#BundtAMonth: Mahlab Vanilla Bundt Cake Recipe
I cannot decide if this qualifies as a bundt cake! I don’t know why, when I planned to make my BundtAMonth cake at my in laws’ house, it did not occur to me to bring a pan. I guess I forget not everyone lives in my world of owning 3,000 bundt pans. So this cake is small, and, as you might notice, rather pale and flat. The flat is just the size of the pan; the pale is from using a silicone pan, which is fine when necessary but I really do not believe in using all things being equal. As you can see, the cake does not get any kind of crust on it.
So this is another, ahem, creative entry for me in my BundtAMonth participation. The theme for April is cherries… and ladies and gents, I really dislike cherries! Much to my family’s dismay, and not counting tart cherries, which you cannot find in late March around here. So I started thinking outside the box. At which point I remembered my good friend Faith, from An Edible Mosaic, who had mentioned in my interview with her just how much she loves mahlab, a Middle Eastern spice, which is the whole kernels of the St. Lucie Cherry. I asked our awesome BundtAMonth creators, Lora and Anuradha if they thought it qualified. I am delighted to report–because this is truly a delightful cake–that they said yes!
As mentioned, I made this for my in laws, and everyone liked it. I have also been enjoying it for breakfast, for tea, as a late night snack… well you get the idea. It might not be such a bad thing when it is gone. The mahlab does not–as far as I could taste–bring any particular strong flavor to the cake, but there is just something extra tasty and aromatic about it. I used my favorite Lisa Yockelson recipe as a base to work with, and went from there.
I really hope you join this month (even though I don’t like cherries!) because let’s face it: we’re fun! And tasty! And we inspire great desserts! So get baking, and 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. And check out my co-hosts’ fabulous creations!
#BundtAMonth: Mahlab Vanilla Bundt Cake
- 3 cups (378 g) AP flour (if possible, substitute up to ⅓ of this with cake flour, or substitute a few tablespoons with potato or corn starch)
- ½ t baking soda
- ¾ t salt
- ½ lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ t freshly ground mahlab
- ¼ t ground cardamom
- ¼ t ground ginger
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 1 T vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Spray a nonstick bundt pan thoroughly with flour/grease mixture. Also spray some bundlettes or mini loaves for the excess dough or use a 10 inch tube pan for the entire cake (I love bundt cakes, how pretty they are, so I rarely use tube pans–in this case, I actually was able to make a full size loaf cake in addition to the bundt cake). Set aside.
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of a mixer on moderate speed for 4 mins. Add the spices and beat. Scrape the sides of the bowl down.
Add the sugar gradually, beating thoroughly while adding. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 secs after each addition and scraping down the sides of bowl.
Add the vanilla and blend it in.
On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Remember to keep scraping sides and bottom of bowl.
Spoon batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with rubber spatula.
How long you bake the cake will depend on the size(s). A 10 inch tube cake will take 1 hour and 15 minutes. A 9-10 inch bundt cake will take approximately 1 hour. The funky silicone bundt pan took about 45-50 minutes, as did the full size loaf pan. 1 cup size bundlettes take around 25 minutes. You will just need to watch for whatever sizes you choose to make.
Bake the cake(s) for the recommended time, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The baked cake will pull also slightly away from the sides of the pan.
Cool the cake in the pan(s) on a rack for 10-15 mins, then invert onto another cooling rack and then invert again to stand upright (for a tube pan or loaf pan–a bundt pan will already be upright). Cool completely. Store in airtight cake container. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the top of the cake before serving if desired.
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Wednesday April 3
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cherries,
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