No bundt pan? Try a round nine inch spring form pan or a nine inch cake pan, preferably with a 2 or 3 inch side. Be sure to test for doneness - done with a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

No bundt pan? Try a round nine inch spring form pan or a nine inch cake pan, preferably with a 2 or 3 inch side. Be sure to test for doneness - done with a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I'm new to baking in general and I really appreciate the gluten free recipes so "thank you!". It sounds wonderful and I am looking forward to trying it. I was wondering what I could bake this in since I don't have a bundt pan and if that changes the time/temp needed. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I'm a bit late making and commenting on this recipe but...I did used info gleaned from previous posts and substituted 1/2 the butter with apple sauce, substituted a scant cup of agave nectar for the brown sugar, and replaced the buttermilk with 1/4 cup of almond milk. I like to taste the spice in my cakes so I added an additional teaspoon of cinnamon and used a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Drizzled on a glaze of 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp of vanilla and just enough almond milk to make it syrupy. Yummm!

Actually- this is an excellent recipe for apple cake; I grated the apples as if they were zucchini and I followed the other recommendations- substituted agave for sugar and reduced the liquid. very good. I did use butter, but would consider using organic vegetable shortening or oil- although the butter probably gave great flavor. excellent texture and flavor. thanks.

Melanie R - I thought your post was helpful. You didn't complain or demand you just adjusted the recipe to your liking and provided tips for others, I thought it was great! I haven't even tried baking gluten-free and need all the tips I can get. Further, eating this new way doesn't provide many treats and I don't want all the recipes to go "healthy", because every now and then it is nice to have a treat!

I've enjoyed reading all of your comments about my recipe for quinoa zucchini cake. After all, we are a collective of cooks by nature or by diet who benefit from great recipe banter. (I, for one, am learning a lot from all your comments. I love it.) I agree with Mary B, the addition of quinoa and zucchini does add some nutrtitional benefits to this recipe as well as a wholesome taste and texture. The butter and brown sugar, well, they are high test as several of you pointed out. I like to eat a small piece just for a treat and cut and freeze portions to enjoy later. If you wanted to, you could replace 4-6 Tbs. of butter with applesauce and 3/4 cup of brown sugar with Truvia or one of the stevia products that contains a bulking agent.

Several people commented about sugar and I can't recommend a complete substitute in this recipe as I've not tried it. However, I have a pantry full of various sugar substitutes and I'm loaded with good intentions about trying to develop an article for the magazine using them. I'm hoping to do that soon.

As for the 3 eggs and the flax gel substitution formula for 2 eggs, I would not suggest using any more than that amount of gel. I'm afraid the texture will become gummy. You could add a little applesauce at the end if the batter seems too crumbly (1-2 Tbs, max), but there's a lot of liquid in the zucchini.

I hope that answers some of your questions. Thank you for all of your comments. We love to hear them. Happy Gluten-Free Baking, Beth Hillson, Food Editor, LWO

Susan Meyers: Yeast feeds on sugar. It converts the starch in wheat to the glutenous mass that holds the bread together. In a gluten free recipe there is only one rising...meaning the yeast feeds on the sugar and starch enough to create gas which gives the bread an airy quality. Then the heat kills the yeast and leaves only the air bubbles. Baking powder can be substituted but you will get a much denser bread.

I use psyllium seed instead of flax in my recipes. It is 1 T psyllium seed (plain- not flavored Metamucil) and 3 T water mixed right into the batter without pre-mixing it.

I have been GF for 8 years but have been allergic to eggs, dairy, peanuts, treenuts, soy, potatoes all of my 53 years. If this is tasty with my substitutions I'll enjoy it no matter the calories. It is quite disheartening to walk down the aisle of the GF section in the store and so many of the foods are full of empty calories. Quinoa is a great protein grain and at least supplies a bit of nutrition. I'll bet this would be good made with carrots too!

Mary

By all means, change a recipe to suit your needs (no sugar, no eggs....), but I'm with Tyra - how about some appreciation for recipes and hard work. It's cake people - most likely it will not be healthy, but since I've been living GF for 3 years, I always look forward to a treat!!! Melanie - Creativity is a gift, and a lot of fun, too. How else would anyone come up with all of the good recipes that are out there. I hope to try and thoroughly enjoy this sweet (un)healthy treat very soon!

If I find a recipe unhealthy - I change it! A recipe is just a template to begin from. I almost never make a recipe as is - where's the fun in that? Sorry if others are offended by my comments - I am not being critical, but creative and making it work for me. I love Living Without - if I didn't, I would not spend the time to make a comment.

I am grateful to this site for providing a variety of recipes which I can choose to try or not and am very suprised to see others make demands and critisisms with one please but no thank you's anywhere. If you find this recipe unhealthy, don't eat it. And nowhere in the recipe does it tell you to eat it everyday.

For breakfast? Not a great start to the day with so much fat and sugar. However, I may try this for potluck dessert (I love using vegatables in baked stuff) but substitute about a cup of agave for the brown sugar and decrease the milk to 1/4 cup. I love agave and almost never use sugar anymore - once you figure out how to substitute, you are free to use the sweetener you want. This recipe would probably be fine with less fat (about 1 cup of Earth Balance spread). And, it looks like too much xanthan gum to me - I have found in years of gluten-free baking the many published recipes have about double the xanthum gum needed (I am very sensitive to the taste of it). So I would use 1 teas xanthum gum and 3 teas baking powder. Otherwise it looks good - I plan on trying it soon (with a few changes...). thanks!

would you consider providing alternatives to yeast in breads? I've read 1 TBS of either B Pwdr of Soda (not sure which one) can be substituted for 1 pkt yeast but have not tried yet.

Also, since yeast works on the gluten, I am wondering why yeast is used at all in breads without gluten?

thank you Susan Myers

I agree with Diane below, please start offering alternatives to sugar in foods! There are many people, including myself, who have sugar intolerance. I'm sure everyone is different but stevia seems like a safe alternative for most everyone. I can also eat agave, maple syrup, and fruit sweeteners.

Too many calories. Please make the recipes healthier. This recipe is 8 Weight Watchers points per serving. There is too much fat and sugar in this recipe for everyday consumption.

I have always read that the equivalent of one egg is one tablespoon flaxmeal with 3 tblspns of hot water. Likewise, 2 eggs would be 2 tablespns of flaxmeal and 6 tblspns of hot water. It looks to me like she's only replacing two of the three eggs called for in the recipe. Also, to the author of recipe and Living Without Magazine editor- I'd like to start seeing stevia equivalents or alternatives to the amount of sugar called for in a recipe. I'm very sensitive to sugars and the yeast it causes in me.

If using flax gel instead of eggs, what's the measurement equivalent for one egg (or in this case, 3 eggs?)?