Bellini Bundt Cake with Champagne Glaze for #BundtaMonth

On Tuesday morning, I woke up early to the terrible news that my grandmother had died.  If you’ve been reading along for a while, you’ve heard about Gram – here and here.  She was a spunky character with a wicked sense of humor and a warm heart.  She did not suffer fools lightly and she didn’t know how to say no to her grandchildren.  When we were little, she sewed our Easter dresses, threatening to put bricks on our heads to stop us growing between the time of first measurements and the finished outfits.  For Christmas she made the only fruitcake I would ever eat.  It was moist and full of pecans.  She fried her legendary chicken well into her eighties, despite assuring us all that she would quit when she reached that milestone because, and I’ll be honest, we begged.  It seems like just a few years ago, my cousin Simone and I coerced her into one more frying session, just so we could take notes and watch every step.  I don’t know about Simone, but I still cannot match that chicken.

It seems so normal today with our ubiquitous music from every device but Gram was the first person I remember ever listening to music on the radio as she worked in the kitchen.  I can’t hear the classic that starts, “Good morning, star shine” and continues something like “Dooby ooby walla, dooby abba dabba.  Early morning singing song,” without hearing her voice, singing along, stirring a roux or probably with chicken sizzling in the huge Magnalite roaster she used for frying.  Lid on, just barely cracked.  It occurs to me writing this that Gram, being born in 1913, was just a few years older than I am now, and listening to pop songs from the musical Hair.   No wonder she never seemed old to me, despite having natural white hair since she was in her thirties.  Even my other grandmother called her “the fun one” with just a little envy.

I went to visit her just a few weeks ago in the nursing home we had to call a rehab center because she refused to live in a nursing home.  She had fallen and broken her femur, endured surgery to repair the damage and was doing 100 minutes of physiotherapy a day, preparing to go home.  I walked in the second morning and she was in the physio room.  The therapist told her to show me what she could do and I’ll be doggone if my 99 1/2 year old grandmother didn’t bend right over and touch the ground!  My aunt was already busy organizing her 100th birthday party in December and, last I had heard, Gram was going to be released this Friday.  Then suddenly, she was gone.

In between looking for last minute seats on airplanes, I baked this cake the day I left Dubai for her funeral.  And since it calls for Champagne, we lifted a glass to Gram.  She was never a drinker but I think she would have appreciated the gesture.

We didn’t get to celebrate your 100th birthday, Gram, but I can assure you that we will celebrate your life, your love of family and the joy of good food cooked in a happy kitchen, leaning always on your good example.

Ingredients
For the cake
1 cup or 225g unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 cups or 450g sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups or 375g flour plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
2 yellow peaches about 200g after peeling and pitting
2 white peaches –about 200g after peeling and pitting
1/2 cup or 125g peach yogurt
1/2 cup or 120ml Champagne or Prosecco or other dry sparkling wine

For the glaze
1/2 cup or 70g powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons Champagne

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by buttering it liberally and then shaking a couple of tablespoons of flour in it to coat.  Set aside.

Peel your peaches and dice two.  Puree the other two with a hand blender.  I chose to use white peaches for the puree since traditional bellinis were made with white peaches but, really, you can use all yellow, if that’s what you have.

Sift your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until yellow and fluffy.

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

Add half of the flour and mix again.

Now add half of the yogurt and half of the peach puree.   Mix again.

Add the rest of the flour and mix and then the rest of the yogurt and peach puree.  And, you guessed it, mix.

Fold in the diced peaches.

Finally, fold in the Champagne.

Pour the batter in your prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Meanwhile, mix the Champagne one teaspoon at a time into the powdered sugar, until it is of good drizzling consistency.  I ended up using three teaspoons.

When the Bundt is baked, let it cool for 15 or 20 minutes and then turn it out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Once the cake is cool, drizzle with the glaze.  I like to use a decorating bag with a tiny icing tip for prettier lines.

Serve with the rest of the bottle of the Champagne.

Enjoy!

Craving more Bundt cakes with peaches?  Have a look at all of the other wonderful peachy Bundts the Bundt-a-month group has baked for you today.

Balsamic Peach Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles

Bellini Bundt Cake with Champagne Glaze by Stacy from Food Lust People Love

Brown Sugar Peach Bundt Cake by Veronica from My Catholic Kitchen

Caramelized Peaches and Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street

Cream Cheese and Peach Bundt Cake by Kathya from Basic N Delicious

Frangipane Peach Bundt by Sandra from The Sweet Sensations

Momotaro Peach Boy Cake by Kim from Ninja Baking

Peaches and Cream Bundt Cake by Heather from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks

Peach Bundt with Raspberry Jam Swirl by Holly from A Baker's House

Peachy Buttermilk Bundt by Anita from Hungry Couple

Peach Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake by Lora from Cake Duchess

Peach Spice Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days

Peach Streusel Bundt Cake by Anne from From My Sweetheart

Vinho Verde Pound Cake with Peaches & Blueberries by Laura from The Spiced Life

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.

Join us in the month of August by adding your peachy Bundt to the linky tool below.

This is my August blog post choice for Fab First Fridays, hosted by Fiona of London-Unattached, where we share our favorite post from the previous month.  Head on over and share yours! 

Double Glazed Caramel Mocha Bundt #Bundtamonth

Double Glazed Caramel Mocha Bundt is made with cocoa and coffee for a rich mocha cake covered first with caramel glaze and then drizzled with coffee glaze.

Let me start by employing a Texas phrase:  It wasn’t my first rodeo.  My father had lived in Indonesia and Brunei so I was familiar with the five pillars of Islam.  While staying with him, I often woke up to the call to prayer, sat patiently several times a day as sitcoms were interrupted by the televised version of the call to the faithful and dodged mosque traffic and haphazard parking on Friday afternoons.  The Muslims I met were gentle people, slow to anger, quick to commiserate and ever kind. 

But when we arrived in Abu Dhabi in 1987, I hadn’t actually lived through the holy month of fasting, the concentrated, collective weeks of introspection and prayer that are Ramadan.  And I must confess that I didn’t get it even then.  As expats, we went about our daily lives, working only in the morning from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. as businesses were closed in the afternoon.  The only Muslim in my little office was the big boss who actually lived in Oman and just came to visit occasionally.  I’d rush home to prepare the cooler with drinks and barbecue essentials and we would sail off in our small Prindle catamaran to a secluded, deserted island to feast where we would not offend anyone, or be seen flouting the law.  It was against the law to eat, drink or smoke in public, or even to appear to be eating.  I was careful not to chew gum, even in my car, lest the religious police pull me over.

While I always dressed modestly, during Ramadan I was even more careful to make sure knees and shoulders were covered.  After all, as a temporary resident of the UAE, my husband’s work permit and my work permit depended on conforming.  And it was a matter of respect. 

By our second year in Abu Dhabi, I had changed jobs and was in charge of public relations at the InterContinental Hotel.  Of course, tourists don’t stop arriving just because it’s Ramadan.  In fact, special Ramadan rates increased occupancy.  The fasting month is fixed as the ninth month in a lunar calendar so it moves back about 10 days every year in our calendar.  That year it was in April, right around the Easter holidays.  And since it’s still quite cold in the United Kingdom and most of Europe in April, they came in droves and checked into our hotel looking for fun in the sun, food and drink.  Yes, I’m talking alcohol and lavish buffets.

So how do you give people a normal holiday when all the restaurants and bars have to be closed from sunrise to sunset?  You get creative. 

Restaurants were partitioned so that inside sections could be curtained off from the public eye.  A suite on an upper floor was turned into coffee and tea room, including soft drinks and water, free to hotel guests.  And, of course, room service was busier than ever.  

But the biggest change for me was quietly observing the behavior of my Muslim co-workers.  Many, especially the gardeners and maintenance guys, worked their same long hours, despite not drinking or eating (and probably suffering for lack of nicotine!) all day.  I was impressed by their ability, for the most part, to remain cheerful and dedicated to the welfare of our guests.  Hey, I get crabby when I’m hungry and thirsty.  Crabbiness didn’t seem to be an issue here.  I am not saying that fasting was easy for them.  I am just saying that perhaps the burden is eased when you are doing it for a reason you believe in.  I cannot presume to guess. 

Over the past 25 years, I have been invited many times to take part in the sunset meal, called iftar in Arabic speaking countries and buka puasa in Malaysia, to break the daily fast during Ramadan.   It is always an honor. 

Today I’ve got a Bundt cake for you, a pretty dessert for the end of any special meal. You might have guessed from the title that the BundtaMonth theme from our lovely hosts, Anuradha from Baker Street and Lora from Cake Duchess is caramel. You would be right. Be sure to scroll down and see all the other lovely Bundts we’ve baked for you this month. 

And I’d like to say a special thank you to my fellow UAE blogger, +Sally Prosser of My Custard Pie, whose recent Ramadan post started my reminiscing.

Update:  I have received a lot of comments about Ramadan and living in a Muslim country and I am grateful for every one of you who have taken the time to share your thoughts and questions.  I invite you to read a blog post by a fellow blogger who lives in the Boston area but grew up overseas. As a child of Christian missionaries, raised in predominately Muslim Pakistan, she tries to bridge the gap of understanding.  Please read her post here. 

Ingredients

For the cake:

3/4 cup or 170g unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan

3/4 cup or 170g sugar

1/2 cup or 100g dark brown sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 3/4 cups or 220g flour, plus more for the pan

1/4 cup or 20g special dark unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the caramel glaze:

1/4 cup or about 60g unsalted butter

1/2 cup or 100g light brown sugar, tightly packed

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/3 cup or 80ml heavy cream

1 cup or 125g confectioners’ sugar, sifted

For the coffee glaze:

1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

1/2 cup or about 60g powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons cream

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Prepare your Bundt pan by rubbing the inside with butter or using a nonstick spray and then coating with a couple of tablespoons flour.  

Combine the flour, cocoa, instant coffee, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  In a measuring cup, add the vanilla to your measured milk.  Set both aside. 

  

Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl.

Beat in the eggs, one at time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between.

This one's egg number 3. 

Once the eggs are fully incorporated, add half of the dry ingredients mixture and beat to mix.

Add half of the milk and beat again until mixed.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Repeat the last two steps, using the last half of the dry ingredients and the milk.   Your batter is done! Spoon it into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Remove your Bundt cake from the oven and allow to cool until the cake is pulling away from the sides of the pan a little.  Invert the cake on a wire rack and cool completely before starting to make the glazes.

Once your cake is cool, make the caramel glaze.  First measure and sift your 1 cup or 125g powdered sugar into a heatproof bowl.  

Cut the butter into a couple of pieces and place in a saucepan with the brown sugar, cream and salt.  After everything melts together, bring to a full, rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.   Boil for a quick minute then remove from the heat.

Pour this into your heatproof bowl with the powdered sugar and stir quickly with a wooden spoon.

Pour the glaze over your cooled cake.   Mine was a little too thick (I suspect I boiled it too long and have adjusted the boiling time here accordingly) so I ended up spreading it around further with a warm knife after pouring.  Do what you need to and make it look pretty.  Allow to set as you make the coffee glaze.

I smoothed it out even more after this. 

Put the powdered sugar for your coffee glaze and the instant coffee granules into a small mixing bowl.  Add two tablespoons of cream and stir vigorously.  I actually used a small, sturdy whisk.

Once thoroughly mixed, lift the whisk out of the glaze to see if it will drizzle successfully.  If it is too stiff, add more cream a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches drizzling consistency.  Depending on your instant coffee brand, the granules may take a while to completely dissolve.  Just keep stirring occasionally until they have.

Drizzle the coffee glaze on your cake with a small spoon or use an icing decorator bag and tip (or even a Ziploc bag with a small piece of the corner cut off.)  Allow the glaze to set.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other lovely caramel Bundts:

• Brown Butter Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Icing by Holly from A Baker’s House
• Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Icing by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry
• Caramelized Apple Bundt Cake by Lora from Cake Duchess
• Caramel Pound Cake by Veronica from My Catholic Kitchen
• Chocolate Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom
• Double Glazed Caramel Mocha Bundt by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Dulce de Leche Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days
• Dulce de Leche Swirl Pound Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street
• Orange Caramel Bourbon Bundt Cake by Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Salted Butterscotch Caramel Bundt Cake by Laura from The Spiced Life
• Salted Caramel Mini Apple Cake Bundts by Anita from Hungry Couple
• Snickers Bundt Cake by Karen from In The Kitchen with KP
• Vanilla Bean Salted Caramel Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles

Cherry Blueberry Cheesecake Bundt for #BundtaMonth

While I was in Houston for a week visiting family, I decided that it would be a good time to bake my Bundt for April’s BundtaMonth because 1. Time would be short when I got back to Dubai and 2. I had been invited over for dinner and 3.  I found this lovely Bundt pan in my cupboard.

As I might possibly have said to my BundtaMonth friends, you know you have too many baking pans when you forget you own something as pretty as that!   (Disclaimer:  I will completely deny even possibly saying that if anyone brings this to my husband’s attention.  Because: One can never have too many baking pans.  Am I right?)

Our BundtaMonth hosts, Lora and Anuradha decided that our theme this month is cherries!  Since they are frankly hard to find fresh at this time of the year in Houston, I decided to go with dried cherries and add in some fresh blueberries to join them.  This Bundt has three layers:  Cream cheese pound cake batter, followed by a cream cheese filling based on the cream cheese layer in this great recipe from fellow BundtaMonth member, Anita from Hungry Couple,  and then another layer of the pound cake batter.  Then, to top it all off, a drizzled cream cheese glaze.  I took it over to my little sister’s house for dinner and her youngest son fawned over it lovingly until it was time for supper.  Then they all had healthy (not healthy!) slices for dessert.  I tell you true:  Like baking pans, there is no such thing as too much cream cheese.  

Yes, it was already cut!  Because I had to take photos.  I gave the cut slices to my elderly neighbor
who was sick with bronchitis and needed love and sugar. 

Ingredients

Cake batter:

2 cups or 250g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup or 225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)

6 ounce or 170g cream cheese (at room temperature)

2 cups or 450g sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

Zest of a lemon

Cheesecake filling:

8 oz or 226g cream cheese (room temperature)

1 egg

1/4 cup or 55g sugar

1/4 cup or 30g flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup or 100g dried cherries plus a few extra for decoration

1/2 cup or 75g fresh blueberries plus a few extra for decoration

Glaze:

2 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup or 30g icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 teaspoons milk

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by spraying liberally with non-stick spray and then coating with a little flour.

The filling is very easy.  Add all the ingredients, except the cherries and blueberries, to your mixing bowl and beat until smooth and lump free.

Fold in your cherries and blueberries.  Cover with cling film and refrigerate until needed.

For the cake batter, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add the sugar, either a third at a time, beating well after each addition, or in a slow continuous stream as you are beating.

Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until incorporated.

Add in half the flour mixture and beat again.

Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Spoon on the cherry blueberry cream cheese filling and spread it around the pan.

Top with the remaining cream cheese batter.

Bake for about 55-65 minutes in your preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 15- 20 minutes before trying to remove it.  It should start to pull away from the sides of the pan as it cools.

To remove it, place a wire rack upside down on the cake and invert the cake pan to release the cake.  Allow to cool completely before adding the glaze.

While your cake is cooling, chop your extra decoration cherries and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine your first three glaze ingredients and then add the milk, starting with just 1 teaspoon.

Continue mixing well and adding milk one teaspoon at a time until you reach drizzling thickness.  I ended up adding only 3 teaspoons to mine.

When your cake is completely cool, add the cream cheese glaze to a small baggie and cut the corner off.  Squeeze out the glaze slowly and drizzle it all over the cake.

Stud it with bits of cherry and whole blueberries to decorate.

Enjoy!

And check out my fellow bloggers beautiful cakes:

• Black Forest Mini Bundt Cakes by Kim at Cravings of a Lunatic 
• Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake by Anuradha at Baker Street
• Cherry-filled Bundt Cake with Chocolate Cherry Drizzle by Heather at Hezzi D's Books and Cooks 
• Cherry Bundt Cake by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen 
• Cherry Kirsch Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands 
• Cherry Pecan Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days 
• Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake by Lora at Cake Duchess 
•  Chocolate Cherry Coke Cake by Jennie at The Messy Baker Blog 
•  Chocolate Cherry Dream by Kim at Ninja Baking 
•  Coconut Cherry Chip Bundt by Anne at From My Sweet Heart 
• Lemon Cherry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze by Anita at Hungry Couple 
• Mahlab Vanilla Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life 
• Spicy Cherry Yogurt Bundt Cake by Paula at Vintage Kitchen 
• White Chocolate Black Cherry Yogurt Bundt Cake by Karen at In the Kitchen With KP

If you'd like to add your cherry Bundt for April, here are the rules:

- Simple rule: Use any cherries (or any part of the cherry) – and bake us a Bundt for April
- Post it before April 30, 2013.
- Use the #BundtAMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title should read #BundtAMonth: Chocolate Cinnamon Bundt)
- Add your entry to the Linky tool below
- Link back to our announcement posts.

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 over 350 Bundt cake recipes.