I return to this gluten free banana bundt cake again and again. It's made with a simple blend of sorghum and tapioca flours and naturally sweetened by bananas and a bit of coconut sugar.
Banana cake is always a classic because there are so many iterations one can do with it -- a loaf, a walnutty cake round, or a lovely bundt with a lightly sweetened almond butter glaze. This is yet another highly consumable cake.
I've really gotten into sorghum flour in my baking because it's a whole grain flour with good health benefits and it has such a lovely neutral, wholesome flavor that works so well especially in combination with a starchy flour or another gluten-free flour like rice flour. I like to have a good stash of recipes that span the range of two gluten-free flours in combination -- or sometimes even just one -- or up to four or five. Each flour brings a distinct flavor and texture profile that I'll complement with a natural sweetener and make sure it works well with the other ingredients in the recipe such as fruit, nuts, etc. This is a reason I'll always advocate for blending flours for a specific recipe rather than using a gluten-free blend. If you keep a range of flours in your pantry and use a scale it hardly takes any extra time. That's my little PSA for the day.
So for this cake, bananas pair beautifully with the sorghum flour and the dark coconut sugar brings a deep almost caramelized undertone. As always, bananas are pretty sweet on their own so you can use a little less sugar here than you might otherwise. I haven't done this with a chocolate glaze but it is definitely on the "up next" list.
Need substitutions? Swap oat flour for the sorghum flour and arrowroot for the tapioca flour. Swap granulated sugar for the maple sugar. And if you don't do eggs, try four flax eggs in place of the eggs and yolks.
Recipe
Gluten Free Banana Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Swirl
Ingredients
Cinnamon Swirl
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups mashed bananas (340g)
- ¾ cup sour cream or plain yogurt at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ⅓ cups gluten free flour or oat flour (280 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
Make Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 ℉ and grease a bundt pan. In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the ½ cup unsalted butter and 1 cup granulated sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Beat in the 2 large eggs one at a time, then mix in the 1 ½ cups mashed bananas, ¾ cup sour cream or plain yogurt, and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 ⅓ cups gluten free flour or oat flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt. Beat the dry mixture into the wet mixture on low speed until combined.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over it. Top it with the remaining batter and smooth the top. Rest the batter for 15 minutes, then place it in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven, place on a rack, and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before gently turning out onto the rack to cool fully.
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