Valentine's Bubbly Bundt

Love is in the air! Whether it be for that special someone or just your love of cake, this one's a winner either way!

Last February I made my Achy Cakey Heart cake which has been published in the new Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook! (This is published on 14th February... how apt...) I adore this heart shaped tin so didn't need much of an excuse to whip it out again! Last year's cake was all about the glitz and glam, whereas this year's affair is slightly more refined.

I have developed a bit of a love affair with Prosecco of late. I blame this on our recent trip to El Celler de Can Roca and my friend Vicki. She tells me she buys this stuff by the case. Lush. It's not quite as tart as your usual champers, but please feel free to use either for this recipe. You could even use lemonade if you so wished!

Because this cake uses the bubbly stuff, it makes a frivolously fluffy cake fit for any posh soiree or romantic night in. Soft as feathers. Please don't feel that you can only use this for Valentine's Day either. It's too nice to keep to just once a year. Mine will probably end up with my pack of tame testers at work!

I used Booth's Prosecco which has beautiful baked apple undertones, so I complimented this with some apple juice and frosting. Sparkling wines are the perfect apéritif, so in theory it's the ideal cake to have before and after a meal! Perfect...

I finished my cake off with a little whimsical flowing icing and a smattering of pretty hearts... These cupcake decorations are available from Just Bake for a bargainous price of £2 per bag.

Ingredients
For the cake:

• 225g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 110g vegetable fat like Trex or Cookeen
• 650g golden caster sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 460g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
• 200ml Prosecco, Champagne, Cava or any other sparkling stuff (elderflower is nice too...)
• 50ml good quality apple juice.

For the topping:

• Icing sugar
• 3 tbsp apple juice
• Pretty sprinkles

Method
For the cake:

1. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch). I used my pretty heart tin but a plain one would do the trick.
2. Soften the butter and vegetable fat together, then cream in the sugar in stages.
3. Add the eggs one at a time on a slow setting so it doesn't curdle - if it does, add a table spoon of the flour. This will look quite voluminous! 
4. Mix in the vanilla paste.
5. Add all the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl.
6. Measure the bubbly and apple juice in a jug. 
7. 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... It's going to look a little curdled. This is just the fizz being a bugger.
8. Give the whole thing a quick mix for about 10 seconds or until well combined. It no longer looks curdled! Magic.
9. Spoon the mix into the prepared tin.
10. TIP: If you are using a decorative pan like mine, spoon it in in stages to avoid air bubbles.
11. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about an hour and 30 minutes. 
12. It should be shrinking from the sides and a skewer should come out clean. If it doesn't look like this - back in for a bit longer.
13. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.
14. Once cool, either dredge with icing sugar or cover in glace icing with a few pretty sprinkles - see below...

For the topping:

• Fill a medium sized bowl (cereal sized) with icing sugar. I don't give exact measurements here as it's not an exact science! 
• Add enough apple juice to make a thick yet runny icing.
• If it's very thick, add a few drops of apple juice at a time to thin it out.
• If it's very runny, add icing sugar until its the right consistency.
• Pour over the entire cake and leave it to run down naturally.
• Whilst the icing is running willy nilly, sprinkle with a few edible cake decorations. Less is more...

Serve with bubbly...

Disclaimer: Jo at Just Bake was kind enough to send me a sample of heart sprinkles for me to use on this cake. I was given a bottle of Booth's Prosecco as part of my involvement with #BoothsCheersItalian. However, I had planned the recipe beforehand. 

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page. 

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