Michelle Darmody: How to make the perfect Bundt cake this Easter 

Michelle Darmody: "When making a bundt cake, it is best to fill your tin two-thirds of the way rather than filling it to the top, the batter will rise while baking."

Easter is a nice time of year for some family baking; there is more time in the weekend and often lots of spare chocolate treats that can be used to decorate cakes.

The shape of the bundt tins works well as an Easter centrepiece as the nest-like shape can be used for chocolate eggs or topped with edible spring flowers.

Bundt tins can be very beautiful and come in all sorts of intricate designs. These designs however can sometimes have little crevices that can make it difficult to remove the cake from tin, the trick is getting it out of the tin in one piece. This may involve a bit of patience. 

I find that metal bundt tins are best, the silicone versions do not conduct heat in the same way and the cake will not turn out as well.

Bundt style cakes hail from Austria, Germany and Eastern Europe. Kaffeeklatsch means coffee chatter or coffee gossip in German; this was the term used for informal gatherings that began taking place in the 1800s over cake and coffee.

The kaffeeklatsch gave rise to the popularity of this style of cake or the gugelhupf, as it was called then. The first official bundt tins were created in the United States in 1950 and have been popular ever since.

Easter Bundt Cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Bundt style cakes hail from Austria, Germany and Eastern Europe. Kaffeeklatsch means coffee chatter or coffee gossip in German; this was the term used for informal gatherings that began taking place in the 1800s over cake and coffee.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 180g soft butter

• 220g golden caster sugar

• 3 eggs

• Zest 2 oranges

• 1 tbsp orange juice

• 2 tsp baking powder, sieved

• 180g plain flour, sieved

• 75g ground almonds

• 100g mini coated chocolate eggs, roughly chopped

• To decorate

• 75g icing sugar

• Orange juice

• Sprinkles

• Mini coated chocolate eggs

Method

1. Grease your bundt tin very well with butter. Add a tablespoon of plain flour and swirl it around so it coats all of the butter. Set aside in a cool place.

2. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Lightly whisk the eggs, zest and juice together. Stir the sieved flour, baking powder and the ground almonds together.

5. Add the egg mixture, a third at a time, to the butter mixture until combined.

6. Stir in the flour and almond mixture and the chopped chocolate eggs until it forms a smooth batter.

7. Scoop the batter into your prepared bundt tin.

8. Place into the centre of the oven.

9. Bake for 40 minutes until the cake is golden and risen in the tin. Use a skewer to make sure it is baked through.

10. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and turn it out onto a plate.

Baker's tips

Buttering and flouring the tin beforehand is essential. Wipe the tin completely with a thin coating of butter – I use a scrap of the foil butter wrapper but you can use melted butter and a pastry brush if you prefer. Whichever method you use, make sure that you get right into the crevices. Once this is done, add the tablespoon of flour and shake it all about. You want all of the butter to be completely coated with the flour. Tap out any excess flour.

When making a bundt cake, it is best to fill your tin two-thirds of the way rather than filling it to the top, the batter will rise while baking. Tap your tin on the countertop once you have added the batter to allow it to settle and to remove any air bubbles.

This recipe is for a 1.5 litre tin. For a larger tin, increase the baking time to ensure a skewer comes out clean.

As the cake begins to cool, it will come away from the sides of the tin making it easier to remove. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes. Run a thin spatula or the tip of a knife around the edges, wiggling it a bit. Quickly turn your bundt tin onto a plate and tap the tin firmly all around to remove it.

If it does stick and seems not to want to budge, put it back into the warm oven (not turned on but it may still be warm). Soak a towel in hot water and wring it out. Remove the hot tin and cover it with the damp towel for two minutes and then try to remove the cake again. The steam will hopefully have loosened the stubborn bits. 

Icing will help to hide any jagged edges or little cracks that might happen when you are removing it. If you do not wish to ice the cake you can dust it with icing sugar. 

Bundt cakes don’t stay fresh for long as so much of the cake is exposed to air. It is best to eat within the first day or so of baking.

3 delicious variations

Lemon and blueberry

In place of the orange, use lemon zest but, in this case, the zest of 4 lemons and then 1 tbsp of lemon juice. 

Replace the mini eggs with 100g of blueberries. Toss them in some flour before stirring through the batter. This helps to prevent them from sinking as the cake bakes.

Double chocolate

Add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder to the mixture in place of the same amount of flour. Add dark chocolate chips in place of the eggs.

To ice the cake, melt 150g of chocolate and add a half a tablespoon of butter. Allow it to cool slightly and then pour it over the cooled bundt cake so it drips down through the ridges.

Strawberry and vanilla

Add 2 tsp of vanilla to the mixture and omit the chocolate eggs. Add 150g of chopped strawberries to the batter.

Once baked and cooled, make a vanilla glaze. Mix 75g of icing sugar with 1.5 tbsp of milk and 1 tsp of vanilla until smooth. Add a little more milk if needed. Pour it over the cooled bundt cake so it drips through the ridges and top with fresh strawberries.