Bundt Cake #15 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Strawberry Champagne Mini Bundts with Strawberry Champagne Buttercream Frosting

I have dubbed these bundt cakes "the bundt cakes that keep on giving." In addition to the bundt cakes themselves, a couple of leftover ingredients were turned into a cocktail and a cookie. respectively. (I'll be including those recipes too.)

Back in May when I was on a roll updating this blog, I was drawn to this recipe as I flipped past it (I was looking for the recipes for previous bundt cakes), and decided that it had to be made. I was a bit hesitant to use a good champagne (or proseco, as you're much more likely to find in our home) in a cake, but then I came up with a perfect solution. You see, the Main Squeeze's dad routinely gives me a bottle of strawberry champagne for Christmas (which makes excellent strawberry mimosas, but I can only drink so many of those) and I had acquired a collection of them. I figured that strawberry champagne would work delightfully in this recipe (and, truth be told, I was hoping for a delicate pink colored cake--which, unfortunately, didn't happen).

It was with this cake that I also learned that I am not a fan of buttercream frosting. It's just too sweet for me (and maybe too rich)--in a way that cream cheese frosting is not. It's funny, because I am a fan of butter. But not, as it turns out, buttercream frosting.

The bundt cakes themselves were delicious. On a couple of mornings I had half a mini bundt for breakfast, they were that good.

If you don't have a bottle of strawberry champagne at home, please feel free to use your favorite type of bubbly.

Here's the recipe from Kiss My Bundt by Chrysta Wilson

Champagne Syrup (for the cake and the frosting)

1/2 cup champagne or sparking wine (I, of course, used strawberry champagne)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

• In a small saucepan, bring champagne and sugar to a boil.
• Once the sugar dissolves, and the mixture is clear, boil an additional minute.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Transfer to a heat-safe bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool. You have to cool the syrup before adding it to the batter or frosting.

Cake Ingredients

2 1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup champagne or sparkling wine

3/4 cup whole milk (I just used low-fat milk and it worked fine)

5 tablespoons champagne syrup

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sift flour and baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
• Beat butter until soft, about 2 minutes.
• Slowly add the sugar. Mix for about 2 minutes.
• Crack eggs into a separate bowl and add to the batter one at a time. Then beat on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes.
• Combine vanilla, champagne, and milk. The mild will start to curdle. Don't worry this is normal. The acidity of the champagne and the carbonation are reacting with the dairy.
• Beginning and ending with the flour, mix 1/3 of the flour into the wet mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, alternating until all ingredients are mixed.
• Fold 5 tablespoons of champagne syrup into the batter.
• Transfer batter to cake pan(s) that have been coated with baker's cooking spray, filling until cavity is 3/4 full.
• Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester (I just use a table knife) comes out clean. A regular-sized bundt should take about 40 minutes and 18-22 minutes for mini bundts.
• Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in pan for 15 minutes
• 
• and try again. If it still being stubborn wait an additional 15 minutes.
• Let cakes cool completely before frosting.

Champagne Buttercream

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon to 2 1/2 tablespoons of champagne syrup*
• With an electric mixer, cream butter on medium speed.
• Turn mixer speed to low, then slowly add powdered sugar.
• When sugar is fully incorporated, add vanilla.
• Then add champagne syrup starting with 1 teaspoon and using up to 2 1/2 tablespoons to thin frosting to spreading consistency.* Mix on a medium speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

* I used a *lot* more than 2 1/2 tablespoons of the champagne syrup. And I could have used more, so I'd recommend starting with a tablespoon and adding a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you like. Personally, I just ended up pouring a whole bunch in. And didn't end up with a too-thin frosting. I also wanted the frosting to be pink (because of the strawberry champagne syrup) and when I didn't get that from the syrup itself, I added a little red food coloring to get the desired color.

Because I felt that the buttercream frosting overwhelmed the delicateness of the cakes, I only iced seven of them. When I make these cakes in the future, I'll either leave them plain--they were delicious unadorned--or I'll make a champagne glaze. I wouldn't use the champagne syrup in the glaze, because that would be too sweet. Instead I think I'd use the following recipe (that I've made up based on other glazes I've made, but have no idea if it'd work/be tasty).

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 tablespoon of butter, softened

2 to 4 tablespoons of champagne (in this case, strawberry champagne)

• In a small bowl, combine sugar and butter. Add champagne gradually to achieve desired consistency and stir until smooth.
• I would expect this glaze to have a slightly pink hue from the strawberry champagne, which I think would be lovely.

* * *

As I mentioned earlier, I ended up with some leftover ingredients from these mini bundts, namely Champagne Syrup and Champagne Buttercream Frosting. Never one to let something like that to go to waste, I quickly came up with ways to use both.

When my mom came to visit me the following weekend, I mixed us up a couple of cocktails with the leftover champagne syrup (which kept just fine in the fridge). I got the idea for the cocktail from one of my favorites, which is the French 75, which is a combination of gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, & champagne. I wanted to add a fresh herb, and originally thought of mint (which I think would be delicious), but wanted something a little different. I asked the Main Squeeze if he thought rosemary would work, and he said yes--especially since he's heard of a rosemary strawberry shortcake. So that decided that.

I'll give you the recipe I used, and then the tweaked version I'd use the next time. I started by muddling some fresh rosemary in the bottom of a Boston-style shaker, to which I added ice. Then I put in an ounce of strawberry champagne syrup and an ounce of Beefeater gin. I shook those with the ice until everything was quite chilled, and strained the contents into a old-fashioned glass (so a short one, not a tall one), topped with seltzer, added some of the crushed rosemary from the shaker, stirred it, and added a bunch of crushed ice.

The Main Squeeze tasted it and suggested that given the flavors of the rosemary and strawberry that a gin with more botanicals would work even better. We actually own such a gin, Ethereal Gin, a limited edition put out by Berkshire Mountain Distillers in Great Barrington, MA. So I used that in the second one I made, and it was delicious. So, should you want to make this cocktail yourself, a straight-up gin is fine, but if you have one with stronger botanical flavors, I recommend using that.

I didn't think to take a picture until *after* the ice had melted, but you get the general idea.

The only problem with the drink was that it was a little too sweet, so the next time, I'd cut down on the champagne syrup and add a splash of strawberry champagne to get the same level of strawberry champagne flavor. Also, the little rosemary leaves weren't so pleasant, so I'd leave them on the stem and just add a fresh sprig to the drink. Here's the (untested) revised version.

Fill an old-fashioned glass with crushed ice

In a a cocktail shaker, muddle a sprig or two (depending on size) of fresh rosemary

Add ice to shaker

Add 1 ounce gin (preferably one with a strong botanical flavor)

Add 1/2 ounce of strawberry champagne syrup

Shake until your hand is very cold

Strain into the glass.

Add a generous splash of strawberry champagne

Top with seltzer to taste

Stir and add a sprig of rosemary

* * *

As for the extra strawberry buttercream frosting, I thought it was good, I just didn't particularly like it on the cake, and I didn't want it to go to waste. I thought of something I had done years ago to use up extra frosting: make fancy "oreos"--so chocolate wafer sandwich cookies with frosting in between. I decided against buying pre-made chocolate wafer cookies and instead thought I'd try my hand at making some from scratch.

I found a recipe online on JoyofBaking .com. The cookies were very tasty (and as crumbly as the recipe author warned) but weren't quite as thin as I might have liked. I think next time I'll just buy the chocolate wafer cookies at the store, but I recommend these in general for being delightfully crispy and chocolatey. The recipe calls for half butter and half margarine, but I used all butter, because I don't believe in margarine.

Chocolate Wafers from JoyofBaking.com

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I highly recommend the Dutch-processed kind)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons margarine (I just used 6 tablespoons of butter)

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg white

• In a bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and margarine until well blended.
• Add the sugars and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Beat in the egg white.
• Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.
• Place the dough on your counter and, using your hands, evenly form the dough into a log shape that is about 9 inches (23 cm) long.
• Carefully wrap the dough in aluminum foil, parchment paper or wax paper and fold or twist the ends. Try not to flatten the log.
• Refrigerate until firm. This will take several hours or you can even chill it overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Using a sharp knife, slice the log into about 1/4 inch thick wafers.
• Place the wafers on the baking sheet spacing, about 1 inch apart.
• Bake for approximately 10 - 12 minutes or until the the cookies puff and the tops of the cookies have cracks (ripples).
• Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 days. They can also be frozen.

To make strawberry champagne buttercream sandwich cookies, take two cookies, spread a generous amount of frosting on the bottom of one cookie (use your judgement) and top with the second cookie. Continue until you run out of frosting or cookies.

Bundt Cake #14 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Orange Yogurt Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

This is a recipe that caught my eye last Bundt Cake Season, but I was stymied by the fact that it called for mandarin orange yogurt, which A) I'm not sure is even made anymore, and B) definitely isn't one of the flavors available from the local purveyor of yogurt I like to buy. It wasn't until the end of BCS2, that I came up with a solution, so this cake had to wait until Bundt Cake Season 3.

The solution I came up with was to simply buy a can of mandarin oranges, chop them up, and add them to the batter, to have the equivalent of mandarin orange yogurt. It worked well enough, though there were very few mandarin orange pieces in the cake (I chopped 'em pretty small), so if I were to make this cake again, I'd definitely use two cans of mandarin oranges. Also, I'm not entirely convinced that what they meant by mandarin orange yogurt wasn't simply orange-flavored yogurt, much like lemon yogurt.

This was a very nice orange-flavored poundcake, and I do love an orange glaze. What put this cake over the top, however, was when I took my friend Resa's advice. Last year, when I was posting about the bundt cakes of BCS2 on Facebook, at some point, Resa posted the following suggestion, "You toast that shit. And you butter it." (These may not have been her exact words, but it's damn close.) When toasted, this cake was transformed into something really delicious. When I gave slices to my friends, I was very clear that to properly enjoy it, they needed to toast it. The toasting tip was especially helpful when the cake was starting to edge toward staleness. I did not actually butter any toasted slices of this poundcake, but I bet it would be tasty.

The recipe is from the Bundt Cookbook:

6 eggs, separated

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

2 tablespoons orange juice

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mandarin orange yogurt (or 1 cup plain yogurt and one to two 11-ounce cans of mandarin oranges drained and chopped)

Directions:

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and 1/2 cup of sugar until very stiff.

In a separate bowl (Or, like me, you can beat the egg whites in your stand mixture, then transfer them to another bowl, and then mix up butter, etc., in the stand mixer bowl), cream butter with remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg yolks one at a time.

Blend in orange peel and juice.

Add the flour mixture, alternating with the yogurt, to the butter mixture. Mix until smooth and creamy.

Thoroughly fold beaten egg whites into batter.

Bake in a greased and floured (or sprayed with baking spray) 10- or 12-cup bundt pan for 50-55 minutes, or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes; turn out on wire rack or serving plate to complete cooling.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar or orange glaze (I definitely recommend the orange glaze).

Orange Glaze

(I usually make just half a batch, but I also seem to like my glaze on the thinner side, so a half batch goes further. Making it thinner means that I also use more orange juice than 1/2 a recipe calls for. Here's the full batch recipe.)

2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon soft butter

2-4 tablespoons orange juice

1-2 teaspoons grate orange peel

Directions

In a small bowl, combine sugar and butter. Add orange juice gradually to achieve desired consistency and stir until smooth. Add peel and stir until fully incorporated.

I'm not sure how much you can tell from this picture, but this cake rose pretty high out of the pan. I think it's because I made sure the butter was properly softened and I used the trick I learned from Kiss My Bundt to make sure that the eggs were at room temperature. (Supposedly, eggs are easier to separate when cold, but I didn't really have any problems with these room-temperature eggs.)

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!

Bundt Cake # 10 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Orange/Chocolate Marble Cake

My fourth entry for BCS3 was, sadly, a bit of a disappointment. I was very excited for my first marble bundt, but alas and alack, it was not all I'd hoped for. The marble turned out fine (if somewhat simple, since the recipe did not instruct me to do the swirly knife thing--I'm definitely doing that next time), which was great. But there were a couple of disappointing aspects to the cake. I think there were a couple of reasons for this, which lead me to believe that a second attempt at some time in the future will lead to greater success. See, the main problem was that the cake was a little dense and dry--and not as flavourful as I would like.

I think part of the too-dense issue had to do with the state of the butter. Unfortunately, although I had taken the butter out to soften, I hadn't really taken into consideration the fact that our kitchen tends to be cold, therefore room temperature there is not really what is meant by "room temperature" when dealing with butter. So, when I beat the butter for the cake, I don't think it got light and fluffy enough, which in turn, lead to a denser cake.

The other issue was the chocolate flavor in the chocolate part of the marble. It wasn't really chocolate-y enough. (And after that delicious Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake, I had high standards.) At the time, I only had Hershey's cocoa, which is not as awesome as the fancy Dutch processed cocoa I now own (thanks to my friend, Katie). This less-than-fabulous cocoa, was also an issue when I made the chocolate glaze for the cake.

So, the moral of this story is: I think it would probably be tasty with properly softened butter and good quality cocoa.

The recipe is from the Bundt Cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs separated

2 1/2 cups sifted flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/4 tsp grated orange peel***

1/4 orange extract*

1/4 cup cocoa**

1/4 cup water

* Since I didn't have orange extract, I used Grand Marnier instead--so feel free to use the orange liqueur of your choice, if, you too, do not have orange extract.

** As noted above, I recommend springing for the Dutch processed cocoa.

*** I think I may have added more orange peel than this, so that the batter had the level of orange flavor I was looking for.

Directions:

Cream butter; add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy.

Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, until light and fluffy.

Add sifted flour, baking powder, and salt, a third at a time, alternating with milk, until blended.

Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Spoon half the batter into a second bowl; stir in orange peel and orange extract (or orange liqueur).

Blend cocoa and water in a cup: fold into batter in first bowl.

Spoon batters, alternating layers of chocolate and orange, at least two times into a greased and floured 10 0r 12 cup bundt pan. (This is where you might want to get fancy and swirl the layers together using a knife.)

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan 10-15 minutes.

Turn out on wire rack or serving plate to complete cooling.

Top with Chocolate or Orange Glaze

As you can see, the directions call for topping with *either* Chocolate or Orange glaze, but I thought that was silly, when you could top it with both glazes and have two delicious flavors! I made a half batch of each, and drizzled the cake with first the orange glaze and then the chocolate glaze (giving the orange glaze a little time to "set" while I made the chocolate one).

Orange Glaze:

(this is a half recipe, since I was using two glazes)

1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

1/2 tbsp soft butter

2-4 tbsp orange juice

1-2 tsp grated orange peel

In a small bowl, combine sugar and butter. Add orange juice gradually to achieve desired consistency, and stir until smooth.

Chocolate Glaze:

(again, this is a half recipe, since I was using two glazes)

1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

1/2 tbsp soft butter

1/4 tsp vanilla

2-4 tbsp milk

1 tbsp cocoa powder

In a small bowl, combine sugar, cocoa, and butter. Add vanilla. Add milk gradually to achieve desired consistency, and stir until smooth.

Bundt Cake # 9 of Bundt Cake Season 3: Thuderbolt Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake

When I went home for Christmas, my Mom had made this Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake. Don't let the sauerkraut put you off; unless you tell folks what it is, they probably won't guess. In texture, it actually most closely resembles coconut.

The original recipe is from Cooks.com, but as you can see, my Mom went the semi-homemade route (and made a few other changes). Here's what she had to say:

This looked like a great recipe for a Bundt cake.

Confession 1. – I used a box cake – Duncan Hines Chocolate [I think Devil’s Food] to which I added sauerkraut, nuts and vanilla, then baked more or less per box instructions for Bundt cake.

Confession 2 – I had closer to 1/2 cup of sauerkraut so I did not rinse it, but did drain thoroughly. I used canned because it tends to be more finely cut.

Confession 3 – I added more than “enough warm coffee” and so poured rather than spread the glaze, punching holes in cake to absorb it. I think the stronger the coffee the better.

Another time, I might take my kitchen shears to the sauerkraut to minimize long strands but otherwise I really liked the results.

Here's the recipe:

2/3 c. butter

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

2 1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. water

1 tsp. baking soda

2/3 c. sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

1/2 c. nuts

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs. Add vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients. Add 1/3 at a time alternately with water. Stir in sauerkraut and nuts. Bake in 9x14 pan (or, you know, put it in a bundt pan), greased and floured, for 45 minutes.

Glaze:

3 tbsp. butter

1 c. confectioners sugar

1 sq. unsweetened chocolate

Enough warm coffee to make easy to spread

Melt chocolate and sugar, butter and coffee. Spread over cake.