Sugar-Free Rhubarb Cake (Gluten-Free)

This sugar-free rhubarb cake is so delicious, fluffy, and moist that you will want to make it on repeat. Plus, it is lectin-free and gluten-free, so easy to make, and it looks beautiful. It can be a perfect breakfast cake, coffee cake, or a light sugar-free dessert. And when the rhubarb season is over, use other fruits, like peaches, plums, cherries, or berries.

The mix of flours for a gluten-free rhubarb cake

The flour mix I used for this rhubarb recipe without sugar is made of chestnut flour, tigernut flour, and coconut flour. These three flours are naturally sweet, so there is no need for additional sweeteners.

For a list of flours that are both lectin-free and gluten-free, check out our Quick guide to lectin-free, gluten-free flours.

What are the nutritional benefits of rhubarb?

Rhubarb is not even a fruit. It is a vegetable, is very low in calories, and is packed with nutrients such as vitamin B, C, and K, dietary fiber, magnesium, manganese, potassium, calcium, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, and lutein.

If you have ever tried rhubarb before, you know it has a sour, tangy taste profile. Very fresh and crisp, I would say. So traditionally, a lot of sugar is added to rhubarb in desserts.

That’s why I love combining all these types of flours with an earthy, sweet taste profile and the tartness of rhubarb. However, if you want more sweetness, you can always drizzle some yacon syrup or even local honey on top.

Ingredients and substitutions

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, for greasing the dish
• about 6 fresh rhubarb sticks, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (or more to fully cover the bottom of the dish) + mix some strawberries in if you’d like.

DRY INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tablespoons chestnut flour
• 4 tablespoons tigernut flour
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

• 1 big pastured egg
• 2 tablespoons hazelnut butter (or another nut butter, like pecan butter)
• 1 teaspoon honey (or another sweetener of your choice, like yacon syrup or allulose syrup), more if you have a sweet tooth
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12-15 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk from a can (start with 12 tablespoons and add more at the end if the batter is too stiff)

There are so many fruits you can use as a substitute for rhubarb: peaches, plums, figs, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, or you can mix rhubarb with strawberries for more flavor and sweetness.

As for the flour mix, you can try using almond and/or hazelnut flour in case you don’t find chestnut or tigernut flour. But it’s worth ordering some of these flours, as they are so flavorful and nutrient dense.

As a sweetener, especially if you know you have a sweet tooth, you can use a very small quantity of yacon syrup or allulose or another natural, low-glycemic sweetener.

How to make this sugar-free rhubarb cake

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Prepare a baking dish by generously coating it with coconut oil and arrange the rhubarb pieces on the bottom of the dish to fully cover it. The dish I use for this quantity is round, made of ceramic, with a 6-inch diameter on the bottom and a 7-inch diameter on top. Choose any dish that holds 2 cups volume.
• Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
• In a bigger bowl, beat the egg with the nut butter, honey, and 10 tablespoons of coconut milk. Start adding the flour and incorporate it into the liquid. When you are done with adding the dry ingredients, you can add more of the coconut milk and combine well until you get a creamy batter that won’t be easy to pour, but it won’t be too stiff either. You can pour the cake batter from the bowl into the cake pan with the help of a spatula. This cake is forgiving if the batter is too thick or too thin. But if it’s too thin, it will take a little more to cook.
• Level the batter and bake the cake on the middle rack for about 30 minutes or until no longer soft to touch (it also has a few cracks).
• Let it cool for about 20 minutes before you flip it over.
• Check first the sides to see if there is any resistance and release them with a knife. Place a flat plate on the top of the cake, hold it tightly into place, and flip it over. Lift the baking dish carefully. This cake should come out easily from the dish if the dish is well-greased.
• Serve warm, root temperature, or cold, with a cup of coffee or tea.
• You can serve it with some whipped cream or whipped coconut cream.

These quantities make four generous portions.

The perfect breakfast or coffee cake

This gluten-free and sugar-free rhubarb cake is so easy to make you can put it together when you wake up, and you will have a warm, delicious breakfast in one hour (most of this time is baking and cooling, so you don’t need to do anything). The cold leftovers are also great for an afternoon snack.

Enjoy this cake during the rhubarb season, and explore using other fruits all summer long.

*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

Print Recipe

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Breakfast Cake (Sugar-Free)

(15 votes, average: 4.40 out of 5)

Loading...

By Claudia Curici, Health Coach – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 30 minutes

This gluten-free rhubarb cake is so delicious, fluffy, and moist that you will want to make it on repeat. Plus, it is lectin-free and sugar-free, so easy to make, and it looks beautiful. It can be a perfect breakfast cake, coffee cake, or a light sugar-free dessert. And when the rhubarb season is over, use other fruits, like peaches, plums, cherries, or berries.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, for greasing the dish
• about 6 rhubarb sticks, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (or more to fully cover the bottom of the dish)
• DRY INGREDIENTS:
• 4 tablespoons chestnut flour
• 4 tablespoons tigernut flour
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• WET INGREDIENTS:
• 1 big pastured egg
• 2 tablespoons hazelnut butter (or another nut butter)
• 1 teaspoon honey (or another sweetener of your choice), more if you have a sweet tooth
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12-15 tablespoons full fat coconut milk (from a can)

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 350F.

2

Prepare a baking dish by generously coating it with coconut oil and arrange the rhubarb pieces on the bottom of the dish to fully cover it. The dish I use for this quantity is round, made of ceramic and it has a 6-inch diameter on the bottom and 7-inch diameter on top. Choose any dish than holds 2 cups volume.

3

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

4

In a bigger bowl, beat the egg with the nut butter, honey and 10 tablespoons of the coconut milk. Start adding the flour and incorporate it into the liquid. When you are done with adding the dry ingredients, you can add more of the coconut milk and combine well until you get a creamy batter that won't be easy to pour but it won't be too solid either. You can pour from the bowl into the dish with the help of a spatula. Level the batter and bake the cake on the middle rack for about 30 minutes, or until the cake is no longer soft to touch.

5

Let it cool for about 20 minutes before you flip it over.

6

Check first the sides to see if there is any resistance and release them with a knife. Place a flat plate on the top of the cake, hold it tightly into place, and flip it over. Lift the baking dish carefully. This cake should come out easily from the dish if the dish is well-greased.

7

Serve warm or cold, with a cup of coffee or tea.

Notes

The dish I use for this quantity is round, made of ceramic with a 6-inch diameter on the bottom and a 7-inch diameter on top. You can choose any dish than holds 2 cups volume. You can mix in some strawberries with the rhubarb, or you can try this cake with other seasonal fruits (peaches, apples, fresh figs, plums, cherries, etc).