Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

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Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake I wanted to like this cake. In fact, I wanted to love this cake. I thought this would be the kind of cake I hoped my coworkers would devour because I would want to eat too much of it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), that did not happen.

While the flavor was nice, the cake was a bit dry. It screamed for a glass of milk or something to go along with it. Of course, I should note that the original recipe called for strawberries and their juices to be served with it, so maybe had I done that, I wouldn’t think the recipe needed some kind of moisture. Has anyone else made this? What did you think?

Cake Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 teaspoon bourbon (I used vanilla)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks), room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk

Glaze Ingredients
2/3 cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons (or more) whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake Preparation
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Butter and flour standard Bundt pan, then spray pan with nonstick spray. Pour bourbon into small bowl. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into bourbon; stir to blend well (reserve scraped vanilla bean for another use).

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in bourbon-vanilla mixture. Add flour mixture in 2 additions alternately with buttermilk in 1 addition, beating just until blended after each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top evenly (batter will come only halfway up sides of pan).

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.

Glaze Preparation
Whisk powdered sugar, 4 teaspoons milk, and vanilla in small bowl to blend, adding more milk by 1/4 teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to drizzle.

Place sheet of foil on work surface. Place cake (still on rack) atop foil. Using spoon, drizzle glaze over cake in zigzag pattern. Let cake stand at room temperature until glaze sets, about 15 minutes. DO AHEAD Cake can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.

Recipe from Bon Appetit.

Comments

3 Responses to “Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake”

    paula on 1 July 18th, 2011 7:59 am

    I’ve figured out that I’m just not a fan of Bundt cakes. Not sure why, but they always seem to be disappointing to me. Maybe I’m just choosing the wrong recipes.

    Strawberries and juice (and whipped cream!) would save most cakes.

    Seanna Lea on 2 July 19th, 2011 8:14 am

    I’m with Paula on this one. I conceptually like bundt cakes, but I’m a woman who loves frosting on her cake over glaze and a bundt cake feels too much like a breakfast food.

    Tami@nutmegnotebook on 3 July 21st, 2011 12:44 pm

    I hate it when I make something that ends up not being fantastic! It sure looks pretty!