MiNDFOOD

ROUND CAKES

Bundt cake, also known by its Central European name, gugelhupf, is the ideal way to impress your guests this Christmas. The distinctiv­e shape looks great on a cake stand and the flavours here are as inventive as they are festive.

-

Bundt cake is the ideal way to impress your guests this Christmas with its distinctiv­e shape and festive flavours.

“A PARTY WITHOUT CAKE IS REALLY JUST A MEETING.”

JULIA CHILD

Baileys Bundt Cake with Caramel & Chocolate Sauce

Makes 16 slices

150g dark chocolate

100g pecan nuts

180g plain flour, plus extra to

dust tin

125g cornflour

4 tsp baking powder

250g icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

150g softened butter, plus extra

to grease tin

100ml sunflower oil

5 medium eggs

250ml cream liqueur with

whiskey and cream

CARAMEL SAUCE

½ vanilla pod 200g dark cane sugar 200ml cream 100ml orange juice 30g butter

1 tbsp lemon juice

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

140g dark chocolate 2 tbsp icing sugar 10g cocoa powder 30g pecan nuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Finely chop chocolate and nuts. Mix with 1 tbsp of the flour. Mix the remaining flour with cornflour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Using electric beaters, beat the sugar, vanilla and butter until creamy white. Add the oil and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the liqueur and flour mix. Briefly stir the chocolate and nuts into the batter.

Grease a 2-litre capacity bundt cake tin with butter and dust with flour – this will not be necessary if you are using a silicone bundt mold.

Pour in the batter, then bake the cake on the second lowest shelf for 50-60 minutes – the cake is baked through when an inserted wooden skewer comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven. Let it cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin by turning it onto a wire rack and allow it to cool down completely.

Meanwhile, for the caramel sauce, cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.

Melt the sugar in a wide saucepan on medium heat until it begins to caramelise. Add the vanilla seeds, cream and orange juice to the caramel. Reduce the mix on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until nice and thick. Remove the saucepan from the stove. Stir in the butter and lemon juice and let the sauce cool down for 30 minutes.

For the chocolate sauce, finely chop the chocolate. Bring the sugar mixed with 100ml of water to the boil. Add the chocolate and cocoa. Take the saucepan off the stove. Let cool down for 30 minutes. Roughly chop the nuts.

Drizzle half of each sauce over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with the nuts. Serve with the remaining sauce on the side.

Pull-apart Bundt Cake with Cranberrie­s

Makes 12 slices

500g cake flour, plus extra for

rolling and dusting

20g fresh yeast

60g sugar

180ml lukewarm milk

4 medium egg yolks

150g softened butter, plus extra

for greasing tin

2 tsp cinnamon

70g dark cane sugar

200g cranberry jam, plus extra to

serve

150g icing sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crumble the yeast and mix with 1 tsp of the sugar and 5 tbsp of the milk. Add the mix into the flour. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes until the mix has bubbled up.

Place in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add the remaining milk, sugar, egg yolks and 100g of the butter. Mix well with the dough hook until you get a smooth dough. Place the dough into a bowl and allow to rest for 60 minutes.

Knead the dough vigorously by hand. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until 5mm thick. Cut the dough into squares of approximat­ely 8cm.

Melt the remaining butter. Mix the cinnamon and cane sugar. Spread half of the squares with jam and the other squares with butter. Sprinkle with the sugar mix, keeping 2 tbsp aside. Stack the squares in piles of four, alternatin­g each filling. Use a kitchen knife and halve the stacks into rectangles 4cm x 8cm.

Grease a 2.5-litre capacity bundt cake tin with butter and dust with flour. Place the pieces of dough upright into the tin, all the way around. (Use one hand to hold the pieces to keep them from falling over.) Evenly spread the melted butter and remaining sugar over the dough. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Place the tin on a wire rack on the secondlowe­st shelf of the oven and bake for 50 minutes. (If the top of the cake is getting too dark, cover with some tin foil.)

Allow the cake to cool down in the tin for 15 minutes. Then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Turn the cake so the sugared side is on top. Mix the icing sugar, lemon juice and 1-2 tbsp of water until you have a smooth, thick-yet-fluid icing. Spread the icing over the cake.

Mini Chocolate & Ginger Bundt Cakes with Caramel Crème

Makes 12 cakes

80g dark chocolate 125ml milk

40g candied ginger 290g plain flour 30g cocoa powder 4 tsp baking powder 130g caster sugar 200g softened butter 3 medium eggs

CARAMEL CRÈME

500ml milk

2½ tbsp custard powder 2 medium egg yolks 80g sugar

½ vanilla pod

250g softened butter 60g icing sugar

40g candied ginger, finely

chopped

2 tbsp golden sugar pearls

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Finely chop the chocolate. Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the stove. Add the chocolate and allow to melt. After 2 minutes, stir until smooth. Allow to cool down a little.

Finely chop the ginger. Mix the ginger with flour, cocoa, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Beat the sugar and butter with handheld electric beaters until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time (only add another egg once the previous one has been stirred in for about 30 seconds). In turns, stir in the chocolate milk and flour mix.

Add the batter into 12 7cm-diameter silicone mini bundt moulds, then smooth the tops. Bake on the second lowest shelf of the oven for 20 minutes. The cakes are done when a wooden skewer comes out clean. Remove cakes from the moulds and let cool down on a wire rack for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, for the caramel crème, mix 3 tbsp of the milk with the custard powder and egg yolks until smooth. Melt the sugar in a saucepan until golden brown. Add remaining milk to the caramel. Let the milk simmer for about 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved completely. Stir the custard mix into the milk. Bring to the boil while stirring to get a thick custard. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Place some cling film directly on top and cool down to room temperatur­e.

Slice vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla seeds using a handheld mixer until pale and creamy, then add custard mixture. Spoon the combined mixture into a piping bag with a medium star nozzle. Cut the cakes in half horizontal­ly. Pipe half the caramel crème onto the lower half of cakes. Place on the cake tops and press down lightly. Pipe remaining caramel crème over cakes and decorate with ginger and sugar pearls.

Black Forest Bundt Cake

Makes 16 slices

175g morello cherries

250g softened butter, plus extra

to grease tin

100g sugar

150g marzipan paste

5 medium eggs

200g flour, plus extra to dust tin 100g cornflour

3 tsp baking powder

100g ground almonds 125ml milk

3 tbsp cherry or almond liqueur 30g cocoa powder

2 tbsp icing sugar

200g cream

15 Amarena cherries, plus 3 tbsp

syrup from the jar

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Drain the morello cherries. Beat the butter and sugar with a handheld electric beater until pale and creamy. Finely grate the marzipan and stir in. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Mix the flour with cornflour, baking powder, ground almonds and a pinch of salt. Take 2 tbsp of the flour mix and mix it with the drained cherries.

In turns, add the flour mix and milk to the butter mix and stir it in. Take half of the batter and combine it with the cherries. Mix the remaining batter with liqueur and cocoa.

Grease a 2-litre capacity bundt cake tin and dust with flour. Add both batters, alternatin­g a tablespoon at a time, then create a marble pattern by dragging a fork through the batter in swirls. Smooth the top.

Bake in the preheated oven, on the second lowest shelf for 50-60 minutes. The cake is baked though when an inserted wooden skewer comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven. Allow to cool down for 15 minutes. Remove the tin by turning the cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool down completely.

Dust the cake with icing sugar. Whip the cream, then fold in the Amarena syrup.

Spread the cream over the cake, decorate with Amarena cherries and serve immediatel­y.

Cranberry & Pistachio Bundt Cake

Makes 16 slices

100g dried cranberrie­s

2 tbsp rum

140g pistachio nuts

400g flour, plus extra to dust tin 3 tsp baking powder

200g softened butter, plus extra to

grease tin

175g sugar

3 medium eggs

125ml milk

150 good-quality white chocolate 1 small apple

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Chop the cranberrie­s and mix with the rum. Cover and set aside.

Finely chop 100g of the pistachio nuts in a food processor. Coarsely chop the remaining pistachio nuts with a knife and set aside.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Beat the butter and sugar with a handheld electric beater until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In turns, stir in the milk and flour mix. Take two thirds of the batter and mix it with the cranberrie­s and rum. Stir the ground pistachio nuts into the remaining batter.

Grease a 2-litre capacity bundt cake tin with butter and dust with flour. Add the batter mixes one after the other.

Use a fork to create a marble pattern by dragging it through the batter in swirls. Smooth the top.

Bake in the preheated oven on the second-lowest shelf for 50-60 minutes. The cake is cooked when a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven. Let it cool for 15 minutes, then turn on to a wire rack and cool completely.

Chop the white chocolate and melt in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Dip two thirds of the apple into the chocolate, then sprinkle half of the coarsely chopped pistachio nuts on the chocolate.

Pour the remaining chocolate onto the cake. Sprinkle with the remaining pistachio nuts.

Allow to dry for 30 minutes. Place the apple on top of the cake and serve.

Carrot Bundt Cake

Makes 16 slices

300g carrots

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

100g flour, plus extra to dust tin 50g vanilla custard powder 100g ground almonds, plus 2 tbsp

extra to dust tin

50g finely chopped almonds 1½ tbsp baking powder

120g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g butter, at room temperatur­e,

plus extra to grease tin

4 medium eggs

5 tbsp chocolate flakes, to garnish

CREAM CHEESE ICING

½ vanilla pod 150g icing sugar 120g soft butter 250g cream cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix with the lemon juice and zest.

Mix the flour, custard powder, ground and chopped almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Beat the sugar, vanilla and butter with a handheld electric beater until pale and creamy

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Briefly stir in the flour mix and carrots until evenly distribute­d.

Grease a 2-litre capacity bundt cake tin with butter and dust with flour, then sprinkle the edges with ground almonds. Dust the remaining areas with flour. Pour the dough into the tin and smooth the top.

Bake the cake on a wire rack on the second-lowest shelf for 50-60 minutes.

The cake is cooked through when a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake and allow to cool down for 15 minutes.

Remove the cake from the tin by turning it upside down on a wire rack, then allow it to cool completely. Using a long knife, cut the cake in half horizontal­ly.

For the icing, cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise, then scrape out the seeds. Mix the vanilla seeds with the icing sugar and butter and beat with a handheld electric beater until creamy. Briefly stir in the cream cheese until distribute­d evenly.

Spread half of the mix on the cut surface of the lower part of the cake. Place on the top half of the cake and spread the remaining cream cheese mix over the top of the cake.

Use the back of a spoon and spread the icing with a swirling motion to create soft waves. Sprinkle the cake with chocolate flakes.

 ??  ?? Baileys Bundt Cake with Caramel & Chocolate Sauce Page 134
Baileys Bundt Cake with Caramel & Chocolate Sauce Page 134
 ??  ?? Cranberry & Pistachio Bundt Cake Page 137
Cranberry & Pistachio Bundt Cake Page 137
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia