CHAPTER
• 5 •
Beyond vanilla, chocolate and pound cakes, we sell several popular cakes at the bakery that don’t fit into any of the standard categories. What they have in common is that they are all particularly moist—and they are among Kiss My Bundt’s most popular cakes. Several of the bundts in this chapter have an ingredient that brings a level of moisture beyond what the butter or oil brings to a cake, such as pumpkin purée, brown sugar or buttermilk. They are all very different from my vanilla-based and chocolate cakes but so good they had to have a section in the book. Do not let the title of this chapter fool you. “Other” does not mean leftovers. I like to think of these as the cakes that are so good, so interesting, that they are of another world!
As a little girl, I loved carrot cake—except for the chunks of the pineapple and raisins Southerners insist on piling into their carrot cake, which I in turn painstakingly poked out before I could enjoy my slice. Cake with lumps of warm fruit is a texture with which I take issue even today. I once asked my Aunt Dia why the extra fruit goes in the cake. She replied that pineapple and raisins add moisture to carrot cake. Hello? Carrots have moisture! At the bakery, I make my carrot cake with walnuts, not fruit. But it is most definitely moist enough to make Aunt Dia proud. I think this cake is perfect unadorned, but try it with cold cream cheese frosting for a new taste sensation.
ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda together.
3. Using an electric mixer, blend oil and sugars, mixing for 1 minute.
4. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and add to batter one at a time. Then beat on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Slowly add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. Batter will be thick.
6. Fold in grated carrots and walnuts. Stir by hand until fully incorporated.
7. Transfer batter to cake pans that have been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour (or greased and floured), filling until cavities are about 3/4 full.
8. Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean—about 40 minutes for a big ol’ bundt.
9. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Plain
My best friend from high school, Anagha, loves anything pumpkin. Once I visited her when she was in law school and in honor of the occasion, we tried to incorporate pumpkin into every meal: pumpkin pancakes, ice cream, ravioli, even pumpkin beer! But we never found any pumpkin cake. So I developed this cake for her. The newest tradition is a slice of pumpkin cake with a cold pumpkin beer. Trust me, it works.
ingredients
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs on medium speed until frothy, 3-4 minutes.
4. Turn mixer speed to low and slowly add sugars. Beat until very thick.
5. At a medium speed, mix in pumpkin purée and oil, mixing until thoroughly incorporated.
6. With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the wet 1/2 cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
7. Transfer batter to cake pans that have been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour (or greased and floured), filling until cavities are about 3/4 full.
8. Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean—about 40 minutes for a big ol’ bundt.
9. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
My sister Jamille loves peanut butter. From childhood days, those peanut butter cookies with the fork imprint (or topped with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup for a real treat) have always topped her list. I created this peanut butter cake as something she might like but my customers ended up loving it, too. Topped with chocolate buttercream or chocolate glaze, a cold glass of milk on the side, it puts Mr. Reeses to shame.
ingredients
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat peanut butter, butter and sugars on a medium low speed until blended.
4. Add oil and continue to beat to incorporate.
5. Increase speed medium high and beat mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
6. Reduce speed to low and add eggs one at a time, then beat on medium for an additional 2 minutes.
7. Add vanilla.
8. Beginning and ending with the flour, mix 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the milk, alternating, with the mixer on low, until all ingredients are mixed.
7. Transfer batter to cake pans that have been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour (or greased and floured), filling until cavities are about 3/4 full.
8. Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean—about 40 minutes for a big ol’ bundt.
9. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Chocolate Sprinkles
This recipe is basically a super-moist breakfast cake. The ribbon of cinnamon and pecans add sweetness and additional moisture to the cake’s slightly tart, sour cream flavor. With the brown sugar in the swirl, the cake is plenty sweet on its own but I like to add the decadence of cinnamon sugar glaze.
ingredients:
for the swirl:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir vanilla, milk, sour cream together. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl mix the swirl ingredients, (see recipe below). Set aside.
4. Sift flour and baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat butter on a medium-low speed while slowly adding the sugars. Continue to beat until mixture is fluffy, about 3 minutes.
6. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and add to batter one at a time. Then beat on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes.
7. Beginning and ending with the flour, add 1/3 of the flour into the wet mixture followed by 1/2 of the milk and sour cream mixture, alternating until all ingredients are mixed.
9. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a big ol’ bundt pan that has been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour, (or greased and floured).*
10. Sprinkle 1/2 of the swirl on top of the batter. Add an additional 1/3 of the batter and repeat adding swirl. Top with remaining batter.
11. Bake until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a big ol’ bundt. (The swirl becomes wet during the baking, so be sure to stick your tester into the batter not the swirl.)
12. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before glazing, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
* For making baby, mini bundts or cupcakes, fill greased and floured pans 1/2 full with batter. Top with 1 tbsp of swirl for a mini bundt or 2 1/2 tbsp of swirl for a baby bundt. Then fill the cavity to 3/4 with additional batter before baking.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Plain
Red Velvet is without a doubt the best selling cake at Kiss My Bundt Bakery. I’ve had customers wait over an hour in the shop for a fresh batch when we’ve sold out. Though nobody hesitates to order it, I still get the constant question, “What IS Red Velvet?” Some bakers merely add red dye to their vanilla or chocolate cakes and call it Red Velvet. This is not Red Velvet! Red Velvet should be a light cocoa cake but it shouldn’t taste overwhelmingly chocolaty. Made correctly, it possesses a hint of sourness and a moist, dense texture that, especially when topped with cream cheese frosting, is at once one of the most comforting and simply “cake-like” of my cakes and, paradoxically, one of the most complex.
ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using an electric mixer, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
4. With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the wet 1/2 cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
5. Transfer batter to cake pans that have been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour (or greased and floured), filling until cavities are about 3/4 full.
6. Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean—about 40 minutes for a big ol’ bundt.
7. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Vegan Cakes
When I was getting ready to open the bakery, one of my closest friends told me he wouldn’t speak to me again unless I put a vegan option on my menu for him (one that doesn’t include eggs or dairy and only uses brands of sugar made with vegan-friendly processing). It wasn’t that challenging to produce a cake that could be labeled vegan. But what I wanted was a great cake that just happened to be vegan. After much trial and error, I am very proud to have a cake that gets the comment, “This is good. It’s Vegan?” Not “It’s good…for Vegan.”
Vegan Red Velvet was the cake I created for the bakery, basing it off of our best-seller. For this book, I also added Vegan Chocolate to my repertoire along with a few chocolate variations, to give the vegan at home a few more creative options. Oh, and the aforementioned friend not only still speaks to me but nowadays he eats a lot of cake!
One of my newest creations, vegan chocolate cake is one of my easiest and most satisfying recipes. People are often surprised to learn it is vegan. Because this cake is moister than most, grease your pans extra generously to ensure it doesn’t stick.
ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Add soymilk, oil and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients to the wet, 1/2 cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
5. When thoroughly combined (do not overmix), slowly mix in boiling water. Note: the batter will be thin.
6. Transfer batter to cake pans that have been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour (or greased and floured), filling until cavities are about 3/4 full.
7. Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean—about 40 minutes for a big ol’ bundt.
8. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Vegan Chocolate Cake Variations
You can easily turn your Vegan Chocolate Cake into a Vegan Mint Cake or Vegan Mandarin Chocolate cake.
For Mint, reduce the vanilla to 1 tsp and add 1 tbsp of pure peppermint extract to the batter. To make Mandarin, you should also just follow the Vegan Chocolate Bliss recipe, but add the zest of two oranges and 1 tbsp of pure orange extract, again reducing the vanilla to 1 tsp.
additional ingredients:
Follow the recipe for Vegan Chocolate Bliss but in step #5, bring the drip coffee to a boil and stir in instant coffee to dissolve before adding the boiling liquid to the cake batter.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Although I’m a butter, eggs and even bacon girl, this cake has been very successful for me in Southern California (where it seems almost chic to have some sort of dietary restriction). If you are not vegan but want to cook for someone who is, make sure to shop for a sugar that is labeled vegan. Most brands of sugar have been processed with bone char (used to give the sugar its snow white color). Relying on the sugar stocked in your pantry may negate your hard work!
ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add vinegar to soymilk. Set aside for 10 minutes, allowing the mixture to curdle.
3. Sift together sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
4. Add soymilk, oil, food coloring and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients to the wet, 1/2 cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
6. When thoroughly combined (do not overmix), slowly mix in boiling water. Note: the batter will be thin.
7. Transfer batter to cake pans that have been coated with a baker’s cooking spray that includes flour (or greased and floured), filling until cavities are about 3/4 full.
8. Bake cake(s) until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean—about 40 minutes for a big ol’ bundt.
9. Invert cake(s) onto a cooling rack or serving plate. If cake resists, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting. (If cake still resists, cool an additional 15 minutes in the pan.) Cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour for a big ol’ bundt.
Chrysta’s Favorite Frostings & Finishing Touches:
Dusting of Vegan Powdered Sugar
In addition to vegans, in Southern California I meet many purists who prefer to avoid dyes, even natural ones, in their food. For these customers, I make Brown Velvet (aka Red Velvet left au naturel, colored only by the touch of cocoa powder added to the batter). To make this equally-delicious version, simply omit the red dye from the Vegan Red Velvet batter.