Apple and Bourbon Bundt Cake

So still on a birthday vibe, New Year's Eve is Paddy's birthday, so you guessed it, it means a bundt! My brief was 'something I can have with custard'. He loved the Apple Pie Bundt I did at Easter, and asked for something of a similar ilk. I never make the same cake twice, so I was always going to come up with something new. Then came the wonderful moment of realisation, that I had a nice bottle of apple bourbon. Yes lad. 

Seeing as his birthday is on New Year's Eve, this had to be something suitably glitzy and party-worthy too. The obvious choice is to lace it with booze, but I also chose to make it in the elegant Crown Bundt tin, and cover it with all things glam; simple glacé icing topped with demerara sugar and a dusting of glitter. Job done with the ultimate simplicity. 

The taste of the bourbon really infuses the cake, but the sweet fruit takes any harshness away. Slices of apple soaked in bourbon and cinnamon make this cake ridiculously moist, but it's still firm enough to keep its shape in the tin beautifully. We did indeed eat ours with warm vanilla custard, just after midnight. Thankfully, no-one turned into a pumpkin, and I came home with both shoes. 

Ingredients:

Apples:

• 1 medium Bramley apple
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp Apple Bourbon (standard will do)

Cake:

• 225g butter
• 400g golden caster sugar (plus a little more for dusting the apples later)
• 50g dark muscovado sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 350g plain flour
• 3 tsp cinnamon (plus a little more for dusting the apples later)
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250ml toffee apple yoghurt (I used Yeo Valley) - Muller do a toffee one too. 
• 2 tbsp apple sauce
• 4 tbsp Apple Bourbon 

Topping:

• 300g icing sugar
• More bourbon
• Demerara sugar to sprinkle
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Gold glitter (optional)

Method:

1. At least an hiour before baking, peel the apple and cut into thin slices. 
2. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and bourbon together, and pour over the apples. 
3. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
4. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
5. Cream the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
7. Add the extract.
8. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sultanas.
9. Pour the yoghurt into a jug and add the apple sauce and bourbon.
10. Sift a third of the flour mix into the main bowl, followed by half the yoghurt mix. Repeat this until everything is combined.
11. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
12. Pour 3/4 of the mix into your prepared tin. 
13. Poke your apples in, in a clock formation - see pic.
14. Cover with the rest of the mix.
15. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
16. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
17. To make the topping, mix the icing sugar with enough bourbon to make a runny icing. You can use a bit of water here if you don't want it too boozy!
18. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and dust with gold glitter. 
19. Grate over some fresh nutmeg, and you're ready for the ball!

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.

Single Malt and Orange Bundt Cake

In my world, birthdays mean cake. You've seen me in action on this front before. This one was properly covert, and not a word was said about it beforehand. My homie Phil's birthday is on Christmas Eve; a time where you naturally find yourself short of sugary goods about the house... Ah well... I couldn't let the occasion pass without his own bespoke bundt.

I wanted something 'of the season', but with a grown up twist. I had some really nice single malt whisky lying dormant, and had clapped eyes on an orange version of those lovely Lindor chocolate balls. Yes, an idea was born.

Unfortunately, he had to keep this one away from his nephews for fear of social services getting involved, as I put so much booze in it that I was likely to have given a positive breath test from just sniffing the icing. Felt a bit tight...

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
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 250ml plain low fat yoghurt 
• Zest of one orange
• 100ml decent whisky

Topping:

• 300g icing sugar
• More whisky 
• Juice of 1 orange
• Lindor chocolate orange balls
• Gold cake glitter (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 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 ginger.
6. Pour the yoghurt into a jug, and add the whisky, vanilla extract and orange zest.
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, add the orange juice to the icing sugar, and mix with enough whisky to make a runny icing. You can use a bit of water if you like.
13. Tip it over your cake and let it drip down. 
14. Decorate with Lindor chocolate orange balls and a smattering of gold glitter if it pleases you.  

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.