An interlude between Bundt Cake Seasons

On Friday, I did a little pre-season bundting. (Yes, I know I haven't wrapped up BCS3 yet, even though it ended back in June. I still have two cakes to tell you about. I'll get to it sometime, you know, before the beginning of BCS4). The Main Squeeze and I were going to be visiting friends on Saturday and I wanted to bring the Red Velvet Mini Bundts that were so awesome from BCS3. So, I busted out my mini bundt pans and my Kiss My Bundt cookbook.

For some reason, the cakes weren't as tasty this time. The Main Squeeze and I agreed that they simply weren't chocolate-y enough. And I even added a little extra of the fancy Dutch-processed cocoa. The recipe only calls for one tablespoon, which seems like a tiny amount, but I'm sure that's what I put in last time. So, the next time I make these, I'm going to *at least* double to cocoa powder.

I didn't have time to go to the grocery store to buy ingredients, so I got what I needed from the local natural food store and fancy convenience store downtown. Unfortunately, this meant only regular cream cheese for the cream cheese frosting, and I have to say that I really prefer the neufchatel, at least for this cake. The tanginess of the neufchatel works really well with the tanginess of the cake itself. If, in the future, I only have regular cream cheese, I might just cut down on the sugar and maybe put in a little buttermilk for extra tang.

In the meantime, I'm just going to sit here and be a little perplexed about the fact that although I followed the recipe the same way each time, this time they weren't as fabulous.

Go figure.

Bundt Cake #13 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Coconut Mini Bundts with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

You may be noticing a trend here, with the mini bundts and the cream cheese frosting; trust me, this is an excellent trend. One of the toppings suggested for this cake was actually a coconut buttercream, which I considered (because I had done two cream cheese frostings in a row), but in discussing the matter with the Main Squeeze, he confirmed my concern about trying a frosting I didn't know if we would like, especially when I had had such success with the cream cheese frosting thus far. And we were right. The coconut cream cheese frosting was perfect!

I associate coconut cake with my great aunts. These are the sort of women whose stories from their lives just makes you feel like a slacker (the same was true of their sister, my grandmother). I have the utmost respect and love for them. My Great Aunt Jane is currently battling pancreatic cancer, and tough as she is, the conclusion, unfortunately, is foregone. She's currently 89; she's lived a very full life. Up until last summer, she insisted that the maintenance crew at her retirement community leave the lawn mower, so that she could mow her own lawn--that's the sort of strong woman she is. She and my other great aunts, when they make coconut cake, they grate the fresh coconut themselves. I don't think I'm quite that committed, but like I said, compared to them, I'm just a slacker. :) And although this may not be their coconut cake recipe, it is very, very good! And I'll think of them whenever I make it.

Here's the recipe (from Kiss My Bundt):

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 coconut extract*

3/4 cup whole milk**

1/2 cup coconut milk

* The recipe says this is optional, but I don't think you'll get the proper coconut flavor without the extract (plus you need it for the frosting).

** The recipe says that you can substitute the milk with more coconut milk, which is what I did, and I highly recommend it. So, instead of 3/4 cup of milk and a 1/2 cup of coconut milk, you would use 1 1/4 cups of coconut milk.

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

3) Beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy, about 2 minutes.

4) Slowly add the sugar. Mix for about 2 minutes.

5) Crack eggs in a separate bowl and add to the batter one at at time. Then beat on medium speed for additional 2 minutes.

6) Mix vanilla, coconut extract, and the two milks together (or just the coconut milk if you are going with that option--go with that option).

7) Beginning and ending with the flour, mix 1/3 of the flour into the wet mixture at low speed, then 1/2 the milk, alternating until all ingredients are mixed.

8) Transfer batter to cake pan(s) that have been coated with a baker's cooking spray that includes flour (or grease and flour the pans), filling until the cavity is about 3/4 full.

9) Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean--about 40 minutes for a regular-sized bundt pan and 18 - 22 minutes for mini bundts.

10) Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (It it/the still resist, then let them sit for 15 minutes more). Cool completely before frosting, at least one hour for a regular-sized bundt. Mini bundts are probably closer to 15 - 20 minutes.

As I finished up the batter, I realized that neither the cake nor the frosting called for any actual coconut! That struck me as not quite right, so I decided to add shredded coconut to the frosting (next time I make it, I might also add it to the cake itself). I added a 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to the frosting, which was perfect. Since it turned out that I was short on confectioner's sugar, I did half sweetened coconut and half unsweetened coconut, but I would definitely recommend sticking to unsweetened coconut (unless you only have sweetened, in which case, it'll be totally fine).

So yes, I was about to start the frosting, when I realized that I had forgotten to get more confectioner's sugar from the store. After some cursing, I decided to wing it. I think I had about a cup of confectioner's sugar (so half of what's called for). We also happened to have a box of superfine sugar (which we bought for cocktail making, but haven't had a cocktail recipe that called for it since then), but knowing that confectioner's sugar is sugar mixed with cornstarch, I didn't want to straight substitute superfine for confectioner's, so I used just half a cup of that. I sifted it with the confectioner's sugar, hoping that might help. I think having the coconut in the frosting helped to hide any granular-ness of the superfine sugar. So it turned out okay, but I wouldn't recommend using non-confectioner's sugar as a regular practice.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (again, I used Neufchatel, it worked very well here)

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1/2 cup shredded coconut (preferably unsweetened, but sweetened is fine--of course, if you are like my great aunts, you can grate your own fresh coconut)

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and cream cheese until soft and completely smooth, at least 2 minutes.

Turn the mixer speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, making sure to scrape down any frosting stuck to the sides of the bowl.

Add coconut extract.

Mix on medium speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Add the shredded coconut and mix until the coconut is throughly incorporated.

This cake got rave reviews from my coworkers; so yeah, if you like coconut cake, or just coconut, I definitely recommend it.

Bundt Cake #12 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Cappuccino Mini Bundts with Frangelico Cream Cheese Frosting

Since the first set of mini bundts turned out so well, I was enthusiastic to use the mini bundt pans again. I also wanted to try another recipe from the Kiss My Bundt cookbook, since the Red Velvet mini bundts were so delicious. The Cappuccino cake recipe caught my eye in no small part because of a favorite cappuccino muffin that was sold at a local breakfast/lunch place in town (which sadly, went out of business years ago). I still periodically crave those muffins. So I had high hopes for this recipe.

The recipe recommended cream cheese frosting as the topping for this cake, and being a fan of cream cheese frosting in general, and especially on the aforementioned Red Velvet mini bundts, I decided that it was an excellent suggestion; however, I wanted to mix it up a bit and decided to flavor the frosting. My initial thought was to make a Kahlua cream cheese frosting, but then I hit upon an even better idea: Frangelico. Hazelnut coffee is my favorite, so a cappuccino cake with a hazelnut-flavored frosting seemed perfect.

The cake was very good, just not quite as totally awesome as I had hoped. I definitely recommend it, especially with the Frangelico cream cheese frosting!

Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup whole milk*

5 tablespoons instant coffee granules**

* I'm pretty sure I just made this with 1 percent milk. Though if we had any half and half, I may have used some of that to get the milk closer to 4 percent.

** If you are at all coffee snobbish and pooh-pooh the idea of instant coffee (hey, I'm not judging you), you could definitely try substituting some of the milk (as much as half?) with brewed and cooled coffee. I'm considering trying that the next time I make this recipe myself.

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

3) Beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy, about 2 minutes.

4) Slowly add the sugar. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is fluffy, about 2 minutes.

5) Crack eggs in a separate bowl and add to the batter one at at time. Then beat on medium speed for additional 2 minutes.

6) Add vanilla to milk. Then dissolve the coffee granules in the vanilla-milk mixture.

7) Beginning and ending with the flour, mix 1/3 of the flour into the wet mixture at low speed, then 1/2 the milk, alternating until all ingredients are mixed.

8) Transfer batter to cake pan(s) that have been coated with a baker's cooking spray that includes flour (or grease and flour the pans), filling until the cavity is about 3/4 full.

9) Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean--about 40 minutes for a regular-sized bundt pan and 18 - 22 minutes for mini bundts.

Frangelico Cream Cheese Frosting recipe:

4 oz unsalted butter softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I used Neufchatel, but in this case, I think the tanginess of it worked less well with the Frangelico than regular cream cheese would.)

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 - 4 tablespoons of Frangelico (or other liqueur of your choice)

1) With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and the cream cheese until soft and completely smooth, at least 2 minutes

2) Turn the mixer speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, making sure to scrape down any frosting stuck to the sides of the bowl.

3) Add vanilla extract.

4) Mix on a medium speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

5) Starting with a tablespoon at a time, add Frangelico to frosting, until you get your desired level of Frangelico flavor. I think I used about 3 1/2 tablespoons, and still thought it could use a little more, but didn't want to overwhelm the other folks who would be having the cake.

Your frosting will be a bit thinner with the additional liquid, so make sure you are paying attention to that as well as you add the Frangelico.

Bundt Cake #11 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Red Velvet Mini Bundts with Cream Cheese Frosting

Remember when I made the Chocolate Stout Cake and told you that the Main Squeeze declared that it was his favorite of *all* the bundt cakes? Well, these mini bundts surpassed even that cake, that is how good they were. I made these back in January, and still crave them. SO GOOD. In fact, they were so delicious, that unlike the Chocolate Stout Cake, none of these made it to work to be shared with my coworkers.

My friend, Katie, came to visit and prior to her arrival, I asked if she wanted to bake a bundt while she was here, which she did. (Yay! Sharing the joy of Bundt Cake Season!) So, on the Saturday of her visit, I handed her the various cookbooks with bundt cake recipes and told her to pick whichever one she wanted. The only caveat was that it needed to be one without a filling, because I had gotten two mini bundt pans for Christmas that I wanted to use.

Although originally from Alaska, Katie has family in the South, so she was familiar with red velvet cake, unlike yours truly. Honestly, if it hadn't been for her, I have no idea how long it would have taken me to get to that recipe, so I seriously owe her! I also owe her because she supported the decision to buy the fancy Dutch-processed cocoa, (and, in fact, paid for it when we went ingredient shopping--she's a generous lady) which I think makes all the difference.

Friends, I cannot possibly explain how delicious these were, all I can do is exhort you to try it for yourself.

If you don't have mini bundt pans, you can make a regular-sized bundt cake, of course.

The recipe comes from Kiss My Bundt by Chrysta Wilson. If you have been considering buying a cookbook with bundt cake recipes, I highly recommend this one. Although it isn't as old school as the Bundt cookbook put out by Nordic Ware (with it's wacky savory bundts and frightening aspics), all the cakes I have made from it have been great.

For those (like me) not in the know, Red Velvet Cake, as Ms. Wilson describes it, "should be a light cocoa cake, but it shouldn't taste overwhelmingly chocolaty. Made correctly, it possesses a hint of sourness and a moist, dense texture that, especially topped with cream cheese frosting, is at once one of the most comforting...of my cakes and paradoxically, one of the most complex."

So, without further ado, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon high-fat cocoa powder

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Using an electric mixer, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the wet, 1/2 cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn't develop clumps.

Transfer batter to a cake pan (or pans for mini bundts) that have been coated with a baker's cooking spray that includes flour. If using mini bundts, fill until they are about 3/4 full.

Bake until an inserted toothpick (I use a knife for regular bundts) comes out clean. About 40 minutes for a regular bundt cake and 20-23 minutes for a mini bundt.

I may have over-filled them a little...

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

4 oz unsalted butter softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I use Neufchatel, which I think works especially well with the red velvet cake, as it has more tang that regular cream cheese.)

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and the cream cheese until soft and completely smooth, at least 2 minutes

Turn the mixer speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, making sure to scrape down any frosting stuck to the sides of the bowl.

Add vanilla extract.

Mix on a medium speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

In general, it is best to wait to frost the cake(s) until they are cool, though Ms. Wilson enjoys a slice of still warm cake with ice cold cream cheese frosting, so you could try frosting while it/they are still warm.

When frosting red velvet cakes, you don't want to frost the whole sides, rather focus more on the top (with a regular-sized bundt, you may need to spread it more on the sides). I learned this from Katie. In fact she's the one who did the great job of frosting the mini bunts. Getting the frosting in the hole of the bundt cake, however, is a good thing!