A lovely gluten-free pumpkin bundt cake sweetened with coconut sugar and made with a trio of gluten-free flours. It's topped with a delicious maple syrup and brown butter glaze.


Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
Not to present an argument that you should chose to serve a different Thanksgiving dessert -- stay tuned next week for yet another gluten-free pumpkin pie recipe, which I will happily state is my best one yet -- but if you were to consider an alternate (or more realistically, an addition to) may I suggest this gluten-free pumpkin bundt cake? It's inspired by a New York Times recipe (click for the original version if you don't need to do gluten-free) and is, if I may say so myself, really quite lovely.
This is a beautifully pumpkin flavored cake, packed with lots of cozy spices like cinnamon and cardamom, and sweetened with the dark richness of coconut sugar. It's topped with a just sweet enough maple syrup and brown butter glaze which to me feels so special and holidayish.
I used teff flour in this recipe as the main gluten-free flour -- I experimented with using ivory teff flour, which is a bit lighter in color, but I don't think it made much of a difference taste-wise. So you could use any kind of teff flour here, as finely ground as you can get. I balanced it with a mix of tapioca and sweet white rice flours for lightness and binding. The result is a fall-flavored, rather luscious bundt cake that's topped with that delicious glaze and scattered with a few pumpkin seeds. I love thinking as well as pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and I think this cake would be a worthy contribution to any gathering.
Next week I'll share an updated for 2022 gluten-free pumpkin pie and some gluten-free (and vegetarian!) suggestions for your Thanksgiving feast. Hard to believe it's almost here, and the end of the year is in sight! But, this means more reason to bake.
Til next time - N x
What You'll Need
- Teff flour: A hearty whole grain gluten-free flour
- Sweet white rice flour: Works as a binder in gluten-free cakes
- Tapioca flour: Brings binding and fluffiness to gluten-free cakes
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Ground spices: Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice
- Coconut sugar: An unrefined sugar great for baking
- Unsalted butter
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Eggs: Use large eggs in this recipe
- Pumpkin puree: Pure pumpkin is best here
- Sour cream
- Maple syrup
Tips for Success
- Let batter rest for at least 15 minutes before baking. Gluten-free flours benefits from a rest to let them absorb liquids.
- Bring ingredients to room temperature before using.
- See “Notes” section following the recipe for substitution suggestions.
How to Store
Cake will keep, well-covered in the fridge, for 3 days.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ¼ cups/260 g teff flour
- ½ cup/60 g sweet white rice flour
- ½ cup/65 tapioca flour
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 cups coconut sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 2 eggs large, at room temperature
- 1 can pure pumpkin puree
- ½ cup sour cream
Glaze
- 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar or homemade powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 tablespoon pumpkin seeds toasted or untoasted
Instructions
- Well butter a 12-cup (or larger) capacity bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and allspice until well combined.
- In a large bowl using a hand of stand mixer, beat together the brown sugar, butter and olive oil on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in well. Add the pumpkin purée and sour cream, and mix until well combined, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Fold in the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and firmly tap the pan on the countertop a few times to release any large air bubbles. Cover the batter loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes, or longer if you can.
- Then preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and the edges are starting to come away from the sides of the pan, 55 to 65 minutes, checking often.
- Remove from oven and place the cake on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes, then use the tip of a knife to loosen the edges and invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely before glazing.
- Make the glaze: Once the cake is cool, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a rubber spatula until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty, for a few minutes.
- Transfer butter to a heat-safe bowl, and let it cool slightly. Whisk in the powdered sugar and maple syrup until smooth. The glaze should be thick but pourable. If it’s too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a few drops of water.
- Transfer the cake to a serving platter and pour the glaze evenly over the top. Sprinkle with seeds if desired. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before slicing.
- Store in fridge covered for 3 days.
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