Warming Cider Bundt Cake

Inspired by all the 'Fall' celebrations in America a few weeks ago, I decided to make a warm, spicy cider bundt cake. It also gave me an excuse to use one of my new tins I picked up in San Francisco! I like to use pear cider in cakes, but I wanted a sweet, toffee apple flavour for this one. I used a sweet apple cider and lots of my favourite spices to make this into a fabulously moist, flavoursome cake. It has a really firm sugary bottom that crunches when cut - don't worry! It isn't burnt, it tastes devine. It's because of the high sugar content. This is a contender for one of my favourite bundt recipes ever...

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter
• 100g of vegetable fat 
• 650g golden caster sugar
• 6 medium eggs
• 450g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 250ml apple/pear cider

Method

1. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch).
2. Soften the butter and vegetable fat and then cream in the sugar in stages.
3. Add the eggs one at a time on a slow setting.
4. Add all the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl.
5. Add the lemon extract to the cider.
6. Sift in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the liquid. Repeat until all the flour and liquid is used up. Fold it in gently...
7. Tip: at this stage it will look a bit like a dog's dinner. Don't panic! The fizz in the cider makes it look really curdled. It's not!
8. Give the whole thing a quick mix for about 10 seconds or until well combined. It will no longer look curdled.
9. Spoon the mix into the prepared tin and give it a good whack on the worktop. Because the cake has fizzy stuff in, it will hold a lot of air bubbles. Too many may mean the tin design is lost.
10. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about 2 hours. Yes, really. Just turn it after about an hour and a half.
11. It should be shrinking from the sides and a skewer should come out clean.
12. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn it out. 
13. Allow to cool fully before dusting with a little icing sugar mixed with cinnamon. 

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