I’ve talked before about my absolute adoration I had for my paternal grandmother. Like many girls, my grandmother was my rock. She picked me up from school every half-day Monday for wonderful lunch dates with her retired girlfriends, afternoon matinees, and trips to the mall. She hosted me for sleep-overs at least once a month. She taught me how to crochet, let me sneak coffee and gave me the love of baking.
It’s been almost 2 years since she passed, and I still think of her almost everyday. This weekend I went over to her home, still owned by my grandfather, and was fortunate enough to pick up quite a few of her kitchen items. The minute I saw her gorgeous bundt pan and antique milk glass cake stand I knew I needed do something special with it to remember her.
Her husband, my grandfather, has his 95th birthday tomorrow – December 7th. My sister and dad had their birthdays on Monday, December 3rd. So on Tuesday we hosted a dinner party for them all. We made a big spread of paleo goodness, and topped off the evening with this lovely surprise bundt cake.
When my dad said to my grandfather, That’s just the kind of cake mom would make, you like that, Dad? and he replied, mouth full, with Oh, yeah. It’s good. I got tears in my eyes. I was so proud to do the memory of her justice.
That said, I give you this recipe with love.
This isn’t just any paleo cake recipe. It’s a thoughtfully prepared recipe made to emulate the perfection my grandmother mastered with bundt cakes. It has the perfectly crispy outer layer and the almost gooey, moist, dense center. It is a perfect cake to impress and has a lovely seasonal quality.
Eat this cake knowing that not only is it filled with joyous memories, but that the actual making of it established more wonderful memories – by my dear own Finian helping me. Since baking a cake is difficult one-armed (if you haven’t heard yet, I hairline fractured my clavicle last week), he was a spectacular helper. I especially love the photo of him with his face smooshed into the mixer, saying to me “When is it going to be ready?!”
Holiday Bundt Cake
White Chocolate, Pistachio and Apples
Ingredients
- 4 C blanched almond flour
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 C maple syrup
- 1/4 C honey (since it will be cooked it doesn’t need to be raw)
- 4 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 C lard, butter or palm shortening
plus extra for greasing
- 2 medium apples, (not peeled) grated and strained
- 1 1/2 C white chocolate chips (this brand is dairy-free, we used this one) but chunks of our paleo white chocolate would be even better!
- 1 1/4 C roasted and salted pistachios (we used whole but pieces is fine)
Instructions
- ♥ Grease your pan and pre-heat your oven to 325
- ♥ Sift together dry ingredients
- ♥ In a separate bowl, beat your wet ingredients until well combined
- ♥ Mix dry ingredients and apples into wet until fully incorporated
- ♥ Fold in one cup each (reserving remaining for topping) nuts and white chocolate
- ♥ Pour batter into greased bundt pan, smoothing the top
- Bake for about 1 hour, until knife comes out clean
- Cool for 20 – 30 minutes, then turn out onto plate
- Heat extra white chocolate (over double boiler or in a microwave) on low until able to be drizzled on top of cake
- ♥ While melting chocolate, chop remaining pistachios
- ♥ Drizzle chocolate on top of cake and sprinkle with pistachios
- Will keep up to several days at room temperature, would likely freeze well
The most important part about removing the cake from the pan is letting it cool. Like seriously. I know it smells good. I know you tasted the batter and are dying for a slice. But if you remove that pan before the cake is cooled it won’t have a chance to retract a bit from the pan, and it will stick when you try to pop it out. So, wait 20-30 minutes. Trust me, it’ll be worth the wait.
