Mistletoe and Wine Bundt Cake

Before we get going, no, I am not a fan of Cliff. Quite the opposite in fact! This was a cakey challenge by my friend Anna. I saw her challenge, and raised her Mistletoe and Wine cake with a gilded framed picture of Sir Cliff himself. I was sick of standard Christmas cake toppers; who needs another plastic Santa hey?

This cake is actually Prosecco flavoured, and I kept the mistletoe to the decoration, seeing as it's highly poisonous. That would be a proper festive ruiner! I added a bit of ginger to warm things up, and covered the whole thing in white chocolate. I even added a little yuletide green ribbon to the inside of the cake; a nice little trick which will make folk think you're really clever, when actually it's very easy.

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter
• 100g of vegetable fat 
• 550g golden caster sugar
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 6 medium eggs
• 450g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 250ml Prosecco (or lemonade)
• Green food colouring gel
• 1 jar of white chocolate spread
• Choice of decorations. I used Lindor white chocolate balls, mistletoe tinsel, a mistletoe tree decoration, a smattering of green glitter, and Cliff Richard in a gold frame. Obviously. (Cliff in a frame optional).

Method

1. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch). I used the Nordic Ware Kugelhopf.
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 vanilla extract to the Prosecco.
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 shocking festive mess. Do not worry... 
8. Give the whole thing a quick mix for about 10 seconds or until well combined. Magic.
9. Put five 5 heaped tablespoons of the mix into a different bowl, and dye green, 
10. Half fill the tin with the standard coloured mix.
11. Spoon your green mix over the top and smooth out.
12. Cover with the remaining standard mix. 
13. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about an hour and a half. Just turn it after about an hour.
14. It should be shrinking from the sides and a skewer should come out clean.
15. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn it out. 
16. Allow to cool fully before icing. 
17. Warm the chocolate spread in the microwave until it's runny, then pour over the cake. 
18. Decorate with Mistletoe decorations, but not the real stuff - it's not your friend! 

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.