Showing posts with label #Bundtamonth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Bundtamonth. Show all posts

Friday, December 6, 2013

Dark Chocolate Orange Bundt with Dark Chocolate Orange Glaze #BundtaMonth

Orange and chocolate are a classic combination. Using dark chocolate and whole Mandarin oranges pureed in the batter brings a sweet, yet bitter tartness to this tender crumbed cake Dark Chocolate Orange Bundt with Dark Chocolate Orange Glaze.



For the British, especially, chocolate and orange are a treasured Christmas flavor combination and many would say that a Christmas stocking without a chocolate orange is half empty.  Even if it’s full.  But I must admit that it is not something that I grew up with.  Like all great relationships, it has taken a while to grow and mature.  Rather like my love of marmalade.  And Brussels sprouts, eggplant and cooked cabbage.  And other grownup things.  Such is the British influence here that the stores in Dubai are full of all kinds of candies in chocolate and orange so it was a natural choice for this month’s theme of Holiday December!

Where do you fall on the continuum of Love it (10) and Hate it (0)?  If you are somewhere in the lower half, perhaps this delicious cake will slide your opinion up the scale.

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 mandarin oranges (about  5 1/2 oz or 155g)
1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/3 cups or 170g flour, plus extra for the coating the pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup or 75g dark cocoa powder

For the glaze:
5 1/4 oz or 150g dark chocolate
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
3 tablespoons canola oil

To decorate:  chocolate orange candies  and zest of one Mandarin orange

Method
Put the Mandarin oranges in a small pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over a medium heat and then simmer for an hour.  Keep checking to make sure the oranges are always covered, adding more water if necessary, and turning them over occasionally.


Meanwhile, butter your Bundt pan and coat it well with flour.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine your flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.


When the hour is up, remove the pot from the heat and leave the oranges in it until they are cool enough to handle.

Remove the oranges to a cutting board and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180 °C.  Use a sharp pointy knife to cut the oranges in half and use the pointy end to dig out all of the seeds


Puree both oranges, peel and all, with a hand blender, add in the milk and set aside.


With electric beaters or in your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between.


Mix in half of the flour/cocoa and beat until combined.


Pour in half of the orange/milk and beat until combined.

Look at the gorgeous color of that orange puree! 

Repeat with the rest of the flour/cocoa and then the orange/milk.

Pour your batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.



Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then turn out on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.


Meanwhile, to make the glaze, melt the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and add in the Grand Marnier and canola oil and stir well.  The liqueur makes the chocolate thicken up and the oil helps it become pourable again.  If you would prefer not to add alcohol to the chocolate, you can skip the oil as well and drizzle on straight melted chocolate.


Once the cake is completely cool, use a piping bag to drizzle the glaze all over the cake.  Or put it in a plastic baggie and cut a small corner off to do the same.   Add the chocolate orange slices and orange zest, if desired.


Enjoy!


I hope you have all enjoyed the past year of Bundts from our BundtaMonth group.  Our fearless leaders, Anuradha from Baker Street and Lora from Cake Duchess have decided to disband.  I’d like to thank them for their support and hard work.

Meanwhile, I’ve got one last BundtaMonth list of cakes to share!




Friday, November 8, 2013

Strawberry Lemon Bundt with Strawberry Jam Glaze for #BundtaMonth

Adding lemon juice to butter cake brightens whatever other flavor you’ve chosen and cuts through the richness, while increasing the rise as the juice interacts with the baking soda, creating a lighter crumb.  Whatever fruit or jam you decide to use, always add a bit of fresh lemon. 

This month’s BundtaMonth theme is a favorite of mine because it’s jam, something I always have in the cupboard or refrigerator.  Sometimes homemade, sometimes store bought but always at the ready to add variety and flavor to any baked good.  I started out with a simple pound cake recipe, switching milk and lemon juice for buttermilk and adding a filling of strawberries and jam.  The bottom of the Bundt didn’t brown very much in the oven I’m using, so I ended up leaving it right, as it baked in the pan, so you’ll notice a nice layer of filling at the bottom.  As it turned out, that balanced nicely with the jam on top so you had strawberries coming and going.  We took the cake out to play Pokeno a couple of nights ago, so the extra strawberries I meant to decorate it with didn’t happen.  I forgot them at home.  But, as my friend Gillian does say, “Small matter.”  The cake was just fine without them.

Ingredients
For the cake:
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup or 225g sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or 80ml milk
1/8 cup or 30ml fresh lemon juice
Zest 1 medium lemon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the filling:
3/4 cup or 125g chopped strawberries
4 tablespoons good strawberry jam

For the glaze: 3-4 tablespoons good strawberry jam
Optional:  Extra sliced strawberries to decorate the top

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Grease and flour your Bundt pan.

Zest your lemon and then juice it.  Add the lemon juice and vanilla to the milk and set aside.


In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.  Set aside.




In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream and butter until light and fluffy.


Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between.



It might look like it’s curdling a little bit but don’t that alarm you.  That look will go away when you start adding the flour mixture.



Add the flour and milk mixtures alternately to the batter, in two lots, mixing in between.




In a small bowl, mix your chopped strawberries with the jam for the filling.


Put half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan and spread it around.

Spoon in the strawberry filling.



Spoon the balance of the batter on top of the filling and spread it out to cover the filling.



Bake for about 40-45 or until a toothpick comes out clean.



Allow to cool on a rack then turn out.

While it is still just a little warm, spoon the extra jam for glaze on the top of the cake (or on the bottom in the case of mine that didn’t brown) and spread it around with the spoon.



Enjoy!





For all fans of jammy cakes, we have a great round up of Bundts for you this month!

                                                       BundtaMonth





Here's how you can be a part of #BundtaMonth:


Simple rule: Bake us a bundt using your favorite jam.
Post it before November 30, 2013.
Use the #BundtaMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title could read – #BundtaMonth: Raspberry Jam Bundt with Peanut Butter Glaze
Add your entry to the Linky tool below.
Link back to our announcement posts.




Friday, October 4, 2013

Honeycomb Crunch Honey Bundt Cake for #BundtaMonth


This month’s BundtaMonth is candilicious.   No surprise that spellcheck doesn’t like that word but never mind, because I know that you all will.  We are baking Bundts with our favorite candies and hopefully some of yours!  If you stopped by last Sunday, you know that I made honeycomb to use in my cake but store-bought honeycomb can be used as well, if you are fortunate enough to have a candy store nearby that makes it.   It’s called many different names around the world: sea foam, angel food candy, sponge candy, honeycomb toffee, cinder toffee, puff candy, hokey pokey, fairy food and molasses puffs, just to name a few!

All I can tell you is that it is delicious and will pull your fillings out if you are not careful.  Also, if you add it to a cake, it melts inside and makes that cake caramelly throughout.  AND, when you decorate the outside of a cake with it, eventually it melts all over the cake and gives it another sweet sticky layer, in addition to the honey glaze.  But that’s okay if you’ve made enough honeycomb crunch.  Just add some more before you serve each time!

The Bundt cake batter was adapted from this recipe.  Scroll on down to the bottom of this post to see all the other fabulously candilicious Bundts we have for you this month

Ingredients
For the Bundt cake:
1 1/4 cups or 295ml honey
1/2 cup or 115g butter
1/2 cup or 100g brown sugar
4 eggs
3 cups or 375g flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 125g Greek-style plain yogurt
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1/3 lb or 125g honeycomb crunch caramel candy, plus extra for decorating

For the honey glaze:
1/8 cup or 30ml honey
1/8 cup or 25g brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Pinch sea salt flakes
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method              
Preheat the oven to 325°F or about 165°C and prepare your Bundt pan by greasing it liberally and then flouring the greased inside.

Separate your eggs and make sure the whites are in a clean, grease-free mixing bowl that gives you plenty of room to beat them with a hand mixer or whisk.



Sift the flour with other dry ingredients and set aside.


Measure your honeycomb candy and break it into small pieces with your handy hammer.  Set aside.



Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.


Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the egg yolks.  Beat until the batter is fluffy.



Pour in the honey and beat again.



Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and add the dry ingredients to the egg yolk mixture and gently blend.





Add the yogurt and milk and blend again.



Beat the separated egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the batter, along with the pieces of candy.




Pour the batter into your prepared Bundt pan, smooth the top with the spatula and bake in your preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.




Cool on a wire rack.  After about 10 minutes, turn the cake out of the pan.  I had a few pieces that stuck because of the candy inside and I had to force myself to extract them and place them back on the cake because they were deliciously sticky looking and I just wanted to eat them.  As you can see, it’s not the most beautiful cake, unless you are a fan of caramel, but the glaze and extra candy will take care of the imperfections.



Once the cake is completely cool, combine the honey glaze ingredients in a small pot and cook slowly, stirring the whole time, just until all the sugar has dissolved.


Drizzle over the cooled cake.   Decorate with more broken honeycomb crunch candy.



Enjoy!


Who's in the mood for some candy and cake?


Here’s how you can be a part of Bundt-a-Month:
  • Simple rule: Bake us a Bundt using your favorite candy
  • Post it before October 31, 2013
  • Use the #BundtaMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title could read – #BundtaMonth: Candy Bundt)
  • Add your entry to the Linky tool below
  • Link back to our announcement posts

Even more Bundt fun! Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous Bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from hundreds of Bundt cake recipes. For candy inspiration, check out all of our announcement posts above!