Every year, on November 15th we celebrate National Bundt Cake Day!
It's a time when even I-a bundt lover that can get too busy sometimes to bake the beloved cake-take a moment to dust of the famed fluted cake pans to bake up a treat to honor this cake that has meant something to my family and the region where I'm from.
While not the official cake of the South since it's just a shape, Bundt Pans provide the perfect vessel for the dense, buttery pound cakes that are an official Southern staple.
Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I've been thinking of my dad's recent harvest of sweet potatoes, unlike last year's Fruit Loops cake for National Bundt Cake Day, this year I am going more seasonal and traditional with a Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with a Brown Butter Glaze. Two bites of this cake and I already know that its about to be a new fall-time tradition in my home.
Sweet Potato Bundt Cake Recipe
I modified this version of my recipe to use a can of sweet potatoes instead of roasting or cooking fresh ones. This shortcut saves times and lets you get a cake in the oven much faster, and my tastebuds can testify that you don’t lose any taste or moisture!
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 29oz can of cut sweet potatoes in syrup, drained and then mashed (yields 2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes).
4 large eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice mix
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare your Bundt Pan with Butter and Flour, or a baking spray with flour.
2. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar.
3. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat after each addition.
5. Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
6. Into the sweet potato mixture, add one third of the flour mixture at a time, making sure the flour is well incorporated before the next addition of flour.
7. Once all flour is added to the sweet potato mixture, pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a knife or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool in the pan at least 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before glazing.
9. While the cake is resting in the pan, in a bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Stir well to combine and make a tight glaze, adding more orange juice 1/2 teaspoon at a time to achieve a pourable consistency.
10.Turn out onto a wire rack. While the cake is still warm, drizzle the orange-sugar glaze to evenly coat. Cool completely before cutting.
Brown Butter Glaze Recipe
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
6 tablespoons whole milk (may need more to get to pouring consistency)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
Allow the butter to melt, undisturbed, until the milk solids begin to brown. It takes about 5 minutes. Keep watch the entire time because it will go from simmer, to boil, to brown to blackened VERY quickly! When ready, the butter will turn golden brown and have a nutty aroma with brown bits on the bottom.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lightly cooled brown butter together and stir to combine. It should be clumpy.
Pour in one tablespoon of milk and the vanilla extract.
Next, add the milk one tablespoon at until the glaze is at your desired spreading consistency.
I like it to be thick enough to land on the cake and sit on the top, but some like it thinner to pour down the sides of the cake. Since its your cake, play around and do it how you like! As Tabitha Brown says “that’s your business!”
Comments