My first Bundt pan was purchased with my mother’s Green Stamp books. For younger readers, I’ll explain. Decades ago, folks were given gummy sheets of bright green stamps as a bonus for purchases; pasted into specified books, they could be redeemed for everything from card tables to lawn chairs to kitchen appliances.
At 15 I thought my Bundt pan was a treasure, its ring shape and fluted sides turning out cakes that I deemed glamorous. A couple of years later, the pans became a home-baking phenomenon after a rich Tunnel of Fudge Cake baked in a Bundt placed second in the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off.
My early Bundt experiments taught me to only use recipes developed specifically for Bundt pan use. Generally, Bundt cakes are denser, more like pound cake than a tender-crumbed layer cake, treats that aren’t overly sweet and need to be accompanied with something slightly sugary and creamy such as sweetened whipped cream (or served solo as a breakfast treat with coffee). I learned to use a skewer to test for doneness, finding that a toothpick wasn’t long enough to reach the done-now spot. And I learned that in most cases, a simple dusting of powdered sugar on a cooled Bundt cake was all that was needed to add panache.
H. David Dalquist, the owner of Minnesota’s Nordic Ware company, invented the Bundt pan in 1950. He developed it for the Minneapolis-based Hadassah Society (a group for Jewish women) who wanted to recreate traditional kugelhopf, a dense, ring-shaped cake with European roots. Now, loads of very fancy Bundt pans are available in the marketplace. Decorative, yet practical.
Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Yield: About 10 to 12 servings
INGREDIENTS
Soft butter and flour for prepping Bundt pan
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided use
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups (340 grams) blueberries
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
1 lemon or lime (you will just use the zest — colored portion of peel)
1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup neutral oil (120 ml), such as canola
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk (well shaken before measuring), room temperature
Garnish: Powdered sugar for dusting
Optional for serving: Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream
PROCEDURE
1. Center oven rack and preheat to 350 degrees. Generously butter 12-cup Bundt pan, dust with all-purpose flour, and invert and tap out excess flour. Do this even if your pan is nonstick.
2. Whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In separate bowl, toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour; set aside.
4. Put sugar in bowl of stand mixer, or in a large bowl if using hand mixer. Grate zest of lemon or lime over sugar and using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add butter and salt; mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after each egg goes in. Beat in vanilla and then the oil. You will have a glossy mixture with creamy smoothness. On low speed, mix in buttermilk. Turn off mixer and add flour mixture all at once; pulse mixer on low a few times. Beat on low speed only until dry ingredients disappear, and batter is smooth. Using a flexible spatula, fold in berries.
5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Smooth top and swivel pan from side to side to even batter and get into all the curves. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, until top is brown and sides of cake pull away from the pan when gently nudged; a skewer inserted in center of cake will come out clean.
6. Transfer cake to cooling rake and rest 15 minutes. Invert on cooling rack to un-mold. Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar. If desired, serve with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.
Source: “Everyday Dorie” by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35)
Chocolate Bundt Cake
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup (regular not Dutch processed) cocoa powder, plus 1 tablespoon, divided use
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus 1 tablespoon melted for pan prep
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Optional: 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temperature
Garnish: Powdered sugar for dusting; see cook’s notes
For serving: 15 ounces (3 cups) fresh raspberries and 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
For serving: Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream
Cook’s notes: Chocolate drizzle-style frosting is an option. Combine 2 tablespoons butter and 2 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate in a saucepan on low heat; stir until melted (do not overheat). Off heat, stir in 1 cup powdered sugar. Beat, adding boiling water (about 2 tablespoons) until thinned to desired consistency. Slowly drizzle over cooled cake.
PROCEDURE
1. In small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and melted butter. Using a pastry brush, thoroughly coat interior of 12-cup Bundt pan. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine remaining cocoa, chocolate and espresso (if using) in medium heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over mixture and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Whisk mixture until smooth. Let cool to room temperature, and then whisk in sour cream. In separate bowl, whisk to combine remaining flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat 12 tablespoons butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium high speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with chocolate-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, scraping down bowl as needed. Give batter a final stir or two by hand using a rubber spatula.
4. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake until skewer inserted in center comes out with only a few crumbs attached, 45 to 55 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert cake onto cooling rack. Cool to room temperature, about 3 hours. Meanwhile, gently toss raspberries with sugar and set aside. Dust cake with powdered sugar, or if you prefer, drizzle with chocolate frosting (see cook’s notes). Serve with lightly sweetened raspberries and whipped cream.
Source: Adapted from “Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book” (America’s Test Kitchen, $40)
Golden Rum Cake
For home bakers who would like to try out a recipe but don’t want to invest is a ginormous bottle of booze, buy a tiny, travel-sized bottle. Cookbook authors Krystina Castella and Terry Lee Stone (“Booze Cakes,” Quirk, $16.95) give this Bundt cake a “totally tipsy” rating, designating it as having a high alcohol level.
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
INGREDIENTS
Butter and flour for greasing pan
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark rum
Golden Rum Glaze:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup dark rum
Garnish: about 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Cook’s notes: For a Spiced Golden Rum Cake, substitute spiced rum for dark rum. Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg to flour in Step #3. Or, for a nutty version, add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the batter.
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
3. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl combine milk, vanilla, and rum. Beat flour mixture and milk mixture into butter mixture in three alternating additions. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour, or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert onto rimmed serving plate.
4. For the glaze: Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and 1⁄4 cup water and bring to a boil on medium heat; cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Slowly pour glaze over top and sides until completely absorbed. Dust with powdered sugar.
Source: “Booze Cakes” by Krystina Castella and Terry Lee Stone
Have a cooking question? Contact Cathy Thomas at cathythomascooks@gmail.com
