|
Bundt Cake for Diane
I did make this one (without frosting -- don't like frosting on Bundt cakes) and it was really good:
Raspberry-Scented Cocoa Bundt Cake
(from “Chocolate Cake” by Michele Urvater)
Cake:
One 10-ounce package individually quick-frozen raspberries, thawed
½ cup water
2 cups (9 ounces) cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
Scant 1 cup (3 ounces) unsweetened, nonalkalized cocoa powder, sifted
¼ teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (22.5 ounces) superfine sugar
5 large eggs
Icing
About 1 cup (4.5 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons framboise liquer or brandy
2 teaspoons or more water
¼ teaspoon Boyajian Natural Raspberry Flavor, optional
Red food coloring, optional
1 pint raspberries
To Make the Cake:
1. In a food processor, puree the thawed raspberries with the water until smooth. Strain the puree through a sieve and discard the seeds; set aside the raspberry puree for later.
2. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350◦F. Generously butter a 10-inch tube pan, dust it with flour, and tap out the excess.
3. Sift the flour with the baking soda, cocoa, and salt twice, and set it aside.
4. With an electric mixer on low speed (or with a stationary mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the butter for 1 minute, or until light. Slowly add the sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time (this should take about 4 minutes). When all the sugar has been added, continue to beat on medium speed for 5 to 6 minutes, scraping down the beaters and the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture will look fluffy, like something between mayonnaise and whipped cream.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 10 seconds between additions, or until each egg has been absorbed by the butter. Add the raspberry puree and beat for a few seconds; the mixture will look curdled, but that is okay.
6. With a large rubber spatula, fold the sifted ingredients in two to three additions into the batter. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat the batter for 1 minute longer, or until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with a rubber or small offset spatula.
7. Bake for 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry.
8. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Lightly coat the wire rack with nonstick vegetable spray. Ease the cake out of the pan and cool it to room temperature, upside down, on the greased wire rack.
To Ice:
1. Sift the confectioners’ sugar a second time into a mixing bowl. With your finger, make a well in the middle of the sugar and pour the framboise, 2 teaspoons water, and the raspberry flavoring into the well. With a fork, combine the ingredients by gradually pulling the sugar from the walls of the well into the center and mix until smooth.
2. Dip a toothpick in the food coloring and gradually add only as much as is needed to create a soft pink hue (bring the icing close to the cake to check on the color; if it is colored too lightly the icing will look white on the cake, not pink).
3. Transfer the icing to a 10-inch pastry bag fitted with an 1/8-inch-wide plain tip. Transfer the cake to a cardboard round cut slightly smaller than the cake, and set it on a turntable if you have one. Pipe a free-form widely spaced filigree pattern over the top and sides of the cake. Just before serving, fill the space in the center of the cake with fresh raspberries.
Storage: Keep at room temperature, wrapped airtight in plastic, for up to 3 days; refrigerate after that.
|
