Tuesdays with Dorie: Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake
January 25, 2011 at 12:01 am | Posted in bundt cakes, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 21 Comments
It’s cold. So cold that I don’t want to go outside. So cold that I just want to stay at home and bake all day. And that’s just how I spent this past Saturday. First up was this Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake. It’s kind of a cross between a pound cake and a coffee cake…a pound cake-type base with a swirls of sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts and chocolate running through. Dorie’s recipe also calls for raisins, but since I don’t normally go for fruit and chocolate combos, I left them out entirely. However, to totally contradict what I just said, I did add the orange zest (actually I used tangerine), and liked the gentle citrus flavor a lot.
A word of warning…making the cake was easy, making the swirl was easy, but combining them was not. I read about sticking, so I was careful not to let the first layer of the sugar-based swirl mix come in contact with the pan. That wasn’t too tricky, but then when I added the second and final layer of swirl, the cake batter was so stiff, I really couldn’t easily work it over the swirl to cover it. Not wanting to bake it with exposed swirlage (because it would fall out when I flipped the cake), I popped the cake in the oven for about three minutes, until the batter just started to soften. Then it was a breeze to get that swirl covered up with batter.
My husband asked for “big pieces” of this cake. We both liked how it had a nice outer crust with soft cake inside. And course cinnamon, nuts and chocolate, too!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here on NPR) or read Cooking for Comfort, as it was Jennifer’s pick this week. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
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Ditto on the cold! I’m dreaming of warm days on the beach to hold me over 🙂 Your cake is gorgeous! Good call on sticking it in the oven for a few minutes so you could spread the batter. I thought it was nearly impossible to get the swirl covered.
Comment by Tracey— January 25, 2011 #
Steph, your cake looks wonderful! What a fun way to spend a cold Saturday. Love the request for “big pieces”. Ha! Great photo!
Comment by Nina— January 25, 2011 #
Ditto on the cold weather. I am SO sick of the snow and ice and ready for spring already!
Your cake looks great.
Comment by Mary— January 25, 2011 #
Agreed…we are freezing here, too. Makes me want to bake and cook all day as well. Looks lovely.
Comment by Pamela— January 25, 2011 #
Your swirl turned out really great! And, I love staying inside and baking on cold days!
Comment by yummychunklet— January 25, 2011 #
Hello, again! I wanted to let you know that I’ve awarded you a “Stylish Blogger Award” via my blog! Congratulations!
Comment by yummychunklet— January 26, 2011 #
what a great idea on popping the cake into the oven to soften up! this looks delightfully delicious!
Comment by crustabakes— January 25, 2011 #
So pretty! It’s freezing here too (NYC). I had the same issue with second step of the swirl!
Comment by Jessica— January 25, 2011 #
I made minis and loved them because I could leave that old chocolate completely out of one of them just for me! A whole little cake all to myself and it is sooooooooooooo goooooooooooood! Great photo of it.
Comment by Kayte— January 25, 2011 #
Glad your husband liked it! It looks great.
Comment by Jodie— January 25, 2011 #
That’s a great swirl-covering hack…mine dumped all over the counter! Your bundt looks lovely and perfectly swirled.
Comment by Jessica— January 25, 2011 #
It looks absolutely perfect! Nice trick to covering that last swirl layer! 😉
Comment by Jessica of My Baking Heart— January 25, 2011 #
Great idea to pop this in the oven. I had a hard time too but just left it exposed. No raisins here either. Your cake looks delicious!
Comment by Karen— January 25, 2011 #
This looks really moist and delicious! I’ve got to bookmark this one to try for sure.
Comment by Allison— January 25, 2011 #
Glad you both enjoyed! I also loved the crunchy outside/soft inside combo.
Comment by Amber Marie— January 25, 2011 #
I thought my cake had gotten really hard overnight, then I realized that it was a crust. And I LOVED that part of it-well, I loved the whole cake! Your cake looks spectacular and thank you for baking along with me!
Comment by juju73— January 25, 2011 #
Oooh, yours is perfecto! I left out the orange but I might have to try it again with it.
Your choco mousse cake looks pretty darn good too.
Comment by Jacque— January 25, 2011 #
Totally agree on the tricky second round of swirl. Yours seriously turned out fabulous! I too loved the hint of citrus.
Comment by Becky O.— January 26, 2011 #
Great idea about the softening. As always, your cake looks great. So happy that you and your husband liked it.
Comment by dorie— January 27, 2011 #
Your cake is so cute! The flavour combination sounds delish 🙂
Comment by cath1991— January 29, 2011 #
Looks absolutely wonderful and of course, super delish.
Comment by Eliana— January 30, 2011 #