dainty

It's here! National Bundt Day has arrived!

This year, I perused the baking section of the library to see what I could find. Strangely, there weren't too many cakes that were listed in the indices as 'bundts'. And cookbooks are one thing that is still quite popular in library nonfiction sections, thus there are many, many, many on the shelves, so I wasn't about to look at every 'cake' listing... yeah, laziness. But Julia (and, consequently, Dorie) didn't fail me and has provided for this year's contribution to this fabulous holiday.

The Crème
3/4 c heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
5 large egg yolks, room temp
3 T sugar

Pour cream into a medium saucepan; split and scrape bean, adding seeds and pod to pot. Bring to just a boil on low. Meanwhile, whisk yolks and sugar to blend, then continue whisking while over a pot of simmering water. Yolks will become pale and hot. Remove from heat and gradually add cream (pod and all).

Put bowl over hot water again and let sit (heat is off), whisking occasionally for about 5 to 10 minutes until thick. Then move bowl to an ice bath and continue to whisk occasionally until cool. Strain and cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.The Cake

1½ c sugar + 3 T for sprinkling on crème at the end

1 c flour

3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t b. powder

1 t b. soda

¼ t salt

4 large eggs, separated

½ c oil

½ c water

1 t vanilla

2 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350º and butter and flour a 10 cup Bundt pan.

Sift together 1 cup sugar, flour, cocoa, powder, soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk yolks, oil, water and vanilla until blended. Whisk the dry ingredients into yolk mixture gradually. Set aside.

Beat the 6 egg whites on low until foamy, then increase speed to medium and add ½ cup sugar slowly until whites hold peaks. Fold 1/3 of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold yolk mixture into the rest of the whites.

Pour batter into pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool at least 25 minutes before unmolding, then allow to cool completely.

Once cooled, place cake on a large plate and drizzle the crème over the top, followed by a sprinkling of sugar. Pull out your torch and gently caramelize. Serve immediately.

My notes: Mine took the 40 minutes to bake and managed to fall mightily once I took it out of the oven. It didn't really ruin the cake, though, and it still looks great when you plate it. We had a little trouble getting it to properly brûlée, but then we're used to doing that to custard in a dish where it doesn't melt down the sides...

My biggest disappointment with this whole thing? Not being able to take good pictures: lighting was poor and timing was a struggle. *sigh*

The crème by itself is a beautiful thing.

Book recommendation: Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper
Recipe recommendation: Crème Brûléed Chocolate Bundt
YouTube recommendation: Jim Gaffigan - Cake