Clementine and almond gluten free mini bundt cakes, ideal for a celebration. Easy to make, they pack a real citrus hit and are FODMAP friendly too! Hi lovely people, how was your Christmas? Filled with rest, food, friends, family and a happy gut I hope. I’ve been lucky to have had quite a busy one this year, with family-friend parties and get-togethers the few days before Christmas, followed by a family filled week of celebrating, drinking, playing games and the occasional ridiculous argument when we all get a bit overwhelmed. I think I’ve eaten my weight in chocolate and cheese and don’t get me wrong – I’ve loved every minute of it – but coming up to New Years I wanted to create a showstopper that was bright, botanical, and cut through the rich Christmas food leftovers.
These gluten free mini bundt cakes were perfect. I’ve been after a bundt cake tin for a while now after seeing beautiful creations flood Instagram and did a little dance in the kitchen when my nan pulled out an old vintage mini bundt tin tray she no longer used. Deliciously moist (sorry there is just no better substitute word) thanks to the ground almonds and buttermilk, these cakes sing with delicate, fresh flavours and look pretty stunning for a party too.
I used brown sugar as well as caster because I wanted to add a bit of warmth to the cakes, keeping with the opulent, generous feelings of Christmas, but not creating something sickly sweet. I added thyme on top for decoration (not only because it looks beautiful) but because it actually tastes damn good with clementine. If you’re a fan of the flavour, you could put some chopped leaves in the batter for an extra kick too.
I hope you enjoy making these cakes as much as I did and a big thank you for all of your likes and comments on the recipes on this blog over the last year! Your support and readership is amazing and I can’t wait to share more content with you all next year. Here’s to a healthy and happy 2018! Happy New Year everyone xo
This recipe was adapted from April Carter’s Clementine Bundt Cake recipe.
Ingredients
For the cake:
175g unsalted butter
140g caster sugar
100g soft brown sugar
Grated zest of 3 medium clementines
3 medium eggs
170g gluten free plain flour (I used FREEE)
70g ground almonds
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
100ml almond milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
For the icing:
250g icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons clementine juice
A few sprigs of thyme
Method
Preheat your oven to 170C, 150 fan, gas 3. To make a lactose-free buttermilk, mix the almond milk with the lemon juice and set aside for five minutes to curdle. Grease each hole in your mini bundt tin and sprinkle over a little flour to help the cakes turn out easily when baked.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars and zest for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs to the bowl one at a time, beating well after each addition until they’re fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and gently beat to combine. Slowly pour in the ‘buttermilk’, continue to beat and finally add the remaining flour mix, beating until everything is just combined.
Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of each cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely (though they would also be delicious served slightly warm if not icing).
To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with enough clementine juice to make a thick but runny icing, then drizzle it over the top of the cakes. Bend round a few sprigs of thyme to make a crown and place on the top of each cake.
