bundt

old-fashioned marble cake #bundtbakers

Are y’all ready for a very special holiday edition of #bundtbakers?

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

My mom recently renovated and moved into a new house, and a while she was unpacking she asked me if I wanted any of her old cookbooks. She was trying to downsize but the only one I asked for was a well worn book from the 1940s called “The Modern Family Cookbook” by Meta Given. She’d actually had it for so long that she couldn’t even remember where’d she’d gotten it, but thinks it was probably her Grandmother’s.

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

As soon as I got it home I started pouring over the recipes and wondering about all the funny old fashioned foods that no one eats anymore. It’s just filled with all kinds of things that I honestly can’t wait to try.

As you can probably imagine, I was most interested in the desserts. Surprise!

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

While flipping through the cakes section I came across a recipe that I instantly knew I needed to try. It was actually the caption under the title that really caught my eye.
“Old-Fashioned Marble Cake always has its dark part darkened with molasses and spices, because that’s the way Grandma used to make it.”

I’d never heard of a marble cake darkened with molasses. Have you?

In my mind marble cakes are always a mix of chocolate and vanilla, and to be honest, I’ve never really been a huge fan. I love chocolate and I love vanilla, but I prefer them as separate flavors. I feel like they sort of get lost in each other, and bring each other down rather than elevating one another when marbled together. But molasses and spice? Now that I could get into!

This version just sounded so terribly interesting, not to mention delicious!  I’ve always been fascinated by food history, and I just couldn’t resist the idea of making a recipe for a marble cake that pre-dates the one we all know today.

old fashioned marble cake | before chocolate, marble cake was darkened with molasses and spice | Brooklyn Homemaker

I find the very idea that the marble cake has evolved from one flavor profile to another completely intriguing. This got me to thinking about how and why this could have happened in the first place.

“Old-Fashioned Marble Cake always has its dark part darkened with molasses and spices, because that’s the way Grandma used to make it.” I soon realized that if this recipe was published in 1942, and it was the author’s grandmother’s recipe, then the recipe itself was probably from the late 1800s. Then it dawned on me that at that time in history cocoa and vanilla were rare, exotic, and expensive ingredients that many bakers just didn’t have access to. Molasses and spice were easy enough to find, so I’m sure that’s why they were used first.

Maybe it’s just the food nerd in me, but I find all this stuff to be so much fun and I just couldn’t wait to share this recipe and the story behind it with the bundt bakers!

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

I almost went ahead with this recipe back when I first saw it, but ultimately decided that I should wait until the holidays because it sounded so similar in flavor to gingerbread (just without the ginger). I was a little worried that I’d wait all that time and then my cake wouldn’t fit with the bundt bakers theme for December, but I decided I’d cross that river when I came to it.

Lucky for me, Liv of Liv for Cake played right into my hand and chose “naughty or nice” as the theme this month. How perfect is that? Richly spiced cake with dark, earthy molasses juxtaposed against an ethereal light and airy white cake. Naughty AND nice mixed and marbled together into one perfect holiday cake. Please make sure to scroll down past the recipe and check out all the other naught and nice cakes this month!

The original recipe didn’t call for a glaze but just said, “Frost if desired, but no frosting is required.” I thought I may as well go ahead and drive the naughty point home with a nice boozy rum glaze.

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

This cake lends itself perfectly to being baked as a bundt. The original recipe said to bake it in a tube pan like an angel food cake, but only because the bundt pan hadn’t yet been invented! They didn’t hit the scene until the 1950s.

I followed the recipe almost exactly, but did decide to add just a touch of vanilla to the white cake part. The original recipe didn’t call for it because it wasn’t readily available or affordable when it was developed, but now that it is available and affordable I saw no reason to leave it out. I’m sure it’d still be great without it, but thought it would really add a nice boost of flavor to the white cake.

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

It was sort of a a funny exercise rewriting a 70 year old cake recipe. The first paragraph was just about triple sifting the flour before measuring because flour back then didn’t come pre-sifted. The recipe was also sort of vague and inexact in some places, because most housewives back then already knew how to follow a recipe. It actually said to “bake in a slow oven for about an hour”.

I tried my best to update it and make it easier for the modern baker to follow. If the finished cake was any indication, I think I did a pretty good job.

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

I’m so glad to have the opportunity to revive a recipe that’s probably over a century old, and even more glad that it came out so absolutely wonderful! The cake is super light and tender, with a healthy dose of rich earthy molasses and a lovely bit of spice from the cinnamon and clove. When I first read the recipe I worried that the clove might be a bit overpowering, but I worried for nothing and wouldn’t change a thing. It tastes and smells just like the holidays, but if you want it to taste even more like gingerbread, you could easily add two or three teaspoons of ground ginger.

Ginger or no, this recipe is as fun and festive a holiday cake as you could ask for.

The rum glaze really adds another level of holiday cheer too, but if you’d prefer to keep this cake kiddo safe though, feel free to skip the rum and use an equal amount of milk instead.

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

Old-Fashioned Marble Cake

Adapted from Meta Given’s 1942 Modern Family Cookbook

Light Part: 
2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Dark Part:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons cloves
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 tablespoons molasses
3/4 cup buttermilk

Rum Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon dark rum
1 1/2 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 325F. Generously butter and flour a 10 to 12 cup bundt pan and tap out excess flour. Refrigerate pan.

Light Part:
Measure flour, baking powder, and salt for the light part into a bowl and whisk together until evenly distributed. Beat egg whites until they reach stiff (but not dry) peaks in the bowl of an electric mixer. Gradually mix in 1/4 cup of the sugar. Transfer to a small bowl and cover while you proceed.

In the same mixer bowl, cream butter and blend thoroughly with remaining 1/2 cup of the sugar. In a separate bowl (or measuring cup) mix buttermilk with vanilla. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to butter, beginning and ending with flour and beating well after each addition. Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter being careful not to overmix or deflate the whites. Transfer batter to another bowl and cover while you proceed.

Dark Part: 
Measure flour, soda, salt and spices for the dark part into a bowl and whisk together until evenly distributed. In the mixer bowl, cream butter until soft and smooth; add brown sugar and cream together thoroughly. Add beaten egg yolks and molasses, and beat until fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour and beating until smooth after each addition.

Drop alternating large spoonfuls of dark and light batter into the pan until all batter is used. Use a dull knife to make a swirled pattern in the batter for a marbled effect.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly with fingertips. Place on a cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes to cool before inverting to remove cake and cool completely.

To make the glaze whisk the sugar, rum, & milk together in a small bowl until lump free. If too thick, add a drop or two of milk until you reach the desired texture. If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Drizzle glaze over completely cooled cake. Cake should keep, well covered and air tight at room temperature, for up to 3 days.

old fashioned marble cake | this heritage marble cake recipe is darkened with molasses and spice rather than chocolate | Brooklyn Homemaker

This month is filled with enough naughty and nice to make Santa’s head spin! Even the naughty cakes though, are plenty nice. I wish I could try each and every one!

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BundtBakers

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#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving Bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest Board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.

Happy holidays y’all!

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze #bundtbakers

The first time I ever tried Earl Grey tea I was pretty sure it was one of the most disgusting things I’d ever tasted.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

I was waiting tables at a high end restaurant in Ithaca, NY, and the owners took coffee and tea very seriously. They also owned a coffee shop in College Town, so their passion for quality teas translated into their restaurants. We had some fancy imported loose leaf teas that we would bag up and steep to order, and one day I decided to forego my usual latte to see what all the fuss was about.

Earl Grey is very floral, almost perfume-y, and my unrefined pallet didn’t quite know what to make of it. To me, that first sip tasted a bit like soap, or like drinking perfume straight from the bottle. I may have even done a cartoon style spit-take right there in the kitchen, next to the espresso machine. In my defense, at the time I wasn’t really a tea drinker, and besides the occasional glass of iced tea I was strictly a coffee man. I went right back to my latte and didn’t try Earl Grey again for a good long while.

A few years later I started opening up to hot tea, and eventually, I gave the Earl another shot. These days I totally love it and always keep a big jar of loose leaf Earl Grey on the shelf (although I still take it with honey and lots of milk, never black).

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

Given my newfound love for it, I’ve been wanting to bake with Earl Grey for a long while but the inspiration just hasn’t come to me. I’ve been playing with the idea of making some cute little financiers or tea cakes (get it? Tea flavored tea cakes?) but I just never got around to it. The idea would come back to me every once in a while, but I’d just keep putting it off and waiting for the right moment.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

Enter the #bundtbakers.

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted a bundt recipe in a couple months, basically since confessing that I wanted to take some time to focus on my health. I’ve actually been doing really well and finally feel like I deserve to let myself eat the occasional slice of cake again. Even if I weren’t feeling better I don’t think I could have stayed away from my bundt baking buddies much longer anyway!

When I saw that Laura from Baking in Pyjamas had chosen “Beverages” as the bundt theme for October, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to get back to my bundt baking roots. I’m so so happy to be back, and all these beautiful beverage-y bundts are making me thirsty hungry!

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

Another reason I wanted to get back into bundt baking is this new pan I just got!

I know I’ve gushed about Nordic Ware bundt pans before, but get ready, here I go again. Their line of cast aluminum pans are sturdy enough that they don’t bend or warp, and just thick enough that they bake super evenly with no irregular browning. They’re super non-stick too, and even though I do always butter and flour my pans before baking anyway, I can honestly say that I’ve never once had a cake stick, even when using super sticky ingredients like marshmallows or caramel. The one time I tried using a different pan though, this happened… They’re also built to last, and even with all the bundt baking I do, all of my pans are just as wonderful and just as non-stick as they were the day I bought them. If all that isn’t enough, their pans are also made right here in the good ol’ US of A.

Nordic Ware bundt pans are also available in a huge selection of beautiful designs and styles, a few of which you’ve already seen here. Their latest pan, the bundt squared, is really fun and I’m so excited to have one of my own! The square shape puts a sort of modern twist on an elegant classic design, and I just love it. I have to admit though, that one of my coworker’s mind was completely blown by the square shape. I posted a preview of this cake on instagram a few weeks ago and she texted me the minute she saw it. “A SQUARE BUNDT????! Is nothing sacred?” Even after getting to taste test the cake, she kept bringing it up. “This cake is really good, but a square bundt pan?”

So, I guess this square shape might not be for the traditionalists among you… Hahaha!
But guess what? Nordic Ware invented the bundt pan, so as far as I’m concerned they can do no wrong.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

With the theme and the shape decided on, my next step was to figure out how to get that distinctive Earl Grey tea flavor into my cake. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of just grinding the tea leaves up and putting them directly into the batter, because I wasn’t confident that the flavor would really come through that way. I was also worried that the ground tea leaves wouldn’t soften up enough in baking, and feared that people would be eating a cake with a sandy texture and a bland flavor.

My first thought was to infuse the tea leaves in buttermilk like I did for last year’s hibiscus lime bundt cake, but while wasting too much time on pinterest one day I came across another idea. To my surprise (and relief) there was an entire blog post about baking with tea! I gotta tell you, their solution is absolutely genius, and I never would have thought of it myself.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

To extract as much bold tea flavor as possible, they recommend infusing your tea leaves in butter! I cannot sing enough praises for this method. This cake tastes EXACTLY like a warm cup of Earl Grey tea.

This method uses up a lot of tea leaves though, and you want to try to use the freshest, highest quality loose tea that you can find to get the best possible flavor. You’ll also need to use more butter than you think you will, as the leaves will absorb some and you won’t be able to squeeze it all back out. To get 1 cup of butter for my cake I ended up using two and a half sticks of butter and a whole cup of tea leaves.

I was expecting the butter to take on a dark brown tea color, but to my surprise after infusing it the butter took on an olive green tint. In fact, the melted liquid butter really just looked like a dark unfiltered olive oil. You may have noticed the green butter in the photo at the top of the post.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

For a little extra Earl Grey oomph, I also added just a touch of bergamot oil. If you’re not familiar, the bergamot orange is the citrus fruit that gives Earl Grey tea it’s distinctive floral scent and flavor. Fresh Bergamot oranges, and even bergamot oil for that matter, can be a little difficult to find, so feel free to leave it out if need be. The infused butter definitely imparts loads of fresh tea flavor, I promise.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

I knew before this cake even went into the oven that it was a winner. A stray smudge of batter licked off my finger tasted exactly like a milky, honey sweetened cup of tea. While it was baking away in the oven, my entire apartment smelled like a warm Earl Grey hug. Don’t tell anyone but I may have even put my nose right down into the center of the cake after I turned it out onto the cooling rack.

Not only does this cake have amazing flavor, but thanks to a bit of oil, it’s also super moist with an incredibly tender crumb. To top it all off and drive home the cup of tea theme, I made a simple milk and honey glaze. I happened to only have buckwheat honey on hand, which is why the glaze came out the color of milky tea. It was not intentional I swear!

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

Earl Grey Bundt Cake with Milk and Honey Glaze

2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1.5 oz (about 1 cup) loose leaf Earl Grey tea (best quality possible)
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon bergamot oil (optional) *see note
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk, at room
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Milk and honey glaze:
2 tablespoons honey (buckwheat honey adds flavor and color, but any honey will work)
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Make tea infused butter:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. Once fully melted turn the heat down to low and add the tea leaves. Stir and heat over low for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 5 to 10 minutes more.

Place a small fine mesh strainer over a measuring cup and strain the butter. Press the tea leaves with a spatula or spoon to squeeze as much butter out as possible. You want to measure out exactly one cup of butter. If necessary add enough additional butter to make 1 cup. Discard tea leaves and refrigerate butter until completely firm.

Once firm let butter soften at room temperature for at least an hour before baking. Cold butter can be made several days ahead if kept refrigerated in a well sealed air tight container.

Make the cake: 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter and flour a 10-12 cup bundt pan.

With the paddle attachment in an electric mixer, cream 1 cup of softened tea infused butter with sugar for about 5 minutes, or until very light and fluffy. Add oil, honey, and bergamot oil and mix until well combined. On low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, until just combined.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl (or measuring cup), combine the buttermilk and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into prepared pan and tap on the counter to even the batter and remove air bubbles. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool for an hour or more before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Make the milk and honey glaze: 
To make the glaze combine honey, 1 tablespoon milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Whisk in confectioner’s sugar and continue to whisk until combined and free of lumps. If too thick, you can add a few more drops (up to an additional tablespoon) of milk to thin it for easy pouring. Pour over the top of the completely cooled cake and serve.

Cake should keep, well sealed in an air tight container, for 3 to 4 days at a cool room temperature.

*note:
Different brands of bergamot oil can have different potencies, so start with no more than 1/4 teaspoon, and taste the batter before baking and see if you might enjoy a few drops more. If you can find it, the zest of fresh bergamot orange would be even better. Start with about a teaspoon of zest and taste to see if you’d like more.

earl grey bundt cake with milk and honey glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

There are so many absolutely delicious bundts this month! Please take a moment to check them out!

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BundtBakers

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#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving Bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundtsby following our Pinterest Board.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.

rocky road bundt cake #bundtbakers

Guess what time it is…
It’s bundt time y’all. That’s right.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

This is actually my #bundtbakers anniversary. My bundtiversary? No, I won’t do that to you.

Anyway, this time exactly one year ago I had just joined the #bundtbakers and published my very first post as part of the group. The theme that month was “breakfast” and I whipped up a crazy amazing maple bacon bundt cake with an even crazier amazinger bacon pecan streusel swirl.

Finding the bundt bakers was the beginning of something truly magical, and I like to think I’ve come up with some really special, really creative bundt cakes along the way. I’ve also watched the group grow and change over the months and I couldn’t be happier to have found such a special bunch of bundt lovers.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

This month our host, Laura of Baking in Pyjamas, chose Rocky Road as our theme. Can it get any better than that? I mean, chocolate, nuts, marshmallows… What more could you want?

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

But then I noticed something in the theme’s description that seemed, to me at least, to be out of place. The list of ingredients for traditional Rocky Road contained, “marshmallows, chocolate, biscuits (cookies in US English), & dried fruits.”

Wait.
What?
I’ve never had anything called Rocky Road that contained either cookies or dried fruit. And what happened to the nuts?

As it turns out, Rocky Road means different things in different countries. In Laura’s home country of England, Rocky Road traditionally includes the ingredients listed above.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

As you may or may not already know, American Rocky Road is usually an ice cream flavor containing chocolate, marshmallows, & nuts. In England, it’s a dessert usually eaten in small individual cupcake or brownie sized portions. After a little research I found out that Australia also has their own version that also contains coconut, glacé cherries, and turkish delight.

Who knew?
(certainly not me.)

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

After learning about all the different variations on Rocky Road, I asked Laura if it’d be okay if we expanded the theme to also include the American and Australian versions.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

After some significant consideration and much hemming and hawing over which variation to go with, I decided that the American version was the most familiar and sounded the most appealing to me. I came really close to trying to marry the English and American versions by adding cookies but skipping the dried fruit, but then I couldn’t decide what kind of cookie to use so I just scrapped the idea and decided to keep it simple and traditional.

I find the creativity of the group and the wide range of flavors and variations on this theme incredibly inspiring, not to mention mouth watering. You really need to scroll down past the recipe and see what everyone came up with this month. Before you do though, you’ll probably want to grab a towel to wipe up all the drool.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

My original idea for this cake was to add miniature marshmallows to the batter and bake them right into the cake, but they didn’t cooperate. The marshmallows floated to the top of the batter and melted into a sticky mess when baked so I had to rework my recipe. I decided to put the marshmallows on top of the cake in the form of a glaze instead.

In the end, this cake was a real winner. I brought it in to work and my coworkers haven’t stopped talking about it yet.

As if the super moist, super flavorful chocolate cake base for this bundt weren’t perfect enough, it gets a melty chocolate boost in the form of mini chocolate chips mixed into the batter. Thinly sliced toasted almonds and a touch of almond extract go in too, and take things to an even more amazing level of deliciousness. Just when you though it couldn’t get any better, a sweet gooey marshmallow glaze gets poured over the top and even more chocolate chips and almonds get sprinkled over that.

Insanity.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

Rocky Road Bundt Cake with Marshmallow Glaze

adapted from Joy the Baker

For the Cake:
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder (plus more for pan)
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup peanut oil or any neutral vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Marshmallow Glaze:
1 1⁄2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups mini marshmallows

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Liberally butter a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan and dust with a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to evenly coat the inside. Tap out excess cocoa and refrigerate pan until ready to use.

Whisk water and cocoa powder in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and let come to room temperature.

Spread sliced almonds in an even layer on a small cookie sheet and toast at 350 for about 8 minutes or until they smell like nutty heaven on earth. Be careful that they don’t burn or they’ll become bitter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs and egg yolk on low for just one minute. Add the buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix on low again for another minute.
Add the flour and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes more.  Add the cooled cocoa mixture and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. The batter will seem quite loose and liquid. Reserve 2 tablespoons each of the sliced almonds and mini chocolate chips and set aside for the topping. Stir the rest into the cake batter until well distributed. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 55-65, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan and then invert onto a cooling rack.

To make the marshmallow glaze, mix sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Melt the butter along with 2 tablespoons of water in a nonstick sauce pan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and immediately add in marshmallows and stir until completely melted, about 1–2 minutes. Whisk into sugar mixture until free of lumps.
Pour glaze evenly over the top of the cooled bundt and sprinkle with your reserved toasted sliced almonds and mini chocolate chips.

Cake should keep, well wrapped in an air tight container, for about 3 days. If refrigerating, let come to room temperature before serving.

rocky road bundt cake with marshmallow glaze | Brooklyn Homemaker

The bundt bakers really knocked it out of the park this month. Get ready to drool and check out all of these amazing bundts!

BundtBakers
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#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the BundtBaker home page here.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl #bundtbakers

I’m sorry, but I really hate the phrase, “made it by the skin of my teeth”

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

A) Seriously, how gross is that?
B) What the heck does that even mean? Teeth don’t have skin.
Unless we’re talking about gums here, in which case, that’s even weirder/grosser/more nonsensical.

Anyway, even though I don’t like or understand that saying, in this case it’s true. I made it. Just in the nick of time.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

If you’ve been paying attention, you already know that my oven has been broken (along with my heart). My landlord, in tandem with Brooklyn’s slowest appliance repair company, have been taking their sweeeeeeet time fixing it.

As difficult as going oven-less has been for me, my biggest concern through this whole agonizing experience has been that I might not be able to bake along with the bundt bakers this month. It may have been painful to have cookies taken off the menu and chicken taken out of the oven and put on the back burner (literally), but DO NOT mess with my bundts. I’ve baked a bundt cake each and every month since I found this rag-tag (though truly well organized) team of bakers, and having to bow out because of an ancient apartment oven and a foot-dragging repairman was seriously bumming me out.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

Luckily the repair man pulled through at the eleventh hour. On Monday he came through with the backordered fuse in hand and within an hour my baby was back in working order. I was at work at the time, but Russell was filling me in from home and once the oven was purring again we were sending jubilant texts back and forth for the rest of the day. I was like a giddy school girl. 16 days with no oven can do that to a guy.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

With no time to spare, I assembled the ingredients for my cake and set to work. The lovely Anshie of Spice Roots is our group’s host this month, and she chose “Hidden Surprise” as our theme (which is appropriate, because my ability to even make this cake was a total surprise!).
The idea was to bake a cake with a filling or ingredient inside that isn’t visible until it’s sliced. From the outside it looks like any ordinary cake, but once sliced a whole universe of delicious is revealed.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

At first I was having a really difficult time deciding what to do with this theme. My mind immediately went toward berries and chocolate, but in my experience berries always want to sink through the batter and settle into what, once un-molded, is the top of the cake. That wouldn’t really be much of a surprise would it? I pawed at a few other ideas in my head but nothing really seemed to take.

That all changed about two weeks ago when I caught a nasty bug and couldn’t get off the couch for a few days.

When I was growing up, my grandmother always prescribed the same “medicine” whenever I was sick. The patient always needed canned chicken noodle soup, plain vanilla ice cream, warm ginger ale, and graham crackers. Now that I’m older the chicken soup seems to make sense, but the vanilla ice cream just seems like a bad idea. I don’t really get the warm part of the ginger ale, but I guess the lack of ice was supposed to be easier on the stomach, and I suppose graham crackers are easy on an upset tummy too.
To this day, whenever I get sick, I always crave these things. Once I was well enough to actually eat, I went through an entire box of graham crackers in like two days. All that was left was a small trail of graham cracker crumbs.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

That’s when it hit me, what if I made a cake using crushed graham cracker crumbs in place of some of the flour?
And what better flavor to pair with graham cracker crumbs than key lime pie?
Better yet, key lime CHEESECAKE!!!

Surprise!

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

I can’t accurately describe how amazing this cake is. Words like moist, tender, flavorful, warm, & homey come to mind to describe the graham cracker cake, but really don’t do it justice. This cake is out of this world. Why hasn’t this been done before? If it has, why haven’t I been informed? Graham cracker cake, filling or not, is something I’d like to be buried with. Hillary should choose graham cracker cake as her running mate. Seriously. Clinton/ Graham Cracker Cake/ 2016.

I could have paired this cake with any number of fillings and knocked it out of the park. Chocolate and marshmallow “S’mores” cake would have been amazing, but KEY LIME CHEESECAKE was a real stroke of genius. Seriously, out of this world. I want to use words like tangy, rich, creamy, silky, & decadent; but like I said, words cannot describe the otherworldly levels of deliciousness happening inside this cake.

Go make this. Now.
(you can thank me later)

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

Graham Cracker Bundt Cake with Key Lime Cheesecake Swirl

  • Servings: 12 to 16-ish
  • Print
Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
pinch of salt
1 large egg
4 tablespoons key lime juice
finely grated zest of 1 lime

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for pan)
1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs (plus more for topping)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks, plus more for pan)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Glaze:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons key lime juice
pinch of salt
1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 and move the rack to the center position.  Generously butter and flour a 10 to 12 cup bundt pan. Tap out extra flour and refrigerate.

To make the filling; cream sugar, softened cream cheese, and salt together in a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer) on high speed. Beat until fluffy and completely free of lumps, about 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add egg, and mix to combine. Add lime juice and zest and mix to combine. Scrape filling out into a small bowl and set aside. Wash bowl or at least scrape it out well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt. Set aside. In the same bowl as before, cream the butter with sugars on high speed until pale, light, & fluffy; about 4 to 5 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating on low to combine after each addition. On low speed, alternate three additions of flour and two additions buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, scraping the bowl between additions. Do not over-mix. Scrape batter out into prepared pan and use your spatula to push the thick batter up the walls of the pan to create a well in the center.
Pour the filling into the center of the well, and use a small icing spatula or butter knife to swirl the filling into the cake batter. Try to avoid scraping the bottom or sides of the pan.
Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before turning out of the pan onto the rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth and lump free. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add lime juice and salt. Beat again until smooth and lump free. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. (I used all 3 tablespoons)

Pour or drizzle glaze evenly over the top of the cake and sprinkle a few tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs over the top.
Cake should keep, tightly covered at room temperature, for about 3 days. If you refrigerate it bring it back up to room temperature before serving.

graham cracker bundt cake with key lime cheesecake swirl | Brooklyn Homemaker

Are your taste buds ready for a few more delicious surprises? There are a whole lot of tasty secrets hidden within these recipes y’all. Check it out.

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BundtBakers

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Interested in learning more about us? #BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the BundtBaker home page here.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. If you are just a lover of Bundt baking, you can find all of our recipe links by clicking our badge above or on our group Pinterest board.