LEMON BUNDT CAKE

A bundt cake is a dessert cake that is baked in a bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive ridged ring. The d in "bundt" is assimilated into the t. The term is used chiefly in North America - Wikipedia.

The thing I love about this cake is that it is deceptively simple, its lemon flavour shouts with joy. Its fluffy and yet slightly damp the centre.

This was my first attempt. Recipe adapted from Tracy's Culinary Adventure with a little tweak on the glaze. I made caramel sauce with ginger slice topping.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups (12 oz) cake flour
2 cups (14 oz) sugar
1/4 cup lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
3 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 F with a rack in the lower third.  Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour (or grease with butter and lightly coat with flour).

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the zest.  Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant.  Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl containing the sugar/zest mixture and whisk to combine everything.  In a large measuring cup, whisk the milk, egg yolks, oil, butter and vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar then increase the speed to medium-high.   With the mixer running, add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, a little at a time, and continue beating until the whites are shiny and form stiff peaks.

Add the milk mixture and lemon juice to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.   Add one third of the egg whites to the bowl and stir to combine (to lighten the batter) then add the remaining egg whites and gently fold to incorporate (try not to deflate the whites).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.   Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.

To make Caramel Sauce - Adapted from Simply Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

1 First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted

Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Add ginger slice. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour on top of bundt cake.

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Dah lama beli acuan bundi ni tapi tidak pernah buat sekali pun kerana tidak ada resipi yang sesuai. Baru-baru ini blogwalking terserempak dengan resipi Lemon Bundt dari Tracy Culinary Adventure, nampak menarik saya terus cuba. Tracey menggunakan lemon glaze untuk keknya tetapi saya menggunakan caramel sauce with ginger slice glaze. Sedap rasanya manis-manis panas rasa halia dan karamel.

Next Post - Tuesday - Buka Puasa Menu

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