Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Three Citrus Bundt Cake

with Orange, Pomello & Lemon

picture photograph how to make orange lemon citrus bundt cake 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

For Christmas last, my friend Del kindly presented with two different types of Bundt Cake baking tin. These were gifts of substance: Weighty, shiny, symmetrical and intricately patterned. The delight with which I graciously received these generous presents belied my inner panic. I wasn't sure I had ever even eaten a Bundt cake, let alone bake one. In fact, until I started reading food blogs I am not sure I'd ever even seen one. How would I be able to do these pans justice?

I wanted my inaugural Bundt attempt to be for Delphine. It seemed only fitting that the person who gave me the utensil to make a Bundt Cake should be the first to taste the result of using it. You might be thinking to yourself that perhaps I should practise a little before taking an untested cake to such an important event as a friend's Baby Shower, especially when I am set to become the child's god earth mother, but life is too short and I am too confident in the kitchen to worry about little things like failure.

None of my cookbooks know anything about Bundts, so I hopped online to find a recipe, preferably one that would use up some old oranges that were threatening to fester in my cupboard. There were plenty of variations up for grabs, but I really wanted to use one written by a blogger, one with pictures, one that I could see I could trust (after all, I had to muster up that kitchen confidence from somewhere).

The set of instructions that most caught my eye were from tasty blog 'My Husband Cooks'. I kept coming back to look at it over the couple of weeks before the day I was due to make it and on each return, my mouth watered more and more. Making the cake was a breeze and it turned out really well. At the Baby Shower there were lots of beautiful, delicate, pretty-as-a-picture cakes by Miette, and I was a little doubtful setting down my large, almost clumsy Germanic Bundt cake in their midst.

I needn't have worried. This cake met with rave reviews from the mainly-French audience. They wolfed down slice after slice. Several whispered to me in confidence, "shhh, I 'ad two sliceeez". Even Fred enjoyed a piece, I am not sure I've ever seen him eat cake before. It wasn't fancy, but it was homely, it was moist and it had the benefit of the sharp citrus to balance its cakey sweetness. This Bundt is a winner, a crowd pleaser; she's bold and forward, large and lusty, the centre of attraction not because she's beautiful, not because she's wearing the latest fashion, but because she's got substance. Ms Bundt cake, through the forcefulness of her bigger-than-life personality left all those skinny, half-eaten little Miettes* hiding awkwardly on the sidelines, no doubt wondering why all the effort they put into their appearances just wasn't enough.

Recipe Notes/Tweaks
Read about how to make this Bundt Cake over at My Husband Cooks.
The blog offers a great service: you can download the recipe in PDF format, too.
My oranges were nice and juicy, but their skins were clearly past the zest-by-date so I subbed the orange zest with pomello instead. I didn't use any butter in my glaze. Instead I made a very thin glaze using the juice of one orange, the juice of one lemon and about 1 cup of powdered sugar. I gently spooned the result slowly over the surface of the cake, giving it time to soak in, making the cake extra moist.




PS - *At the Baby shower I actually tried Miette's heart-shaped chocolate cake and I personally thought it was totally delicious, moist with incredible ganache. Maybe that Bundt cake is just a big bully?


Local Resources
Pretty Cakes | Miette
Cute Blog | Non Dairy Diary
Pomello | Hamada Farms

Other Resources
Wikipedia | What is a Bundt Cake?
Thanks to | Lynette who sent me the little gold balls I used to decorate my Bundt with.

Archives
2006 | On Expanding My Palate: Chicken Livers et al!
2005 | Fred rules his own kingdom. Pasta King

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Three Citrus Bundt Cake

22 Comments:

  • At 13/2/07 09:52, Blogger Clare said…

    This looks like the perfect cake, IMHO. I love lemony, citrus-y, cakey things that aren't too sweet. I will have to try this out - thanks!

     
  • At 13/2/07 10:39, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thank you so much for the kind mention, and we are so glad we could be of service. Your cake is absolutely stunning and your alternatives make beautiful sense. I think the use of pomello is quite interesting, and the simple flavoring of the icing is delicious sounding. Thank you again.

     
  • At 13/2/07 11:09, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I totally agree 100% with "Husband". I love bundt cake and making it but I have never seen anything look so fantastic till I saw your pic! It doesn't even look real. I am going to try this for my boyfriend tomorrow on Valentine's Day! By the way- Happy V-day!

     
  • At 13/2/07 11:22, Blogger Beccy said…

    Sam, I really think that you have been spoiling those San Fransican's for too long! It's time you got your sweet ass over here to cook for me...please.

     
  • At 13/2/07 11:24, Blogger Barbara said…

    Stunning. Very clever to use the silver cashews this way.

     
  • At 13/2/07 11:51, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    That cake looks delish. I'll have to comment back tomorrow but I am attempting to make a Sour Cream-Chocolate Bundt Cake (a Williams-Sonoma recipe) for an office party. Like yourself, I am a novice with bundt cakes- this will be my second one ever.

     
  • At 13/2/07 13:08, Blogger Erielle said…

    Oh, it's so beautiful! I can't stop looking at the bejeweled bundt cake. I almost want to trudge through the blizzard Chicago is having right now and get a bundt cake mold.

     
  • At 13/2/07 14:52, Blogger ChrisB said…

    Anything lemony gets my vote it looks delicious; pity we don't get to try it.

     
  • At 13/2/07 18:08, Blogger Delphine said…

    I confirm, it was perfect.

    It's the only cake I ate at the party. It's the only one I felt like eating. We fought over the last bits with my husband ( looks like it's a treat with coffee too).
    I was worried we didn't had enough food and your cake felt homely and delicious. I'm really happy you brought it, many thanks!

     
  • At 14/2/07 06:17, Blogger wheresmymind said…

    Holy catz does that look good right now *tummy grumble*

     
  • At 14/2/07 07:11, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Gorgeous! Sunburst!

     
  • At 14/2/07 08:19, Blogger Freya said…

    I love the look of bundt cakes. I made a Mahogany one back in the summer from a book called the Pastry Queen and it was a shiny black majestic cake! I love the tiny gold dragees!

     
  • At 15/2/07 01:34, Blogger shuna fish lydon said…

    This post epitomizes what I love so dearly about you, Sam, and B&P.

    I feel like I'm in my very own city but I am being shown the nooks and crannies I've not yet discovered. What a satisfying, yet exciting place to visit!

    Thank you and happy VD.

     
  • At 15/2/07 06:15, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Had to report back on my bundt cake adventure. I made a Sour Cream-Chocolate Bundt cake from a Williams-Sonoma recipe. I don't know if it's because I made it Tuesday night and had it wrapped in the fridge until today, but it's very dry (and dense). You look like you had better luck with yours!

     
  • At 15/2/07 08:30, Blogger Sam said…

    dani - i am sorry to hear that. David Lebovitz has a chocolate bundt cake which has SAUERKRAUT as an ingredient in his book, maybe that helps keep it moist.

    ANyone who tries this recipe wont be disappointed and have dry cake.

    And 'husband' I really should have pointed out that I didn't tweak your recipes for any other reason than I didn't have enough powdered sugar left to make a thick fondant like you did so I reverted to a technique I knew from making lemon drizzle cake. I was just changing yours for the sake of it.

    cheers everyone..

    sam

     
  • At 16/2/07 06:30, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sam- sauerkraut sounds interesting! After I warmed up my cake for five seconds in microwave it was better. I think it had everything to do with putting it in fridge.

     
  • At 26/2/07 11:47, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Here's how to make delicious chocolate covered strawberries. First of all ensure that the strawberries you are intending to use are dry, then allow them to be room temperature warm prior to making them. After the strawberries have been covered in chocolate, put them in your refrigerator to cool, but do not store them in the fridge. Consume within 1-2 days.

     
  • At 27/2/07 13:55, Blogger izzycomosy said…

    Could someone please give me the recipe for Three Citrus Bundt Cake
    with Orange, Pomello & Lemon,I have tried looking for it on the links on this site but to no avail,
    I would love to try this cake,also does anyone know what bundt tin was used?,please please I am dying to try this cake.
    Kind Regards
    izzycomosy

     
  • At 27/2/07 14:05, Blogger Sam said…

    Izzycomosy - the details are in the post but unless you read carefully you might miss them.

    The basic recipe followed was this one for orange bundt cake.

    I made the following chages to that recipe:

    - Instead of orange zest I used pomello zest.

    - I didn't use any butter in my glaze.

    - Instead I made a very thin glaze using the juice of one orange, the juice of one lemon and about 1 cup of powdered sugar. I gently spooned the result slowly over the surface of the cake, giving it time to soak in, making the cake extra moist.

    Hope that helps

    sam

     
  • At 27/2/07 14:43, Blogger izzycomosy said…

    Many thanks for the responce but the link is not working, says 404 file not found!! could you also tell me the name of the bundt tin that was used I have checked out most of them online but cannot seem to find that one. many thanks for the tips on the glaze. maybe you have another link for the recipe?
    Kind Regards

     
  • At 27/2/07 14:52, Blogger Sam said…

    If your computer is not updated to read PDF files then just follow the recipe at the bottom of this blog entry which I also linked to in my post above.

    The exact type of tin is irrelvant to the taste of the result I think, as long as it is a bundt tin. Of coursse, the pattern might be important too. The one I used was received as a gift and it had no brand name on it so I have no idea where it came from except to guess it was probably purchased somewhere in the San Fracnisco area.

     
  • At 27/2/07 14:54, Blogger izzycomosy said…

    is the recipe the blood orange recipe?,I have downloaded the recipe for that one but the one with the three citrus bundt cake with picture looks so nice,. I would just like to have that one. the design of the cake looks so good.

     

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