Mulled Cider Bundt Cake

It was my daddy's birthday this week. He's the only person I know who could out-cake me, if push came to shove. Saying that, I have two sets of cake eating genes, as my grandad on my mum's side is a world class cake eater too. To celebrate our John's birthday, I always make a cake; something warming, without it being too 'spicy'. I should note here that my dad thinks pepper is spicy. Hold the ginger. 

Earlier that week I'd been daydreaming about what to make. I'd convinced myself that the day had come where I had genuinely run out of ideas. After a brief mental brainstorming session, I decided it just had to be mulled cider. It's so 'Autumn/Winter Collection' I could burst. Baked on National Bundt Day, it had to be the Golden Crown bundt tin to celebrate Nordic Ware turning 70.

For the past couple of weeks I have been on the Body Coach plan, which involves lots of muscle building food, which is rigidly prescribed. Baking this cake nearly killed me dead. The aroma in our house was off the scale! If I could bottle it I'd make my fortune, and my friend Vicki would be bankrupt. Nothing beats a spicy bundt baking long and low.

My dad absolutely loved it, and promptly sent a slab to my grandad for testing!

Cake:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 350g Homepride plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 250ml Toffee Apple yoghurt - I used Onken. Vanilla will do if you can't find it.
• 100ml good old fashioned cider - the strong stuff! Save the rest for the icing.

Topping:

• 300g icing sugar
• More cider 
• Crystallised apple
• Gold cake glitter (optional)

Method:

My dad with his cake

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with melted butter 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. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
6. Pour the yoghurt into a jug, and add the cider and vanilla extract.
7. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
8. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
9. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
10. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
11. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
12. When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with enough cider to make a very runny icing. You want it to be quite sheer on the cake.
13. Tip it over your cake and let it drip down the cake. 
14. Decorate with chunks of crystallised apple and a little gold glitter if you're feeling fancy. I was.  

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.