The Dessert That Almost Wasn't

Yesterday was one of those days. My daughter is part of a performance of The Nutcracker with her ballet school and she had a long practice in the evening. My aunt was arriving from Ohio for a visit right around dinner time, so I was in the middle of preparing dinner when it occurred to me that a dessert might be nice to have after dinner, to celebrate my aunt’s arrival.

So with my brain churning away, listing everything I needed to get done before leaving for the ballet rehearsal, I embarked upon an experimental recipe. In the middle of making dinner.

In hindsight, not a good combination.

Things started off well. I took a moment to look over the recipe again, making sure I had my gluten free measurements correct. I smiled, feeling pretty confident that I had things right.

I measured out my dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another. I then added the wet to the dry and began to stir. It was then I realized something wasn’t quite right. The batter was rather… thick. Goopy, really. I thought I would be pouring my batter into the bundt pan, but the way things were looking at the moment, I was going to have to scoop large blobs of it in there.

‘Ah well’, I thought to myself, ‘I’m sure it will be fine. Perhaps being GF makes it… goopy.’ I also vowed NOT to use the word "goopy" in my recipe directions.

I prepared my bundt pan and… plopped… the batter into it. I was just about to place it in the oven when something told me to take another look at the recipe.

Uh-oh.

Sugar. I totally forgot the 2 CUPS of sugar. In my hurry to get things done amidst my tickertape list going around and around in my brain, I just totally left it out.

Sooooo… the batter went back into the bowl, the sugar was added (thus making the batter pourable!), back into the pan and into the oven it went.

And can I tell you…. this recipe ROCKS! My family all agreed it doesn’t taste like gluten free, it doesn’t have the texture of gluten free… it’s really good!

My dessert that almost wasn’t… was a hit! *whew*

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

3 cups Pamela’s Baking Mix

2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

4 eggs

1 cup oil (veggie or canola)

1 15oz can solid packed pumpkin puree

Optional: 1 cup of chopped pecans, chocolate chips or raisins

Glaze:

4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

½ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the baking mix, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ground ginger.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and pumpkin. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until completely combined. Add optional pecans, chips or raisins and stir to incorporate.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cook in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and finish cooling on a cooling rack.

To make the glaze: Beat the cream cheese until very creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat to combine. Add 3 Tbsp of milk and stir until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake or individual slices.