#BundtBakers

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle #bundtbakers

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before or not, but I love a bundt cake.

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

(I’ve definitely mentioned it before)

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

When I first started blogging I used to say that the reason I loved bundt cakes so much is that they remind me of my grandmother. While that may be true, I think there might be a little more to it than that.

To this day, every time I visit my grandmother she has some kind of homemade sweet in the house, whether she knows I’m coming or not. This has always been true, and when I was a kid I used to spend a lot of time at grandma’s house. There were always any number of store-bought cookies and donuts and candies in the pantry and some kind of homemade cake or pie was usually kicking around somewhere too. This may or may not (definitely does) have something to do with my love of baking and sweet things, along with my perpetual and permanent state of being a bit overweight.

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

Grandma has always been known for her pies, and for her special pineapple cheesecake she makes with a vanilla cake mix crust. She used to make a lot of coffee cakes too, and every once in a while she’d make a bundt cake.
She doesn’t really make them anymore, and even when I was a kid they weren’t something she made very frequently, but they have always been something that I thought of as very very special.

Maybe it was their rarity that made them feel so impressive to me. Maybe it was the fact that Grandma was the only person (at the time) I’d ever known to make them. Or, maybe it had something to do with their unique shape. Something about their shape makes them feel really dramatic and fancy, even though most bundt cakes also manage to feel sort of rustic and unfussy at the same time.

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

Whatever the reasons, bundt cakes have always held a very special place in my heart, and I imagine they always will.
When I stumbled across a blog some six months ago that mentioned an entire group of other bloggers who loved bundt cakes as much as I did, I couldn’t wait to join in the fun.

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

I could not be more thrilled to have found these bundt loving bloggers. At first I was worried that making a bundt cake each and every month was going to be too much for me, or that I wouldn’t have the time to keep up with it, but as the months have gone on I’ve found myself more and more excited about each new theme. Ideas for some have proved to be a challenge, while others have come to me right away, but each and every cake I’ve baked has maintained that special meaning for me.

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

This months theme, chosen by the amazing Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook, is caramel. Lauren, you may not know this, but yours was the first blog I saw mentioning #bundtbakers, and you’re part of the reason I’m here. I can’t thank you enough.

Caramel is such a perfect choice for this time of year. It pairs so perfectly with the warm homey flavors of October, and I couldn’t have chosen a better theme if I’d tried. Make sure you scroll down past the recipe to see all the delicious caramel themed cakes that everyone came up with this month. I decided to translate the sweet buttery nutty flavors of pecan pralines into a bundt cake with toasted pecans, brown sugar, and brown butter. To reinforce that caramel candy flavor, I topped everything with a homemade salted caramel drizzle and even more toasted pecans. This cake is rich and moist and warm and golden. The brown sugar adds that rich caramel flavor, and the brown butter adds some depth and intensifies the toasty nuttiness of the pecans. If you’re a fan of caramel, and of pecans, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

Brown Butter Praline Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle

Servings: 12 to 16-ish
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Brown Butter Praline Bundt Cake:
butter and flour for pan
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 cups chopped pecans
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Salted Caramel Sauce:
(adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 (heaping) teaspoon fleur de sel (or any flaky sea salt)

Make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 10+ cup bundt pan and set aside. In a medium saucepan, brown butter over medium high heat until it’s golden brown and smells intensely nutty. Should take about 10 minutes or so, but watch it closely so it doesn’t burn. Set aside to cool.

On a sheet pan, arrange pecans in a single layer. Toast at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until they smell like nutty heaven.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combined cool brown butter, granulated sugar, & brown sugar. Beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix to combine. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture and buttermilk in 3 alternating batches, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix each addition until just combined, do not over-mix, and scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Finally, stir in 1 1/2 cups of toasted pecans on low speed until well distributed. Reserve remaining 1/2 cup of pecans for decorating the finished cake.

Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan and smooth the top. WARNING: At this point the batter will look and taste like butter pecan ice cream, but if you eat it all, you won’t have any left for your cake. Bake at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before inverting the pan to release the cake onto the rack. Let cool completely before adding drizzle.

Make the caramel sauce:
Add the sugar in an even layer to the bottom of a medium-sized heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, whisking regularly as it melts. The sugar will begin to clump together, and it may stick to your whisk, but it’s okay. Once the sugar has melted completely, stop whisking and instead swirl the pan occasionally while the sugar continues to cook.

Cook to a deep amber color. It should look almost a reddish-brown, and have a slightly toasty aroma. Keep a close eye on things at this point, things can go from perfect to burnt in under a minute. If you want to use an instant-read thermometer, cook the sugar until it reaches 350 degrees F.

As soon as the caramel reaches the right color (or 350 degrees), add all the butter. The caramel will bubble up so be careful. Whisk until the butter is completely melted. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour the cream into the caramel. Again, be careful because the mixture will bubble a lot. Whisk until everything is well incorporated and you have a smooth sauce. Add the fleur de sel and whisk to incorporate.

Let the sauce cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes and then pour into a heat proof container to let cool to room temperature. If you have any left, you can refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks.

Drizzle the cooled caramel sauce over the cooled cake, and top with remaining 1/2 cup of toasted pecans. Slice. Serve. Enjoy.

brown butter praline bundt cake with salted caramel drizzle | Brooklyn Homemaker

Check out all the mouthwatering cakes this talented group of bakers has come up with this month:

Apple Butter Bundt Cake with Cider Caramel Glaze by Cassie of Cassie’s Kitchen
Apple Pecan Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze by Aisha of La Cocina de Aisha
Brown Butter Praline Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle by Tux of Brooklyn Homemaker
Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Kaylin of Keep it Simple, Sweetie
Caramel Banana Bundt Cake by Kathya of Basic N Delicious
Caramel Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing by Rebekah of Making Miracles
Caramel Chocolate Bundt Cake by Natalia of Principiando en la Cocina
Chocolate Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce by Laura of Baking in Pyjamas
Classic Vanilla Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle by Tammy of Living the Gourmet
Cornmeal Bundt Cake with Caramel Popcorn by Patricia of Patty’s Cake
English Toffee Bundt with Drunken Dulce Drizzle by Stacy of Food Lust People Love
Fall Classic Caramel Bundt Cake by Maleka of La Luna en Dulce
Fair Toffee Apple Bundt by Jane of Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Milky Way Bundt Cake by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm
Salted Caramelized White Chocolate Glazed Butterscotch Pecan Bundt Cake by Laura of The Spiced Life
Snickers Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze by Bea and Mara of I Love Bundt Cakes
Spiced Apple Bundt Cake with a Caramel Brickle Drizzle by Teri of The Freshman Cook
Spiced Caramel and Pear Bundt Cake by Rocío of Kids&Chic
Three Flavor Zebra Bundt Cake – Vanilla, Caramel and Chocolate by Caro of En la Cocina de Caro

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.

spiced harvest bundt cake with cream cheese glaze #bundtbakers

It’s that time again friends! #Bundtbakers is back, and this month is extra special to me for a couple of reasons.

It’s my first turn to host this month, which means I’m in charge of gathering the links to everyone’s bundts and sharing the list with each participant to share on their blog. Hosting also means that I have the honor of choosing this month’s theme! September is one of my favorite months of the year because it’s still warm and sunny enough to spend time outdoors, but there’s a slight chill in the air and you can literally smell fall coming around the corner. The best part of September to me though, is the produce. This is the time of year that all those fall flavors start making their way back into our farmers markets and kitchens, and I could not be more excited about it. Pumpkins and winter squash and apples and pears and root vegetables and cranberries and figs! Be still my heart.

Given my ~~unhealthy obsession~~ fondness for fall produce, I decided “Autumn Harvest” would be the perfect theme for September. Make sure you check out the bounty of bundts below the recipe! They all look soooo deliciously autumnal.

The other reason this month’s #bundtbakers is so special to me is the reason this particular cake came to be.

I’ve mentioned, a few times I believe, my good friends who are planning a wedding. Those of you who’ve been reading since the beginning may even remember that these friends inspired me to start blogging in the first place. Shortly after Russell and I were married, our friends were engaged and we had them over to our place to pass on some wedding supplies and talk through the beginning stages of their planning process. I made a big fancy brunch, and when I served a 3 layer pistachio cake for dessert they insisted that I start a blog about my cooking and baking. I habitually posted photos of my food to facebook and instagram, but I was sure that writing an actual blog was out of my league. After another glass (or two) of wine though, they had me convinced and the very next morning I started Brooklyn Homemaker.

As their date has drawn closer and closer, Russell and I have tried to do our part to help them through the stressful and complicated business of planning a wedding. They really enjoyed several aspects of our wedding, so we’ve been giving them tips and advice on how we pulled a few of those elements together. I know that wedding planning is torture to some, but I loved every second of planning my wedding, so I’m happier than you can ever know that I have the opportunity to help someone else with their planning.

One element of our wedding that they really enjoyed was that our caterer’s mother baked us some pies to serve along with our cake. Since my baking has played such an interesting role in our friendship, they asked if I might be able to bake them a few things for their dessert table. Of course, I was thrilled to agree. We decided on two different types of desserts; a pie, and a bundt cake; two of each so there will be enough to go around. Their wedding is less than a month away now, so I wanted the desserts to be appropriate for the fall season. The type of pie has already been decided, but I’ve had a bit of a hard time choosing what kind of bundt to make.

So, forever indecisive, I just baked two different cakes. NBD.
I thought it could be fun to have a tasting and let the bride and groom decide.

I loved the flavors of last month’s #bundtbakers cake, my honey glazed cornmeal cake, so much that I thought I’d try to give it an Autumnal makeover. Instead of blackberries I substituted diced pear, which I thought would pair well (get it? har har) with the flavors of rustic earthy cornmeal and sweet floral honey.
Next I made a play on a carrot cake, an autumn-produce-packed “harvest cake” with grated carrots, parsnips, apples, and pears. I made sure to add plenty of fall spices, and topped the cake with a cinnamon cream cheese glaze. Then I packed both cakes up in bakery boxes and headed over to their house for a fancy cake tasting.

While both were absolutely delicious, the clear winner was the spiced harvest cake.

This bundt has a flavor very similar to carrot cake, but with a bit more spice and a richer flavor. The addition of brown sugar helps keep the cake super moist and adds a caramel-y depth of flavor. The combination of apples and pears gives that traditional “carrot cake” flavor a slightly sweeter & fruitier edge, but the addition of parsnips with the carrots keeps everything perfectly earthy and vegetal. If you want to add walnuts or pecans I think they’d be great, but I left them out to accommodate wedding guests with nut allergies. There’s plenty of spice, with an extra boost of cinnamon in the sweet and tangy cream cheese glaze. The crumb is moist and tender and, well covered, I think this cake will travel really well upstate for their wedding.

I’m literally giddy with excitement.

Spiced Harvest Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

Servings: 12-16
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adapted from Ree Drummond for Food Network

Cake:
Butter and flour for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup grated parsnips
1/2 cup grated ripe bartlett pears (Bosc should work too)
1/2 cup grated granny smith apples (or any tart firm apple)

Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 ounces (1/2 package) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-4 tablespoons milk

Directions
Butter and flour a non-stick bundt pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together the sugars, oil and eggs in a large bowl. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and combine. Then add the grated carrots, parsnips, apples, and pears, and mix well. Pour the batter into prepare Bundt pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until it’s soft and smooth and light. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice and blend until there are no lumps. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition until the glaze reaches the desired thick yet drizzle-able consistency.

Well covered in an airtight container, this cake should keep at room temperature about 3 or 4 days.

I’m so excited about how many bakers are participating in this months event! There are a total of 20 outstanding Autumn Harvest themed bundts to drool over, so make sure you follow the links and check them all out. Every single one sounds unbelievably delicious and I wish I could have a slice of each and every one!

Applesauce Cranberry Bundt Cake by Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
Applesauce Spice Bundt Cake by Carola at En la Cocina de Caro
Applesauce Walnut Raisin Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
Carrot Bundt Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting by Cassie at Cassie’s Kitchen
Chocolate Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
Chocolate Zucchini Bundt by Tara at Noshing with the Nolands
Fig and Caramelized Walnut Bundt Cake by Beatriz at I Love Bundt Cakes
Harvest Bundt Cake by Tammy at Living the Gourmet
Mini Apple Cobbler Bundt Cakes with Cinnamon Glaze from Lauren at From Gate to Plate
Old Fashioned Kushaw Bundt by Margaret at Tea and Scones
Pumpkin and Apple Bundt Cake by Kathya at Basic N Delicious
Pumpkin and Chocolate Bundt Cake by Aisha at La Cocina de Aisha
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Pomegranate Syrup by Patricia at Patty’s Cake
Pumpkin Espresso Bundt by Kelly at Passion Kneaded
Sherried Pumpkin Bundtlettes by Laura at The Spiced Life
Spiced Harvest Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake by Kaylin at Keep it Simple, Sweetie
Sweet Potato Brioche Bread by Jane at Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Sweet Potato Pecan Spice Cake with Toasted Pecan Glaze by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake by Terri at Love and Confections

honey glazed blackberry cornmeal bundt cake #bundtbakers

Well guys, another month, another bundt cake!

This month’s theme, chosen by our amazing host Laura of Baking in Pyjamas, is “Honey”! I could not have chosen a more perfect flavor to pair with the last bundt cake of the summer if I’d tried. Thanks Laura!

I’m really excited to see what everyone comes up with to pair with this amazing ingredient. Make sure you keep reading past the recipe for all the drool-inducing cakes the #bundtbakers are sharing this month.

honey glazed blackberry cornmeal bundt cake | Brooklyn Homemaker

I’m fortunate enough to have locally produced raw honey at my disposal, so I was thrilled to have a good way to put it to use. At Whisk We sell honey that comes from Brooklyn rooftop hives, and the flavor is amazingly fresh. Each batch of honey produced by the bees has a slightly different color and flavor because they collect nectar from different flowers in different areas depending on the time of year. An unexpected benefit of buying locally produced honey is that since it’s unpasteurized it can help fight against seasonal allergies. The nectar contains traces of seasonal pollens and ingesting them with the honey helps your body build up a sort of immunity to these airborne irritants.

Buying raw unpasteurized honey that comes from a single bee keeper means that you can also be confident that it’s 100% pure honey, with no fillers or added flavors or syrups. The absolute best part of local honey though, is the flavor! It’s bright, light, and summery with subtle hints of herbs and green plants, and smells super floral, clean and fresh.

I could go on and on about raw single hive honey and how it will ruin grocery store honey for you for the rest of your days, but I won’t. Today is about cake, lest we forget. Sweet glorious bundt cake.

I recently made a cornmeal skillet cake that was so simple and homey and unfussy that I couldn’t get it out of my head. When it came time to think of a recipe that would highlight and compliment honey in all of it’s glory, I knew I had to revisit and re-imagine a combination of cornmeal and cake. Since cornmeal has such an earthy rustic flavor I thought it would marry really well with honey, and I was sure that the addition of fresh summer blackberries wouldn’t be unwelcome. Don’t fret if you cant find local honey though. While I’d highly recommend looking for some, I’m sure any honey you have will be completely delicious.

This cake has a double dose of honey, as it’s mixed into the batter and then used to make a glaze that’s poured over after baking. Blackberries and cornmeal are both assertive enough to stand up to the honey so that, while you can certainly taste it, it doesn’t overpower the cake or bring it into the realm of cloying or syrupy.

The cornmeal gives this cake an earthy, rustic flavor and a bite thats somehow both delicate and firm, with just a hint of folksy coarseness. A combination of unsalted butter and cultured buttermilk make sure that the cake is perfectly moist and tender, but I’d recommend serving this the day it’s baked or keeping it well covered for no more than two or three days. The blackberries pair really well with these homey rustic flavors and do their part to make this the perfect dessert for late summer. If you wanted to make this in the spring you could easily substitute tart wild strawberries or fresh blueberries, and in the fall I think diced pears or apples would be amazing.

Honey Glazed Blackberry Cornmeal Bundt Cake

Servings: 12 to 16-ish
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2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided (plus more for the pan)
1 cup fine cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (plus more for the pan)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
12 oz fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 350. Generously flour and butter a 10 cup (+) non-stick bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer beat butter, sugar and honey together until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add vanilla, and then the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Slowly stir in 1/3 flour mixture until just combined, followed by 1/2 of the buttermilk, scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. Continue until all flour and buttermilk is combined. Do not over mix.

In a small bowl toss blackberries in remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Gently fold berries into batter by hand. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze:

1/4 cup Honey
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Combine honey, confectioners sugar, and butter in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine and thin out to desired texture with milk, 1 tsp at a time. Drizzle evenly over cooled bundt.

Check out all of these delicious honey bundts! What a perfect theme to celebrate the final sunny days of summer.

A Taste of Honey by Margaret at Tea and Scones
Hipy Papy Bthuthdth Thuthda Bthuthdy Cake by Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
Honey Almond Bundt Cake by Terri at Love and Confections
Honey Baba au Rhum by Kelly at Passion Kneaded
Honey Banana Bundt by Jane at Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
Honey Bundt Cake with Lemon Honey Glaze by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
Honey Bunny Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
Honey Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
Honey Glazed Blackberry Cornmeal Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
Honey Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake by Lauren at From Gate to Plate
Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Pound Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
Honey Whiskey Mini Bundt Cakes with Honey Whiskey Glaze by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
Orange Hazelnut Bundt Cake by Zainab at Blahnik Baker
Whole Wheat Honey Spiced Apple Breakfast Bundtlettes by Laura at The Spiced Life

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.

roasted cherry kugelhopf with cherry bourbon glaze #bundtbakers

You guys. Can you believe it’s already time for the July edition of #bundtbakers?
Time flies when you’re baking bundts.

This month’s theme is stone fruit, and I immediately knew I wanted to do something with cherries. I also thought that it might be fun to try something a little different this time around. I was recently researching the history of the bundt cake and learned that Kugelhopf is basically the bundt cake’s great-grandpappy, so I thought it would be really interesting to play with a version this old world classic.

The birth story of the bundt pan all started with some members of a Jewish women’s group called Hadassah who were looking for an alternative to expensive imported kugelhopf molds. Nowadays it’s not hard to find inexpensive metal kugelhopf pans, but they’re traditionally made in Europe from heavy, fragile terra cotta, and in the 1950s they were extremely hard to come by here in the states. Some members of the group approached a young inventor named H. David Dalquist who had recently formed a cookware company called Nordic Ware. They commissioned him to make a lighter, cheaper version of the pans they used to use in the old country. One of the ladies had a traditional mold they lent him as a prototype and he crafted a similarly shaped pan out of lightweight aluminum. Originally he called it a “Bund” pan, based on a German word that loosely translates to, “a gathering of people”. He later added the “t”, making it “bundt”, to avoid confusion with a controversial German-American social club.

Nordic Ware and their pans were moderately popular throughout the 50s with Hadassah members, but the bundt pan didn’t really take off and become the ubiquitous phenomenon we know them to be today until the late 1960s. In 1966 a woman from Texas won the Pillsbury Bake-Off with a recipe she called the “Tunnel of Fudge” that called for Nordic Ware’s patented pan. After that every housewife in America had to have a new bundt pan in their cupboard.

Being a self-proclaimed Bundt enthusiast, I found this history to be totally fascinating. It also made me really curious. I started looking into the Kugelhopf and found that depending on where you are and who you ask, it’s also known as Gugelhupf, guguluf, or kuglóf. Depending on the region, the recipe changes too. It can range from dry and bread-like, sometimes even salty or savory in some places, to fruity, dense and just barely sweet in others. Wherever you are though, this is a yeast leavened cake or loaf that’s usually studded with raisins and nuts. Since it’s not especially sweet, it’s often eaten with breakfast or as a snack, usually spread with unsalted butter.

This kugelhopf though, strays pretty far from old-world heritage. I based it on a traditional Austrian/German recipe, but took a few liberties to make it fit my purpose. I don’t really care for raisins in baking, and usually prefer to use dried cranberries or cherries in their place. In this case I decided to go for fresh cherries that I oven-roasted to concentrate their flavor. I was also hoping for something a bit more bundt-like than bread-like so I made a few changes to make the recipe just a bit sweeter and richer. I went ahead and added a splash or two of bourbon too, because, why not? Traditionally kugelhopfs are just dusted with powdered sugar, but to make sure it wouldn’t need to be spread with butter, I topped mine off with a very non-traditional cherry bourbon glaze.

To ensure the kugelhopf is nice and moist, I think it benefits from a soak. For this, you could make a plain old simple syrup, or add some sort of flavoring or extract to a syrup. After roasting the cherries I was left with some of their syrupy juices and thought I’d use that for my soak along with some butter and maybe another splash of bourbon.

I also think that this recipe improves with a day’s rest. I mean, don’t get me wrong, this was pretty damned great on the first day, but seemed to be the teeeeeniest bit dry to me. For some reason, the second day this was no longer an issue. I’m not sure if it was the cherries, the soak, or the glaze but somehow the bread-y body of this cake was borrowing moisture for some other component. The crumb seemed more moist, the flavors better developed, and the whole concept better realized on the day after baking. So, if you have the time and the foresight to make this a day ahead, do that. Just cover it tightly and hide it away somewhere at a cool room temperature.

In the end all my efforts really paid off. Using oven-roasted fresh cherries in place of raisins was nothing short of genius. (That’s right, I just called myself a genius). The cherries are soft yet chewy and bursting with a bright deeply-concentrated fruity flavor, and adding bourbon while they roast adds a rich warmth and depth. Of course, if you wanted to use dried cherries instead, I think that they’d work really well too, especially if you reconstitute them in bourbon first. The roasted cherry juice and the egg yolks gives the cake a rich soft crumb, and the sliced almonds add a really nice soft bite. All these flavors in combination are so totally warm and homey with a perfect old-world feeling.

The kugelhopf itself is a bit sweeter than traditional ones, but it’s still a restrained just-barely-sweet sweetness. The texture is somehow softer than bread, but chewier and doughier than cake. It’s almost similar to the texture of a cinnamon roll, if that makes any sense.

Since this still remains relatively bread-y, this kugelhopf would be perfect served at a breakfast get together or a brunch. Of course, it still feels very much like dessert, so feel free to serve it as you would any other cake. No matter how or when you eat it, you’re going to want to go back in for seconds.

If you love summer produce and cherries and all kinds of stone fruit, please be sure to scroll down past the recipe and check out all the other mouthwatering stone fruit themed bundt cakes. They all look unbelievable and I wish I could have a slice of each and every one of them. Thank you so much to our hosts, Felice of All That’s Left Are The Crumbs and Stacy of Food Lust People Love, for choosing this months theme and organizing our efforts.

Roasted Cherry Kugelhopf with Cherry Bourbon Glaze

Servings: 12-ish
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Adapted from David Lebovitz

Roasted Cherries
1 1/2 lb sweet cherries
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon bourbon

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash, pit and quarter your cherries. Toss the quartered cherries in the sugar, salt, and bourbon to coat. Spread evenly over a parchment lined baking sheet, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes. Toward the end, watch that the cherry juices don’t burn.
Fit a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, and scrape or pour the cherries into to the strainer. Leave the cherries in the strainer for a few minutes to allow the juices to drip and collect in the bowl. Reserve the juice and the drained cherries in separate bowls.

Sponge
½ cup milk
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (not instant)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Dough
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon bourbon
2 teaspoons reserved cherry juice
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sliced almonds, divided
One 6- to 9-cup kugelhof pan (or you can use a bundt pan)

Make the sponge by warming the milk over low heat in a small saucepan until it’s tepid. Pour into a bowl, and mix in the yeast then the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until bubbly, about 20 minutes.

In a standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter with sugar and salt until soft and light, about 3 minutes. Mix in the orange zest, vanilla, 2 teaspoons cherry juice, and 1 teaspoon of bourbon. Next, add the egg yolks and beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the sponge, then beat another minute.
Add the flour and mix on low speed for 2 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes.
Beat on medium speed until smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes.
Slowly beat in the cherries and 1/2 cup of the almonds. Scrape the dough into a buttered bowl and turn it so the top is buttered. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

Butter the kugelhof mold well, and the scatter another 1/2 cup of sliced almonds over the inside of the mold, turning to coat it evenly. Scrape the dough into the kugelhof mold and cover with a towel or buttered plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about an hour or maybe a bit longer.

About 15 minutes before the dough is fully risen, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the kugelhof until it’s a deep golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a wire rack.

Soak and Glaze:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons bourbon
remaining reserved cherry juice
2 cups powdered sugar, divided

To make the soak; combine butter, bourbon, & cherry juice in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and whisk to combine. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture for the soak and set aside. Add remaining sugar to the liquid to make the glaze, and whisk to combine. Add more sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, if you want a thicker glaze. After kugelhopf is removed to a wire rack, brush the soak all over the top and sides. Let it cool at least 30 minutes before drizzling or pouring the glaze evenly over the top. While glaze is still wet, sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of almonds over the top.

If possible, allow the kugelhopf to rest for a day, tightly covered at room temperature, before slicing and serving.

Check out all of these delicious sounding stone fruit based bundts. What a perfect theme to celebrate all the wonderful fresh fruit the summer has to offer.