gluten Free Bundt can be found here. Eat ’em up!