This moist bundt cake has that lovely, childhood favorite flavor combination of chocolate and banana. It not only is enriched with cocoa powder, but it also is studded with chocolate chips. My inner child swoons. The inner adult serves it with a cup of coffee and enjoys them both.
This bundt cake also happens to be gluten free, dairy free, and egg free, and was made in a Teflon-free pan. I’m feeling pretty thrilled! My kids enjoyed it with a side of ice cream at my youngest’s birthday party, while the adults had cups of coffee with it. Either way, it was lovely. (Check out the giveaway below for a glass bundt cake pan and a Chemex coffee maker!)
What I love about bundt cakes is that they look so beautiful, even with just the lightest dusting of organic powdered sugar. I love frosting just as much as anybody else, but it certainly makes it easier for the cook when you don’t have to frost and decorate a cake! This cake took me several tries to get right. Because the cake batter has to keep its form more in this pan, making a gluten-free, egg-free version was a definite challenge. I tried out my regular soaked gluten free cake recipe, and it rose beautiful, and then fell into a gloppy mess while cooling. I tried a grain-free version, and it looked so promising while in the oven, but then also fell into a gloppy strange mess.
Finally, I got smart, and adapted a recipe that contained very little liquid, and went to the store to buy xanthan gum to help stabilize it. The girls and I watched it anxiously cook…it looked alright, but what would happen when it was taken from the oven? We gingerly removed it from the oven, and all of us held our breaths as it cooled, but it was stable! We made the recipe again, and once again, it not only didn’t collapse, but was delicious! Success was sweet for many reasons.
Plus, I was so excited to make the coffee and the cake free of any plastic or Teflon! It’s always my goal to reduce toxins whenever I can, and so I was really excited to learn about a heavy duty glass bundt pan, as well as enjoy the beauty and plastic-free-ness of making Chemex coffee. (One lucky reader gets to win both as well!). It was this beautiful cake pan that made me feel inspired again to try to make bundt cakes. I had gotten rid of my Teflon-coated bundt cake pan a while back, so it was pretty exciting to be able to make one in a glass pan!
If you are curious about some of the cautions with Teflon, you can check out this post by EWG. The Simax glass bundt cake is much thicker and sturdier than I thought it would be. I was worried it would be a thin, easily breakable pan, but it’s not. It’s made with borosilicate glass that is safe to heat up to 572F degrees (Tempered glass is safe to 425F). I started trying to buy borosilicate glass whenever I could because it doesn’t shatter like tempered glass does. I was also worried about the cake sticking to the surface of the pan, but everything has come out easily so far.
Why you should make your coffee plastic free
The Chemex coffee maker is one beautiful way to make coffee without any plastic. Why go plastic-free? There are many problems with plastic, some of which involve the chemicals they leech into your food and beverages. And here is why it’s so important to make your coffee plastic-free – heat breaks down those toxins into your food/beverages even faster, plus many of us have coffee every single morning. Between plastic and heat being a no go in my mind, and the frequency with which we drink coffee, I am much more comfortable drinking my coffee sans plastic. The Chemex is also made out of borosilicate glass, plus has a beautiful wooden collar and leather cord. Coffee making can be beautiful! Making coffee using a Chemex is as easy as slowing pouring hot water over coffee grinds, and it lends itself to a less bitter, smoother cup of coffee. Delicious!
(To enter the giveaway, check out the information below the recipe)
Recipe notes:
Unlike most of my recipes, this recipe does not contain soaked flours. When working with certain gluten-free flours, they aren’t as important to soak (for example tapioca flour doesn’t need to be soaked at all), but you could certainly use sprouted gluten free flours.
This makes a smallish bundt cake with the above cake pan, You can use a regular bundt pan, but because it will be larger in size, it may not rise as much in the pan. The texture is like a pound cake – rich and slightly dense, so go for small slices when serving. You can get 8-12 slices out of a cake.
A few supplies need in this recipe (affiliate links):
- Coconut Sugar
- Chia Seeds
- Fair Trade Cocoa Powder (I recommend buying Fair trade cocoa whenever possible)
- Allergy friendly dark chocolate chips
- 3 teaspoons of chia seeds
- ¼ boiling water
- 3 medium bananas, mashed well
- ½ cup of applesauce
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil (melt over low heat until just liquid – don’t get hot)
- 1 ¼ cup sorghum flour
- ¼ cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon unrefined salt
- 1 cup of coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease bundt cake pan really well with coconut oil.
- In a heat safe cup, mix together the chia seeds and boiling water. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, applesauce, maple syrup or honey, vanilla extract and vinegar. Whisk together. While whisking, gently pour in melted coconut oil. Mix in the chia seed mixture. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, coconut sugar, salt and xanthan gum. Using a hand mixer, blend the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Scrap into the prepared cake pan, and smooth the cake batter. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for about 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean, and the cake feels firm to the touch. Let cool in pan for about 7 minutes, then carefully turn out over a cooling rack. Cool completely before serving. Dust with organic powdered sugar, if desired. Freeze leftovers.
Giveaway Info
MightyNest is sponsoring this giveaway worth $200, and I am happy to work with them! They sell quality glass and stainless steel kitchen products, lots of great home products – all of which are earth-friendly and family-friendly products. Plus, they give back 15% to your school with each purchase you make. That’s a pretty sweet deal. Today, they are giving away one Chemex coffee maker, one Simax glass bundt cake, a food-grade silicone coaster, plus $100 to your local school!
US addresses only, winner to be announced the 15th of November. Entering the giveaway will automatically sign you up for a newsletter (that you can easily unsubscribe at a later date if desired). No purchase necessary, winner randomly selected.
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Looking forward to trying this! I have friends who are gluten free, and this will make a lovely dessert when we have them over for dinner.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks, Lisa, and you are so welcome!
Kimi, could you make this with eggs instead of chia? How many would it take?
Magda,
I’d start with 2. Technically, I put the amount of chia seeds in for three eggs, but I don’t know if you would need three eggs to get a great texture. Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
I don’t have those individual flours. Is there a measurement of all purpose gluten free flour i can use instead? Thanks!!