Berry Cake

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a while now but didn't have anyone to give it to and Lord knows I do not need to eat an entire berry cake...my sister went up north over the weekend to her sister-in-laws so I very nicely offered to send her with a cake (haha, it was way more self-serving than being nice but don't tell her that). My only request was that she please take a picture of it after it was inverted and sliced...and guess what? Yep, she's lame. She got a delicious fruit-topped pink-swirled bundt cake and I did not get any pictures. Sigh. Sisters.

Fortunately I had the foresight to take out some of the dough and bake a small 4" cake so I could taste it and see if what a keeper recipe - and I took a picture of it, so at least I have something to show you!

I'm worried that there was so much fruit on the top and it was SO juicy after it baked that the cake might break apart - once again my sister is lame and she hasn't told me if it made it there in one piece. So let's go with it arrived in perfect condition :). I know it tasted good - and that's all I know for sure LOL!

I found the recipe here on bhg.com and they have a photo on the website. Not sure if I can post their photo tho so you'll either need to trust me that this looks pretty (bundt cake with fruit baked into the top) or go to their site and look for yourself. There is a pink swirl of cake batter running thru the cake (at least it is in their picture, I have no idea if mine turned out that way - credit my sis for that); you get that by removing some batter before pouring it in the pan and add melted jam to it, then layer cake batter with pink batter and more cake batter. Easy to do and I'm sure the effect was pretty.

I'm copy and pasting their exact recipe because it's long - don't let that stop you from making it tho, it's worth it. The original recipe calls for raspberries and cranberries - I used raspberries and blueberries. Yum.

INGREDIENTS

BERRY TOPPING

• 3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/4cups fresh raspberries
• 1 1/4cups fresh cranberries
• Seeds of 1/2 pomegranate (about 1/2 cup)

CAKE BATTER

• 1 1/2cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 3/4cups granulated sugar
• 6large eggs, room temperature
• 3cups all-purpose flour
• 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1teaspoon salt
• 1cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1tablespoon pure vanilla extract

SWIRL

• 3tablespoons seedless raspberry jam, melted
  
• 3 - 4drops red food coloring
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  confections' sugar for dusting

  DIRECTIONS

  FOR THE TOPPING:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally spray a 12-cup Bundt® pan with non-stick baking spray or prepare with shortening/butter and flour. 
  2. Add melted butter to bottom of the bundt pan then cover butter with 3/4 cup of the brown sugar. 
  3. Evenly sprinkle cranberries, raspberries and pomegranate seeds over the brown sugar covering entire area then carefully pat down inside the pan. 
  4. Cover berries with the remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar.

  FOR THE CAKE BATTER:

  1. In your mixer bowl, add butter and beat on high speed for 1 minute. Slowly add in sugar and mix on high speed for an additional 5 minutes until very pale yellow and fluffy.
  2. Next, add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed.
  3. Whisk together flour, cinnamon and salt in a medium sized bowl. Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add flour mixture into batter in two increments. Be careful not to overbeat.
  4. Lastly, add sour cream and vanilla extract, scrape down sides, and mix until just combined and turn off mixer.

  FOR THE SWIRL:

  1. Remove 1 cup of cake batter from mixing bowl and add to separate small bowl. 
  2. Stir in melted raspberry jam and red food coloring and whisk until smooth.

  TO ASSEMBLE:

  1. Evenly spread 1/3 cake batter into bundt pan over berries then add 1/2 of swirl batter over the top. 
  2. Repeat step by adding 1/3 of cake batter and remaining swirl batter on top. 
  3. Finally, add remaining 1/3 of plain batter to the top.
  4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the top of cake comes out clean. Tip: Add a sheet of parchment paper or foil on a shelf below the bundt pan to catch any juices that may drip during baking.
  5. Remove cake from oven and cool for only 5 to 7 minutes in pan. Carefully invert cake onto serving plate to finish cooling. If any berries stick to pan, carefully use a butter knife to remove and place back on the top of the cake. Let the juices settle (to speed this process you can refrigerate).
  6. Garnish with a small sprinkling of powdered sugar, if deisred.

Irish Cream Bundt Cake

I've made this bundt cake before and it's yummy - so I think I'll make it again for this years St. Patrick's Day dinner we are having on Saturday. Note I leave out the pecans because of Dave's allergies but otherwise just follow the directions:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix (omit if your cake mix already has pudding in it)
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur (like Bailey's)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup water
•  1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325'. Grease and flour a 10' bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze, repeat until all glaze is used up.
4. To make the glaze: In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. 

Note: I prefer to invert the cooled cake onto a different plate or rimmed pan while glazing - the glazing will run off and pool on the plate and you can scoop it up with a spoon or brush and keep glazing with the run-off until it's all absorbed. Then CAREFULLY transfer the cake to your serving plate. That way the serving dish doesn't have glaze all over it...You need a couple wide spatulas to transfer it - it breaks easily. Sorry I don't have a picture, it looks like a bundt cake tho so depending on if your pan is decorative or not will determine what it looks like! 

Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

My niece Macey doesn't like frosting, and loves pineapple upside down cake - so her birthday dessert is easy for me to make....no getting out the decorating bags and tips (not that I don't love decorating but when in a time crunch this is helpful!). I saw this bundt idea here and thought I'd change things up this time - I love this idea and how it turned out!

Michelle at work told me she puts pineapple juice in the cake batter, and then this recipe called for the same - it really adds good flavor and makes the cake super moist. Try it!

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 20 oz. can pineapple rings, juice reserved (note you need 8 rings cut in half, I had 2 rings leftover
• 16 stemless maraschino cherries
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding (omit if you use cake mix that has pudding already in it)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• milk

Preheat oven to 350'. Thoroughly spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray making sure to coat every surface. Drain pineapple juice into a 1 cup measuring bowl and add enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid.

While the oven is warming up I put the stick of butter (cut up into chunks) in the bottom of the bundt pan and stick in oven to melt. Once it melts remove from oven and evenly sprinkle the brown sugar over top. Arrange 16 1/2 slices of pineapple around the bundt pan, and put a cherry between the slices (see picture).

 

Mix together the cake mix, instant pudding, eggs, oil, and reserved pineapple juice/milk. Spoon on top of the arranged pineapple slices and cherries. Bake for approx 40 minutes until the cake is done. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving dish.

This is such a good recipe - if you like Pineapple Upside Cake I hope you'll try this!

Oh, and it might not seem like an "October" thing but since I always make it for Macey's birthday I always think of it this time of year. Or anytime...it's so good I actually made a second one the next day to take to Al and Cathy's.





one year ago: make a miniature pumpkin owl

two years ago: spinach artichoke spaghetti squash