Miss GF’s Chocolate Birthday Bundts – gluten free (One for Family….. One for Friends….)

I had every intention of bringing you a beautiful roulade this week to tie in with last week’s GBBO Dessert Week. Sorry…. It went wrong!

I made it…. yes…. and it tasted absolutely divine…… but it looked a total disaster. The sponge was okay, but unfortunately, the filling was more liquid than intended and the whole thing ended up as a bit of a plate-trifle!

I won’t give away what type of roulade it was as I have every intention of making it again in a couple of weeks. To be honest, having to eat more of it is no hardship… it was that delicious (there is part of me itching to tell you all about the wonderful flavours it contained, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise). Either way, I think there is a little work to do to get the recipe right first.

Fortunately….. this yummy chocolate bundt recipe has been sitting in my photo-box for a month or so. I made it for Miss GF’s birthday back in the summer…… one large and one small….. one for family, one for friends….., but then blogging them sort of got side-lined as first holidays and then return to school got in the way.

This is such a great bundt recipe….. it is slightly tweaked from one that I made earlier in the year, but it is perfectly moist and chocolatey, not overly sweet and holds the bundt shape beautifully. As you take your first mouthful, you can’t help but think ‘what’s not to love?’.

I had treated myself to a couple of new bundt tins which I found for a really good price on the Waitrose Kitchen website. They came as a large and small pair, which was exactly what was needed for making a cake for home and a cake for Miss GF’s birthday party at the same time. Bundts are fantastic for easy eye-catching party pieces, because they don’t need extra ‘filling’ and with relatively little work, can be decorated in so many show-stopping ways which make me look a lot cleverer than I actually am! Great (easy) cake….. lots of praise…. win win!!

One of the most important processes in making a bundt (and should never be missed or skimped) is preparing your bundt tin…… It would be a shame to make such a delicious sponge only to have it refuse to leave its mould and end up as a pile of broken, craggy, sponge chunks. I usually use a piece of kitchen roll/paper to carefully rub a light coating of oil into every dip and crease of the tin. This should then be top coated with a fine layer of cornflour (in the case of chocolate cake, I mix with a little cocoa both for flavour and colour)……. Shake the flour round the tin to cover and then tip out the excess to ensure an even surface to the sponge.

Although the two bundt sponges are the same, each can be decorated slightly differently….. The large cake (predominantly shared with adults) was inspired by some unusual crystallised mint leaves that I found on-line at Sous Chef….. This lead to a chocolate-mint drizzled topping which paired perfectly with the sponge and was decorated with the crystallised mint leaves, chocolate curls, grated chocolate and some edible glitter.

The smaller bundt (for the kids) was simply drizzled with plain and white melted chocolate, but then topped with some chocolate curls and chocolate-coated popping candy from Waitrose for a bit of fun and interest.

I am sharing Miss GF’s Birthday Bundts with the following linkies in the hope that other people might enjoy them too….. If you make them, let me know….. I love to hear about other people’s adventures with my recipes x

We Should Cocoa with Choclette over at Tin and Thyme

#TheFoodCalendar with Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen – celebrating Chocolate Week between the 10th and 16th October

Chocolate Bundt Cake (makes 1 large (10 inch/25 cm) and 1 small (8 inch/20 cm) bundt) measurements for 1 large bundt only in brackets in purple

sunflower oil to grease inside of bundt tins
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

435g plain gluten free flour blend (I used mix A from this post) (290g)
120g ground almonds (80g)
90g cocoa powder (60g)
1½ tablespoons GF baking powder (1 tbsp)
1½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (1 tsp)
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt (½ tsp)
1½ teaspoons xanthan gum (1 tsp)
225g caster sugar (150g)
225g soft light brown sugar (150g)
5 large eggs (3 eggs + 1 egg white)
115g unsalted butter – melted (77g)
2 teaspoons espresso powder (1½ tsp)
100 ml boiling water (65 ml)
560 ml plain yoghurt (375 ml)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (2 tsp)
200g chocolate chips (dark and/or milk) (130g)

Chocolate-Mint Drizzled Topping 
125g dark chocolate – chopped (85g)
50g unsalted butter (33g)
1 tablespoon golden syrup (¾ tbsp)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (¼ tsp)
few drops peppermint extract (to taste)

grated chocolate, chocolate curls, crystallised mint leaves and edible glitter to decorate

OR
Chocolate-Popping Candy Topping
plain chocolate and white chocolate to drizzle
chocolate curls
chocolate-coated popping candy (I found mine in Waitrose)

Method

1. Sponge : It is essential to prepare your bundt tin carefully by lightly oiling with sunflower oil (I rub the inside with oil using a piece of kitchen towel), and then coating with the cornflour-cocoa mix. When well-coated, tip the bundt upside down and gently tap to empty any excess powder.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 170 C/325 F/Gas 3.
3. Weigh and mix together the flour, almonds, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and xanthan gum, making sure any lumps are completely broken down. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and eggs until well-blended, pale and thickened.
5. Melt the butter either in the microwave or in a small bowl over steaming water. Set aside.
6. Mix the espresso powder with the boiling water to dissolve.
7. Add the yoghurt, melted butter, coffee and vanilla extract to the egg mix and whisk again to blend.
8. Add the flour mix and fold until just combined.
9. Add the chocolate chips last and fold through until evenly distributed, but be careful not to over mix.
10. Pour the mixture into the bundt tins (about two-thirds to three-quarters full) and smooth the top evenly.
11. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean (the smaller bundt will cook at the quicker end of the time)
12. Leave in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If the cake doesn’t come out easily from the tin, carefully loosen the sides and central ring using a small, flexible silicone spatula before tipping and once upside-down, tap the base to encourage release.
13. Chocolate Mint Drizzled Topping : In a small saucepan over a medium heat, melt together the chocolate, butter and syrup until smooth – stirring.
14. Once smooth and liquid, remove form the heat and add the vanilla and peppermint extracts to taste.
15. Spread whilst warm over the cooled cake and allow to drizzle down the sides.
16. Decorate with grated chocolate, chocolate curls, crystallised mint leaves and edible glitter.
17. Chocolate-Popping Candy Topping : separately melt the plain chocolate and white chocolate either in microwaveable bowls (set to medium on 30 second bursts, stirring between each until liquid and pourable) or in heat-proof bowls set above a saucepan of lightly simmering water.
18. Drizzle the chocolate randomly over the cake and whilst wet and sticky, sprinkle with chocolate curls, chocolate-coated popping candy or other sprinkles of choice.

Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-16 unless otherwise indicated