Spice Bundt Cake
This weekend is a riff on the Chai Bundt Cake (from Donna Hay’s Modern Baking, and online here). I adjusted a few things: swapped pastry flour (and baking powder and salt) for the suggested self-rising flour, used coconut milk instead of milk, upped the salt & spices (as always), added a coconut icing. And it was delicious! Recipes are a funny thing – very few truly new things are out there to be written, we're all adding on and adapting the foods that have come before. Sometimes those changes are significant and sometimes subtle. For this cake, I only adjusted a few simple things but the coconut milk especially feels like a major upgrade. Read more if you’d like in the newsletter here!
This is originally based on a chai spiced bundt cake recipe, with chai tea and spices. But you can also do an earl grey version - perhaps with orange zest, coriander, and maybe even a bit of lavender to replace the spices. Or try your favorite black tea and a single spice, like ginger or cinnamon!
Directions:
Melt 9 oz butter and set aside. Brew some Chai or other black, spiced tea.
In large bowl, whisk together: the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, spices.
Pour in the melted butter, brewed tea, and the coconut milk. Whisk in the 2 eggs and vanilla.
Prepare a 9” bundt cake pan by greasing and dusting with flour. Pour in the cake batter
Bake in a pre-heated 350' oven for 30-50 minutes or until done. (Check at 25 minutes and rotate, but will likely take 40-55 minutes to be completely baked.)
Let cool for 10 minutes and then go around the edges of the cake with an offset spatula and flip cake out while still slightly warm. Let cool before icing. Or not, it’s your cake and it’s delicious warm with the icing melting right in. ;)
*Icing:
In a small bowl, whisk together leftover coconut milk, a pinch of salt, additional spices or vanilla if desired, and a couple tablespoons of the brewed tea. Sift in and whisk together with powdered sugar until it’s the thickness & sweetness you prefer!
If you like a thicker icing, before you add the powdered sugar, smash in 2-3 tablespoons of soft butter to the coconut milk mixture until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and then chill.
Ingredient list & notes:
9 oz butter, melted (2 sticks + 2 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoon strongly brewed tea (*plus extra for the icing)
1 ½ cup sugar
2 ½ cups flour - cake flour, pastry or all-purpose is great
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt (coarse kosher)
3 tsp ground spices - I like 1 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp each coriander, cinnamon, ginger, 1/4 tsp each black pepper, cloves. *plus extra for icing, if desired.
1 ½ cups coconut milk (not quite one whole can; *save the extra to make the icing)
4 eggs - room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
*1-2+ cups powdered sugar for icing