Happy National Bundt Day! What, you didn’t know it was National Bundt Day? OK, I didn’t either, but the awesome folks that are in #BundtaMonth knew, so we figured hey any excuse is a good excuse to throw more bundt cakes out into the world.
As a special treat for the celebration I actually have 2 bundt cakes for you. Remember that cakewalk way back when, the one where the silly elementary school kids kept overlooking my fantastic Citrus Glazed Spiced Zucchini Bundt Cake all because it had some green in it? Well, I donated 3 cakes to that cakewalk, and these other two went super fast. I have just been waiting to find time to share them also.
One of the great things about a cakewalk is it makes me braver about experimenting with flavors I have not tried before. It also makes me more likely to bake with flavors that my family loves but I abhor (banana I am talking about you). In both cases, because we will not be left with an entire cake to eat. So both of these cakes were at the very least a little outside my comfort zone.
This first cake is a lot outside my comfort zone. I don’t remember how much I have discussed my dislike absolute hatred and intolerance for bananas before. It does not seem like a food blog is the appropriate venue for discussing hating foods. For the most part we food bloggers celebrate the tastiness of food. All the ways it can makes us happy. So let’s just say that I tell restaurants and smoothie makers that I am allergic to bananas and leave it at that.
But my kids adore banana bread, especially Alex. Which I never make. So I thought for the cakewalk I would make a banana bundt cake and hold back a few mini cakes for the kids to eat. Because I hate bananas (and therefore had no opinion on changing anything in the recipe) and because this cake had some unique instructions, I am going to send you over to My Baking Addiction for the recipe. Jamie is a foolproof source for baked goodies of all kinds. This bundt was the first of my cakes chosen in the cakewalk, and it was taken fast! John confirmed that this cake was out of this world–as a matter of fact, I am not sure how much he shared it with the kids!
The second bundt I made for the cakewalk was also unconventional, at least for me because I am also not a big fan of (traditional black) tea. So when I saw this chocolate bundt cake flavored with earl grey tea over at Shutterbean I was intrigued. I mean, no I don’t like black tea, but it is no banana or anything! And I wondered how it would go with the chocolate.
As luck would have it, the recipe was written for an 8 cup bundt pan, which I do not have. So I doubled the recipe, poured 10 cups into one pan (for the cakewalk) and poured the remainder into a second pan and just accepted it would be small. That smaller one was for us.
So how did it come out? If you are only ever going to make one chocolate bundt cake, this is not the one. But if you love chocolate bundt cakes and are perfectly happy trying different variations, this is a good one to try. The difference is subtle, which is a good thing to my mind. A chocolate cake should taste like a chocolate cake at the end of the day. And it should be rich and chocolatey, both of which this cake was also. But the tea does add something, I am just not sure how to describe what. So I guess you will just have to try it!
Be sure to check out all of the fabulous bundts being baked across the web in celebration of National Bundt Day! And be sure to check out the blogs of our hostesses’, Baker Street and Cake Duchess. Bundt A Month now has a fabulous Facebook page where you can see what we are doing.
And be sure to check out everyone else’s National Bundt Day cakes!
Chocolate Ganache Draped Banana Bundt Cake and Earl Grey Chocolate Bundt Cake by Laura | The Spiced Life Chocolate Hazelnut Baby Bundt Cakes by Paula | Vintage Kitchen Notes Cinnamon Crusted Sweet Potato Bundt with Honey Glaze by Kate | Food Babbles Coconut and Rum Bundt Cake for National Bundt Cake Day by Carrie | Poet In The Pantry Cream Cheese Swirled Chocolate Bundt Cake by Anuradha | Baker Street Tunnel of Fudge Bundt Cake with Hazelnuts by Alice | Hip Foodie Mom Vanilla Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze by Lora | Cake DuchessEarl Grey Chocolate Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Shutterbean, adapted from Real Simple
6 Earl Grey tea bags or 2 T loose Earl Grey
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted in 30-second increments on 50% power, cooled
2 cups AP flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t fine sea salt
1/2 cup whole fat sour cream
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
confectioners’ sugar
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour an 8 cup bundt pan. Set aside. You may bake this cake in a 10 cup bundt pan, it just will not rise all the way to the top.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Brew the tea in the 1 cup of water for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags or strain the leaves and set the brewed tea aside.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Blend in the chocolate. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternating with the tea and sour cream in 2 additions for the tea and one addition for the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix gently, but beat at the end momentarily to completely incorporate. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Scrape the cake batter into the pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
Invert the cake out of the pan and onto parchment paper on a cooling rack. Let cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Earl grey and chocolate sounds like a fabulous combination, Laura! One that I can’t wait to try.
Happy National Bundt Day! 🙂
Happy bundt day! I’m definitely intrigued by the earl grey chocolate bundt…although I’m not particularly a fan of earl grey. The banana infused bundts need to happen. The only time I really can deal with bananas is in baked goods…especially baked goods with chocolate!
Also, in response to your comment on my blog – YES kale can be eaten raw. You just need to massage some oil into it for a few minutes so that it becomes less tough. Lacinato or Tuscan kale is a better variety for this because it’s not as tough in general.
We all have our dislikes, sometimes they are a surprise to others, but that´s the way it is! I like this variation of chocolate cake and it looks gorgeous!
oh my goodness! These bundts are beautiful!!! And you made TWO! Wow! I absolutely love the shape of your bundt pans!! so pretty!! May I ask where you got the one you used for the Earl Grey Chocolate Bundt Cake? it’s so pretty! I love it!
I LOVE that pan too! My favorite! I got mine at Williams and Sonoma–for a while I think it was an exclusive, but I feel like maybe I have seen others since.
I have to go to Williams and Sonoma and get that pan. Your bundts are both gorgeous! It’s funny that until recently I didn’t realize people could have such a strong aversion to bananas. ;)I think you nailed it for this fun holiday. thanks for baking with us, Laura:)