'All Things Nice' Bundt Cake

'Sugar and spice and all things nice...' that's what a tasty cake is made of.

Ooh shiny... This month's cake club theme was 'My Hero', so I decided to tip my hat to Nordic Ware's founder, David Dalquist. Inventor David and his wife Dotty founded Nordic Ware in 1946, and within a few years were manufacturing bundt pans. I wonder what he would have made of a bundt addict from Bolton making a cake in his honour?

I've been waiting for a special cake to give my American Star tin its maiden voyage, and this seemed perfect. I think this may be one of my new favourite tins already! And as for flavour, well then it had to be a take on the traditional American spiced pound cake. This is one of my favourite flavours - a warming cocktail of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. I really didn't want to lose any of the pretty detail on the tin either, so chose to use a simple glaze with a few sugar pearls round the rim.

Dried fruit works a treat with this recipe too. If you're a fan you could add whatever you fancy really. I used 150g of plump sultanas and 50g of dried apricots in one I made earlier in the week. Delicious!

 Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• A few drops of sweet orange extract (optional)
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tsp ground ginger
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 250ml vanilla yoghurt
• 200g dried fruit (optional) 
• 6 tbsp apricot jam
• Sugar pearls (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the vanilla and lemon extracts.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices. Stir in the dried fruit if you are using it.
7. Pour the yoghurt into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. The fruit will be trapped in your sieve but covered in flour - this helps to stop it from sinking.
9. Stir the fruit into the cake mix.
10. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
11. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
12. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
14. When completely cool, warm the apricot jam and paint over the cake. Sprinkle with sugar pearls in a fancy fashion if you so wish.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic 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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