Samoa Bundt Cake

I got this recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen, you can find the original recipe HERE. This cake was delicious but it was tough to make it look good! One of my favorite things about cooking & baking is making the food look as good as it tastes... well, on that note, this cake was frustrating!! I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you have that might improve this cake! Regardless of its appearance, this cake was spectacular to eat! It was the perfect blend of chocolate & caramel with little hints of coconut!

Orange & Cranberry Bundt Cake

I made this Bundt Cake for Mother's day brunch way back in May, before I started blogging! Well, this recipe has been on my 'to post' list since the very first day I started blogging! I FINALLY got around to whipping this cake together again & now I'm here to share it with you! :) I got this recipe from That's My Home & you can find it HERE.

Start by prepping your bundt cake pan - do this by spraying it with cooking spray or buttering it and lightly flouring it. Next, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar into the bottom of the bundt cake pan and 1/4 cup of frozen or fresh cranberries (I use frozen cranberries).

In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar.

Add in 3 eggs, one a time - stirring well between each added egg. Stir in the zest and juice of one orange. [After zesting 1 orange, you should have about about a tablespoon of zest. I recommend rolling your orange around on a counter top before juicing it - this makes juicing the orange easier!]

Once the orange zest and juice are stirred in, mix in 1 cup of sour cream.

Next, add in 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Once the dry ingredients are well mixed in, stir 1 1/4 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries into the batter. When the cranberries are well incorporated, Pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 - 55 minutes. When the cake is done, let it cool for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the pan and transferring it to a wire cooling rack. When the cake is completely cool, you can glaze it. The glaze that I use is - 1 cup of icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of orange juice mixed together. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and enjoy!

ORANGE & CRANBERRY BUNDT CAKE
ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
zest of one orange
juice of one orange
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cranberries (frozen or fresh)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

for the glaze...
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice

directions
1. Prepare bundt cake pan by spraying it with cooking spray or buttering it and lightly flouring it. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar in the bottom of the pan, then pour in 1/4 cup of the cranberries into the bottom of the pan.
2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well between the addition of each egg.
3. Add in orange zest and juice and 1 cup of sour cream.
4. Once the orange zest, juice and sour cream are well incorporated, mix in flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Finally, stir in the remaining 1 1/4 cups of cranberries and pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan.
6. Bake the cake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
7. Mix the icing sugar and orange juice together in a small bowl to make the glaze, wait until the cake is completely cool before drizzling the glaze over it.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Lemon Bundt Cake

This Lemon Bundt Cake disappears fast in my house! I found the recipe for this Cake over at Simply Suzanne's Blog & I made a couple of changes but if you are interested, you can find the original recipe HERE.

You will need 3 lemons for this recipe. Start by zesting & juicing the lemons. When I juice lemons, I put a strainer over the bowl I am juicing into to catch all of the seeds and pulp.

Mince the lemon zest down - I did this by pushing the lemon zest against the bottom of the dish with a spoon (I had about 3-4 tablespoons of lemon zest after mincing). Mix the minced lemon zest with 4-5 tablespoons of lemon juice. Set aside the remaining lemon juice for the glaze. [*NOTE The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of lemon zest mixed with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice BUT I was hoping a strong lemony flavor so I used a little more of each and it still didn't end up being all that strong!]

Set the lemon zest/juice mixture aside as you mix the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix together 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of salt. Once I had the dry ingredients combined, I transferred them to a smaller dish because they would be added later and I wanted to re-use the same mixing bowl to minimize dishes.

After the dry ingredients are mixed, stir together 3/4 cup of buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the lemon zest/juice mixture you made before. I did this in a small mixing bowl.

Whisk together 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk and set aside.

Then, using the medium mixing bowl you had previously used to mix the dry ingredients, beat together 1 1/8 cups of softened butter and 2 cups of granulated sugar using an electric mixer.

After my butter and sugar were whipped together, I set up my other prepped ingredients next to me as there is a sort of pattern at which they get mixed into the butter/sugar combo. In the picture above, I have the buttermilk/vanilla/lemon mixture in the bowl with the green spatula, I have the 3 eggs/1 egg yolk beaten together in the small teal dish and the flour/baking soda/baking powder/salt mixture in the white dish.

Add half of the beaten eggs into the sugar/butter combo and mix until smooth, add the remaining egg and continue to mix until all the egg has been well incorporated.

Once the egg has been added in, add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix with the electric mixer until smooth. Then, add 1/3 of the buttermilk/vanilla/lemon mixture and mix until smooth. Continue this process until all of the ingredients have been well combined. Once I was done mixing with the electric mixer, I used a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and give everything one final mix.

Prep your Bundt Cake pan by buttering and lightly flouring it or spraying it with cooking spray.

Then, pour the cake batter into the pan and use a spoon or spatula to even out the top of the cake.

Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The cake will most likely need closer to 50 minutes but I recommend beginning to check your cake after the 40 minute mark. Once an inserted knife comes out clean the cake is good to go! Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before using a knife to gently pull the cake away from the sides of the pan and turning it upside down onto a plate.

For the glaze, stir together 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of milk and 2 cups of icing sugar. Pour half of the glaze over the cake as soon as it has been removed from the pan.

Leave the cake to cool completely for about an hour, then drizzle the rest of the glaze over the cake.

LEMON BUNDT CAKE
ingredients
for the cake
3 lemons, zested and juiced (3-4 tablespoons of lemon zest and 4-5 tablespoons of lemon zest)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup battermilk
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/8 cup butter, softened (2 1/4 sticks)
2 cups granulated sugar

for the glaze
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon milk
2 cups icing sugar

directions
1. Zest and Juice lemons into 2 separate small bowls. Mince the lemon zest (I had about 3-4 tablespoons of lemon zest after mincing). Mix the minced lemon zest with 4-5 tablespoons of lemon juice. Set aside the remaining lemon juice for the glaze.
2. Set the lemon zest/juice mixture aside as you mix the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
3. Stir together buttermilk, vanilla extract and the lemon zest/juice mixture in a small mixing bowl.
4. Whisk together eggs and egg yolk in a small dish and set aside.
5.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat together softened butter and granulated sugar using an electric mixer.
6. Add half of the beaten eggs into the sugar/butter combo and mix until smooth, add the remaining egg and continue to mix until all the egg has been well incorporated.
7. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix with the electric mixer until smooth. Then, add 1/3 of the buttermilk/vanilla/lemon mixture and mix until smooth. Continue this process until all of the ingredients have been well combined.
8. Prep your Bundt Cake pan by buttering and lightly flouring it or spraying it with cooking spray. Then, pour the cake batter into the pan and use a spoon or spatula to even out the top of the cake.
9. Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once an inserted knife comes out clean the cake is ready. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before using a knife to gently pull the cake away from the sides of the pan and turning it upside down onto a plate.
10. For the glaze, stir together lemon juice, milk and icing sugar. Pour half of the glaze over the cake as soon as it has been removed from the pan. Then, after about an hour of letting the cake cool completely drizzle the remaining glaze over the top of the cake.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Key Lime Bundt Cake

This recipe is originally from Life in the Lofthouse. I have been on a bit of a bundt cake kick lately and my family especially loves the citrus ones I've made, so I was excited to find this key lime one!

Start adding 3/4 cup of softened butter to a medium sized bowl. I usually soften my butter by putting it in a warm glass dish or by microwaving it for 5 seconds at a time.

Mix in 1 3/4 cups of granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of lime zest. Note: 1 Lime will produce about 2 tablespoons of lime zest.

Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time and stir in 1/4 cup of key lime juice. The original recipe calls for fresh key lime juice, but I used bottled key lime juice and didn't have any problems. Finally, stir in 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk.

Stir in 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk.. Then pour the cake batter into a greased 12 cup bundt cake pan. Bake the cake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for 10 to 20 before removing it from the pan and transferring it to a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before pouring the glaze over it.

For the glaze, mix together 2 1/2 cups of icing sugar, 3 tablespoons of key lime juice, and 1 tablespoon of milk. Drizzle this mixture over the cooled bundt cake. I halved the glaze recipe, because I had a feeling it would make a lot and I ended up having enough with half, but if you like more glaze then go for the whole recipe!

KEY LIME BUNDT CAKE
Ingredients:
for the cake:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons Key Lime Zest (or regular lime zest)
3 eggs
1/4 cup of key lime juice
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 buttermilk

for the glaze:
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons key lime juice
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:  
1. Cream together butter, granulated sugar and key lime zest.
2. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in in Key Lime Juice, flour, baking soda and buttermilk.
3. Pour batter into greased 12 cup bundt cake pan and bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes.
4. Let the cake cool for 10- 20 minutes before removing from pan. While the cake is cooling, mix together the icing sugar, key lime juice and milk in a small bowl. When the cake is completely cool, drizzle the glaze over it.

Enjoy!
Kenzie