2015’s first bake: Vanilla Bundt Cake with Walnuts

Hello everyone and happy New Year!

2014 hasn’t been a proactive year for my blog but with the new year I am going to change that, resolutions and all…. We’ll see together.

Here I have a very cute, little cake recipe for you. I am in search for a very pretty cake mold but in the meantime I wanted to bake a cake so I bought these small molds. I must admit, the cake it self was not on my top 10 list but the photos turned out very good and I wanted to share with you.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 cup (100 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 + ½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tea spoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 + ½ cups milk
• 2 tablespoons cocoa, optional
• 2 cups crushed walnuts

Mix the drys in a bowl and leave aside.

In a big bowl, whisk the butter until the color is lighted, gradually add the sugar. If you are not using a mixer, you can use the back of a wooden spoon but your arm will take the burnt for it.

When the sugar is incorporated with the butter one by one, add the eggs. Turn the mixer off and add the vanilla extract. If you are using a bean, cut it in the middle and take the seeds with the help of the back of a knife. Mix with a whisker.

In the next level, you are going to add the drys and the milk taking turns, so make sure both are ready by your hand.

Start with the flours mix and end with it. The finished mix should be runny, if your mix is too doughy, add some more milk.

When you have the correct consistency, add the crushed walnuts. I like to have the nuts crunchy in my cake so I only crushed de-shelved walnuts by hand, some were big and some were small.

At this point, if you like a two-shade cake, you should put a little amount in another bowl and add the cocoa. Mix well with a spatula. In my recipe, I did this before adding the walnuts, so the nuts were only in the vanilla mix not in the cocoa bit.

Before putting your mix in the mold(s) make sure the inside is well buttered and has a small layer of flour on every bit  of the inside of the mold.

Don’t put too much mixture in the molds, make sure there is room for them to rise, we put a good amount of baking powder in the recipe.

Bake you cake in a re-heated oven at 190 °C (370 °F) for 30 minutes. If you are using one big mold, that time should be at least 50 minutes. Check the cake nearing the 30 minute mark with a tooth pick, if the middle of the cakes are dry, then your cake is done.

Take off the oven and cover with a kitchen cloth, let them rest for a while. You can store your cake covered for a week, you can put it in the fridge as well but I suggest not as eating a cold cake is never as eating a room temperature one – an oven-hot one is the best way in my opinion.

You can cut the extra parts of the baked cake and turn them upside down, or just have them like that. You can also sprinkle some powder sugar over the cake when serving to make them prettier.

So here you have it a very easy and lasting cake recipe for you. It is very open to adjustments as well. You can add more cocoa to the whole mix and make it a chocolate cake, you can add cinnamon, or small apple pieces and turn it into any cake you want.

Tell me all about your favorite cakes and creations. I will be back soon, enjoy.