Cream Sherry Bundt Cake - Low Carb, Sugar Free, Grain & Gluten Free

Happy Saturday! It's a beautiful bright and sunny day here today. Today, I am very excited to be sharing and posting this new cake recipe because it is a VERY special one. It was a "special request" that I received.

A few weeks ago, I received the sweetest email from the husband of one of my follower's...yes, her husband! He told me his wife has been a regular follower of my blog and that she had a very momentous birthday coming up next month. Evidently her absolute favorite cake that he makes her each year is a "Sherry Nutmeg Cake", but is no longer allowed on her wheat free, sugar free diet.

He asked me if I could help him make an almond flour based version of this favorite cake and he sent me the original recipe to see what I could do. The original recipe included a yellow cake mix and a packaged pudding mix, so I had some tweaking to do for sure. It also uses cream sherry (wine) which is a sweeter sherry than dry sherry. Now, before all the low carb police show up with their comments, I calculated it and the addition of the cream sherry only adds about 2 additional carbs per serving and slightly over 1 gram of sugar per serving. He felt (and I concur) that for a birthday, particularly a momentous birthday that she is about to celebrate, it is perfectly fine to make that little splurge, especially because we are still keeping it wheat, grain, gluten and sugar free. It's actually more than fine. I am so genuinely touched and proud that this lucky woman's husband actually made the effort to contact me and try to accommodate her wheat and sugar free diet so she could still enjoy her favorite cake on this very special birthday.

The total carb counts per serving (12 servings for a 10-inch Bundt cake) come to approximately 6 net carbs and 1.5 grams of sugar per slice. Since I never tasted the original version of this cake, or any cake with wine before, I can't speak as to how it compares taste wise. I can, however, say that this cake was absolutely delicious! It was moist and the sherry flavor was not overpowering but more subtle and very pleasant. I reduced the 2 teaspoons of nutmeg called for in the original recipe because I feared it might be overpowering and wasn't sure it was correct, so instead I added 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. If the original recipe's 2 teaspoons were not too much for the requester, then most definitely keep that amount when you make it for her birthday. Oh, and by the way...the vanilla glaze I added on top is amazing!!!

I hope you enjoy this modified version of "Sherry Bundt Cake." Happy Birthday lucky lady, wherever you are! Enjoy!

Before going into the oven

Fresh out of the oven (cooling for 10 minutes in the pan)

It came out of the pan perfectly (thanks to greasing and flouring well)

Cream Sherry Bundt Cake
Sugar Free, Grain & Gluten Free

Ingredients:

3 cups blanched almond flour, sifted (plus extra for dusting pan)
1 1/2 cups confectioners style Swerve sweetener (or other powdered sweetener like erythritol or xylitol)
1/2 cup unflavored whey protein powder (like Tera's or Jay Robb)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 large eggs
1/2 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons "extra light" olive oil (not regular or extra virgin)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup cream sherry (not dry sherry) *see note

Optional Vanilla Glaze:
1 1/2 Tablespoon softened cream cheese (very soft and almost melted)
4 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons confectioners style Swerve Sweetener (or other powdered sweetener)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan generously with coconut oil and dust with almond flour; set aside.  

In a large bowl, combine and whisk first 8 dry ingredients together.

In a separate medium bowl, beat eggs, oil, vanilla, vinegar, and cream sherry until combined.  Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. Beat with a hand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes until well blended, light and smooth.  Pour batter into well greased AND floured Bundt pan.  This recipe makes approximately 5 cups of cake batter. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean (begin to check cake for doneness after about 40 minutes). Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack; cool completely. If desired, lightly dust with confectioners sweetener or glaze with optional vanilla glaze.

*For Optional vanilla glaze: Combine cream cheese, cream and vanilla; add confectioners sweetener 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing vigorously until desired consistency. To slightly tweak and add sweetness without altering the glaze consistency, add a drop or two liquid stevia. If using this glaze, store glazed cake and any leftover glaze in the refrigerator.

*Notes: Cream sherry is a sweeter type sherry wine (not dry sherry and not cooking sherry). If you prefer not to use wine with alcohol, you can substitute with water or milk (which will produce a basic yellow cake that can be flavored with a variety of extracts if desired; such as almond, orange, lemon, etc.) and simply omit the cinnamon and nutmeg. This recipe can be used to bake two 8-inch round cake layers or a square or rectangular cake.  If making 2 separate layers, the cooking time would need to be reduced, so begin checking baking times after about 20 minutes. To soften the cream cheese for the glaze, I simply heated the 1-1/2 tablespoons cream cheese for about 15 seconds in the microwave before blending in the heavy cream, vanilla and sweetener.