Brown Sugar Bundt Cake — BWD

Brown Sugar Bundt Cake – BWD  

This week, was my turn to select the recipe, we would make.  How does one do this with a whole book of tempting recipes by Dorie Greenspan.  Sometimes, I sit at the kitchen table, turning pages, reading snippets and wanting to make them all.  I kept narrowing my list down until I got to three and then, I was in trouble.  I had a reason to make each one and I wanted to make all of them.  

As you can see, the brown sugar bundt cake won.  It may be because I won that beautiful bundt pan and wanted to get more use of it or because I love brown sugar.  I guess, it doesn’t matter.  What is important is that I baked it and liked it very much.  

I made almost no changes.  I did use a mixture of mostly dried apples with a few pieces of dried prunes and dried mangoes.  We do not particularly love prunes and I hated to waste what I expected to be a delicious cake on prunes.  I put in those token prunes but mostly  there were dried apples which transform anything to wonderful.    

From Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan  

Ingredients:

 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9- to 10-inch Bundt pan (I used the Kugelhopf pan, I won).  

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground hazelnuts or walnuts (or 1/4 cup more all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups lightly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract (only if you’re using the ground nuts)
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 medium pears, peeled, cored and diced (or substitute apple)
1/2 cup prunes, cut into 1/4 inch pieces (or substitute 1/2 cup raisins)

 

Method:

 

 

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, nuts, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract . Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately – add the flour in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix only until the ingredients are incorporated and scrape down the bowl as needed. 

 

Turn off the mixer, and with a rubber spatula, stir in the pears and dried fruit. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.  

Bake in the centre of the oven for 60 to 65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the centre of the cake comes out clean. (If at any point the cake is browning too fast, cover the top loosely with a piece of foil.) Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding, then cool to room temperature on the rack. 

 

A little powdered sugar on top set it up, just right.  

Dorie’s Note 1: Dorie suggests, if you have the time, to wrap the cake well and leave it on the counter to ripen the flavors for a day before serving. 

 

*Dorie’s Note 2: This cake will keep well for about 5 days wrapped well and at room temperature and can be frozen for up to 2 months, defrost still wrapped.

*Playing Around: For a nuttier cake, use 2 cups all-purpose flour and 3/4 c. ground nuts – hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds. Decrease the vanilla extract to 1 1/4 tsp., and use the almond extract. Omit the pears and prunes and stir in 1 cup of chopped toasted nuts – use the same nut as the one you ground. 

   

  

 

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