STEMS & FORKS

Beautiful musings of flora and fare.

Winter

Spiced Rum, Pecan, and Chocolate Bundt Cake

By

This recipe was sponsored by Paderno Kitchenware.

Paderno Kitchenware’s Fine-Edge Arch Cake Pan.

PADERNO Montgomery Chef’s Knife, 8-in
PADERNO Digital Kitchen Scale, 30-lb

Spiced Rum, Pecan and Chocolate Bundt Cake. This cake is super nutty and chocolately, mildly tipsy with a mellow touch of spice. It’s not a typical commercial bakery cake with a structured crumb. Rather an uber moist and delicious cake. Enjoy.

Spiced Rum, Pecan and Chocolate Bundt Cake

Serving Size:
10
Time:
15 min prep,
1 hour bake
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups or 295 g whole grain flour (NO SUBSTITUTES)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom 
  • 1 1/4 cup or 250 g white granulated sugar 
  • 1 cup vegetable oil 
  • 1 cup fancy molasses 
  • 5 large eggs room temperature 
  • 1/2 cup spiced rum 
  • 3/4 cup thick sour cream or Greek yogurt 
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk 
  • 1 1/2 cup or 185 grams chopped pecans 
  • 1 1/2 cup or 200 g semi-sweet chocolate chunks 
  • FOR THE ICING:
  • 1.5 cups or 185 g icing sugar 
  • 2 tablespoons spiced rum 
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
  • OPTIONAL:
  • 1 tablespoon icing sugar to sprinkle on top of frosting

Directions

  1. Take your 10” Fine-Edge Arch Paderno Bundt Pan and grease with baking spray OR brush 2 tablespoons of unsalted and softened butter (make sure you grease all the grooves and indents) and dust with AP flour. Discard the access flour and set pan aside. 
  2. Preheat oven to 350F with oven rack in middle. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole grain flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt and set aside. 
  3. In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, molasses, spiced rum, Greek Yogurt and buttermilk until a smooth. 
  4. Add the flour mix into the wet mix bowl slowly and whisk together for about 30 seconds. 
  5. Fold 1 1/4 cup pecans and 1 1/4 cup chocolate chunks into the batter. Do not over mix. 
  6. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chunks and 1/4 cup chopped pecans into the Paderno Bundt pan. 
  7. Pour batter into bundt pan and bake for 55-65 minutes. Or until a tester stick comes out mostly clean. 
  8. Allow pan to rest about 20 minutes. Invert onto coolling rack or plate and allow to completely cool. 
  9. FOR THE ICING: Whisk together the icing sugar, spiced rum and vanilla extract until smooth and glossy. Once the bundt has cooled, drizzle the icing over the top of the cake.
  10. Dust 1 table spoon icing sugar. (Optional) 

Chocolate and Orange Babka Wreath

By 8 Comments

Babka or brioche? My husband Pierre insists on calling this a brioche wreath. Wikipedia says babkas are traditionally used for Easter holidays in eastern European countries. In fact babka comes from the Polish word Baba for grandmother. And some researchers believe babka goes as far back to the Greek period of Homer based on anecdotal texts that mention sweet, yeast leavened bread similar to Babka. Brioche is a pastry (viennoiserie) with a high butter and egg content which gives it that tender butter rich crumb.  It origins date back to the early 1400’s in France. In any case, I don’t want to bore you with a history lesson. You’re here for a guaranteed holiday showstopper that tastes amazing. 

I fully admit that this recipe requires time and patience. Which is why it’s perfect for a special holiday like Christmas or Easter. Theres not much hands on prep time as there is time to wait for the dough to rise. 3 hours warm room temp or overnight in the fridge. Then another hour for the second rise. So if you came here looking for a quick treat, wrong recipe. This babka needs to be prepared in advance. But trust me it’s totally worth the wait.

…

Read More »