Apple Spice Bundt - Day #9 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Apple Spice Bundt

I Like Big Bundts - Day #9

An apple a day. Or at least an Apple Bundt a Day.

It's Day #9 of my I Like Big Bundts extravaganza - 30 days of bundts leading up to National Bundt Day! Thanks for following along. I love, love hearing that you are planning to make a bundt for National Bundt Day (November 15th). What are you planning on making? Remember, I'm doing a round-up and sending you a special something if you bake along with me.

As you know, I bring in my baked goods to the library and that has established a lot of goodwill! :) I'm very lucky to work with a great group of people.

The other day, I was writing my To Do list: Apples, buttermilk, Brita filter, Dog toy. 

Then, magically, my co-worker Ruth Ann came up to me with a 3-pound bag of apples from Oak Glen (near Los Angeles). Amazing!

I immediately went back to my list and wrote "George Clooney."

Sadly, he hasn't popped by the library yet. But the apples were put to good use.

This is a Martha Stewart recipe. I've made it before and it is a great Bundt. Definitely something to keep in your recipe book. It is made with veg oil and no butter so the cake is dairy-free (dairy in the caramel sauce).

A caramel sauce is poured over the top. I didn't let it go very long because last time I made this, I let it go too long and ended up with a crazy tough caramel that would have ripped out fillings. So, the sauce should be somewhere in-between. Martha's website also has a video of Dorothy Mae Brown making the cake on her show. She's a sweetie.


I'm keeping "George Clooney" on my list...just in case...

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Day #5: Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt
Day #6: Maida Heatter's Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt
Day #7: Dark Chocolate Bundt
Day #8: Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt

Recipe: Click here for Martha Stewart recipe

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan

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Burnt Sugar Ice Cream - Tuesdays with Dorie

Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Becky of Project Domestication chose Burnt Sugar Ice Cream on page 432 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

You make a caramel by heating sugar and water until amber. Then you add in milk and cream and trap a huge mass of caramel on your whisk. You wonder if this is a disaster in the making. Then it smooths out like magic. Temper the mixture into eggs, put back on the stove and heat.

Refrigerate to cool down, then whiz in the ice cream maker. Whoo hoo! Ice cream delight!

This glass is super small...the spoon is there for scale.

Thanks Becky for letting me dig out my ice cream maker! Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
Project Domestication blog, or
Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

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Chocolate-Caramel-Banana Upside-Down Cake

Chocolate-Caramel-Banana Upside-Down Cake

The upside-down cake is a big favorite of mine. After the Bundt, of course. And no worries...I'm not going to make 30 days of upside-down cakes. Because people who do that kind of thing are just crazy.

Chocolate.
Caramel.
Bananas.
Perfect!
(Well, this post isn't for my banana hater friends, Clara and Jenn)

This is from the cookbook, Cake Keeper Cakes: 100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes, Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes and Other Good-To-The-Last-Crumb Treats by Lauren Chattman. I made the Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake Bundt earlier this month and it was delicious. So I'm two for two with this cookbook. And the rest of it looks very very promising!

Some brown sugar and butter is heated to make caramel. A layer of bananas is placed on top. Then a chocolate cake tops the banana-caramel mixture. I thought there was a bit too much caramel, making the cake a bit too sweet. Next time, I would cut the caramel by 25%.

After baking, let it sit for 5 minutes and then flip onto your serving tray. Voila!

I want to try David Lebovitz's Banana-Chocolate Chip Upside Down Cake next!

Chocolate-Caramel-Banana Upside-Down Cake
Click here for printable recipe
Adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman (2009), page 58. Buy it here or see if your library has it here.

Topping:
1 stick butter
3/4 c light brown sugar
3 ripe bananas, cut into 1/4-inch slices
(I thought the caramel was a little too much. I would use 3/4 stick butter, 1/2 c brown sugar next time)

Cake:
3/4 c plus 2 T unbleached all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur flour)
6 T (1/4 c plus 2T) unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temp)
2 t vanilla
2/3 c buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a 9" x 2" cake pan.
2. Topping: Heat butter over medium heat until melted and foamy. Whisk in brown sugar, turn heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, for two minutes or until the mixture is thick. Spread on the bottom of the 9" cake pan.
3. Arrange the bananas in a circle on top of the sugar mixture. Set aside.
4. Sift together flour, cocoa, soda and salt.
5. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy (I used my KitchenAid mixer on medium for 3 minutes). Scrape down sides of bowl.
6. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.
7. Stir in vanilla.
8. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk (3 flour and 2 milk additions).
9. Scrape down the sides and then beat batter on high for 30 seconds.
10. Pour batter over the bananas and smooth out.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit on wire rack for 5 minutes. Then carefully invert onto your serving tray. Let sit at least 20 minutes before diving in. The author says it keeps for 2 days in a cake keeper at room temp.

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