Apple Cider Chai Spice Bundt Cake #recipe by Mia P. Manansala @MPMtheWriter

This cake is simple, delicious, and a cold weather fave. Not only does it combine two of my favorite drinks (apple cider and chai), but it looks and tastes like a giant apple cider donut! There are still a few tweaks I’d like to try to up the apple cider flavor (maybe double the cider and boil to reduce to a syrup and concentrate the flavor? Add an apple cider glaze instead of the cinnamon sugar coating? Both?) and I think creating my own chai spice mix would be better than the jarred mix I used, but if you want a fairly impressive dessert without a lot of fuss, you should definitely give this a try!

Apple Cider Chai Spice Bundt Cake

Apple Cider Chai Spice Bundt Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 TBSP chai spice mix or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 TBSP baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable or coconut oil
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup apple cider
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar coating:

• 1/4 cup (half a stick) melted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon OR chai/pumpkin pie spice mix

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray and then dust with flour or use Baker’s Joy (my preference). Set aside.
2. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, spice mix, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar and oil. Mix to combine.
4. Add the eggs to the sugar mixture and mix on medium speed for about two minutes.
5. Add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix to combine.
6. With the mixer on low, add ⅓ of the flour mixture, followed by half of the apple cider. Continue alternating the flour mixture and the apple cider, finishing with the flour mixture. Mix until no streaks of flour remain.
7. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for about 50 minutes. The cake is done when a knife or chopstick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, but no batter.
8. Let the cake cool for at least an hour in the bundt pan before turning it over onto a cake plate or cooling rack.
9. Using a pastry brush, coat the cake in melted butter.
10. Mix the sugar and cinnamon for the coating and then sprinkle onto the top and sides of the cake.
11. Enjoy with a steaming cup of tea or a nice hot cider!

Mix the sugars and oil thoroughly, then add the eggs and mix until combined. Add applesauce and vanilla extract and mix for about two minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.

With the mixer on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture.

With the mixer still on low, add half the apple cider. Alternate adding the remaining flour and apple cider, finishing with the last third of the flour.

Once the cake batter is fully mixed, with no large clumps of flour, add to the prepared bundt pan and bake in a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 50 minutes. Check with a thin knife or chopstick--it's done when there's only a few moist crumbs on the utensil.

Let the cake cool for at least an hour, then flip out onto a plate. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and melt the butter for the coating.

Use a pastry brush to coat the whole cake with melted butter. Use all of the butter even though it seems like a lot at first!

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar all over. You might want to put your cake plate on top of an easy to clean surface since this part can get messy.

Enjoy!

My family isn't very big on pie, but they really enjoyed this cake on Thanksgiving! It'd make a great addition to any gathering, no matter what holidays you celebrate. Where do you fall in the Cake vs. Pie argument? Let me know in the comments!

If you liked this recipe, make sure you sign up for my newsletter! I include a Filipino-themed recipe every month, as well as giveaways and book recommendations!

 

Homicide and Halo-Halo (February 8, 2022)

Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie’s Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.

 

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can’t bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt’s Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.

 

To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila’s little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.

Pre-Order

 

Pre-order from Murder by the Book and get a signed bookplate, sticker, and bookmark!

The Cake Recipe Everyone Needs

Have people been making fun of your baking skills? Then this is the cake for you. Even if you're a decent baker, grab this recipe and stash it away. It's everything a basic cake should be. Perfect for family gatherings and pot lucks. Ideal for breakfast (ooh, with a little jam?), brunches, afternoon tea, and dessert.

It's the most basic cake you can imagine. And it's delicious plain. But it lends itself to all kinds of dressed up toppings. Powdered sugar, a milk and sugar drizzle, caramel pecan, chocolate, cream cheese, or even ice cream or fruit on the side.

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I had six bars of cream cheese in my fridge. I suspect a cheesecake will have to be baked. But first, I used one of them in this Bundt cake. The crumb of the cake is perfect. It cuts beautifully and tastes wonderful.

Now I can hear some of you groaning. One and a half sticks of butter? Has she lost her mind? Nope. Look at it this way, one stick of butter, two eggs, one cup flour. That doesn't sound quite so unreasonable does it? This is a Bundt cake. It's a big girl.

Check the cake with a cake tester after one hour. Mine wasn't done. It took exactly one hour and thirteen minutes. You don't want to over-bake it because it will get dry. So be sure to check it with a cake tester at the 60 to 70 minute mark.

And be sure you bake it at 325! Not 350.


Cream Cheese Pound Cake Bundt Cake

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), softened, plus extra for pan
6 eggs, room temperature
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 3/4 cups sugar + extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla (delicious even if you omit the vanilla)

Take the cream cheese, butter, and eggs out of the fridge to soften and come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325. Butter the Bundt pan well. Sprinkle with sugar as you would flour, all the way around the pan so it won't stick.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix well with a fork to combine.

Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Add the sugar and cream until very well combined. Add the eggs, beating after each one. Add the vanilla and beat. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture about half a cup at a time. Beat briefly to be sure everything is combined.

Spoon into the Bundt pan. When it has all been added, smooth the top. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes. Check with a cake tester to be sure it's done.

Let it rest for about ten minutes. Loosen the edges gently with a knife and flip onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool before adding any toppings.

Butter and sugar the pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Makes a nice thick batter.

Smooth the top before baking.

#Pear Bundt Cake by Ellie Alexander

Happy new year! One of the best things about living in Ashland, Oregon is that Harry and David is right up the road in nearby Medford. That means that everyone in my family gets a box of their world famous Royal Riviera pears for the holidays. Forget candy. These luscious, sweet pears are such a treat. However they don’t last long in my house, so I swiped a couple to test a new bundt cake recipe.

The next book in my Bakeshop Mysteries, Nothing Bundt Trouble, comes out this spring and I’ve been testing a variety of ways to bake the perfect bundt—including this recipe that starts with a basic vanilla cake mix and is layered with juicy pears. It’s so light and filled with spicy pear flavor that no one will believe it started from a mix!

Pear Bundt Cake:

Ingredients:
1 white or vanilla cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter melted
2 ripe pears

For the topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix and eggs in an electric mixer and beat on medium low until well combined. Add melted butter, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat on medium until batter is light and fluffy (approximately 3-5 minutes). Pour half of the batter into a greased bundt pan. Peel and dice pears. Spread on top of the batter. In a small mixing bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle over pears. Then pour remaining batter on the top. Spread evenly and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Invert bundt on cake plate and carefully free from pan. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve and enjoy warm or cool.

Coming June of 2020 the 11th book in the Bakeshop Mysteries, Nothing Bundt Trouble!

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Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Bundt Cake #Christmas #Recipe @PegCochran

 Merry Almost-Christmas!!

Are you done with your Christmas preparations yet?  Still shopping and wrapping? Don't feel bad if you're not ready yet.  We're actually in the middle of a kitchen renovation this week--timing was not our choice.  They were supposed to be done before Thanksgiving but kept having to delay it. If we'd waited till the new year it might have been spring before they had an opening so this week it is--they're ripping out the counters, backsplash and floor--all to be replaced.  

If you haven't finished your baking yet, and are looking for a dessert recipe, this chocolate and peppermint cake combines all the flavors of the holidays!  It's easy to make but festive enough for company.  And don't feel guilty about starting with a box mix--you already have more than enough to do!

Ingredients:

Cake

1 box Devil's Food chocolate cake mix

3/4 cup sour cream

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

4 large eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

1/2 cup Andes creme de menthe chips

Chocolate Ganache Topping

1 1/3 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup butter

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

1/4 cup or more Andes creme de menthe chips or crushed candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a bundt pan with cooking spray.

Beat together cake mix, sour cream, pudding mix, eggs, water, melted butter and peppermint extract.  Fold in Andes chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 25 minutes.  Remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache Topping

Pour chocolate chips into a bowl.

Melt butter over medium heat.  When just melted add heavy cream.  Stir with a wire whisk and heat until mixture barely boils. Stir in peppermint extract.  Pour over chocolate chips in bowl and stir until combined and smooth.  Let sit out to cool while cake bakes.

Pour or drizzle ganache over cake and top with Andes chips or crushed candy canes.   

OUT NOW!

Amazon review: "Murder, She Encountered by Peg Cochran is a terrific quasi-cozy mystery and a terrific read for anyone who likes WWII era fiction. One of the outstanding things about this book, which doesn't always happen, is that the author kept us solidly in 1939 New York between speech patterns, history happening in real time, and social history as it was happening....This was an excellent mystery and museum piece, both. I highly recommend it."

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

New York City, 1939. A rising star at the Daily Trumpet, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams has been sent to the World’s Fair—billed as the “World of Tomorrow,” a look toward a brighter future even as the drumbeats of war grow louder—to cover a robbery. What she stumbles upon instead is a dead woman, dumped into the Aquacade’s pool with a nylon stocking wrapped around her neck.

Elizabeth snaps a photo as the police arrest Joey Dorman, a gentle young hot dog vendor who made no secret of his obsession with the murder victim. Even though she’s thrilled that her photo makes the front page, the fear and confusion evident on Joey’s face are haunting. So Elizabeth vows to prove his innocence—or his guilt—with her partner at the Daily Trumpet, Ralph Kaminsky. Meanwhile, her romance with Detective Sal Marino is heating up, and Elizabeth is more determined than ever to follow her heart.

But when Kaminsky’s efforts to expose the real killer land him in the hospital, Elizabeth is forced to continue the investigation on her own. And as she tries to narrow down the long list of suspects, she discovers a dark secret running through the Fair—a secret some would kill to protect.

Saturday Cake

It finally happened. Not even a cookie crumb is left from the holidays! It seems almost sinful to be baking again already, but it has to happen sometime. My mom asked me what this cake is called. I said, "Vanilla and chocolate sour cream Bundt cake." She made a face and suggested we call it Saturday cake because we would be enjoying it on the weekend. So it's officially Saturday cake.

Bundt cakes always scare me a little bit because the volume of ingredients seems so extravagant. 3 cups of flour! But I always remind myself that it makes a very big cake, which is super if you need to feed a lot of people or you need it to last more than a few days.

This cake is really fairly basic. No fancy icings or fillings. But it's fun because it's two flavors and the chocolate part is hidden. Don't spread it around, but it's super simple. You just add melted semisweet chocolate to some of the batter. Couldn't be easier and it tastes great. I think it tastes better the second day, so this is a great cake to bake one day ahead of time. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Saturday Cake

unsalted butter for greasing
1/4 cup sugar for greasing
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup sour cream
2 ounces semisweet chocolate (for those using a Baker's bar, that's 1/2 the bar, not two squares)
powdered sugar

Bring butter and eggs to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large Bundt pan with butter. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup sugar as you would with flour. Shake the pan and rotate to cover the butter with the sugar.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well with a fork to combine. Set aside.

Cream the butter by itself for about a minute. Add the sugar and continue to cream, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the eggs and beat until thoroughly combined, about another 2 minutes. The dough should look smooth, not grainy. Add the vanilla and beat briefly to combine. Slowly add part of the flour mixture. Add part of the sour cream. Alternate adding flour and sour cream until both are combined. Scrape the bowl as necessary.

Drop spoonfuls of about 1/3 of the dough in the bottom of the prepared Bundt pan. Smooth the dough together with a spoon or your fingers. Remove about 1/3 of the remaining dough from the mixing bowl and place in the bowl you used for the flour.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts. When it's mostly melted, stir with a fork to melt the rest. Pour into the batter that is still in the mixing bowl and beat to combine. Scrape and repeat as necessary. Spoon the chocolate batter on top of the bottom batter and spread with a spoon or your finger. Avoid getting it too close to the outer edge.

Add the remaining batter that is in the flour bowl on top of the chocolate layer. Smooth together. Bake 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Leave in Bundt pan for at least ten to fifteen minutes before turning out onto a plate. When cool, dust with powdered sugar.

All the batter.

1/3 of the batter with chocolate!

Fill with a layer of the vanilla batter.

Add a chocolate layer and cover with the remaining vanilla batter.

The bottom immediately after baking.

Yum!

Coming in February!!!

Apple Spice Bundt Cake

Sheila Connolly and I have an unofficial cake baking challenge going on. It's unofficial because we didn't plan it. We just seem to be on the same wavelength. Okay, I admit that I coveted her Bundt cake last Friday. My little loaf cake disappeared in a snap. I needed to bake something that would last longer.

And I needed something for a mini-roadtrip. Someone (not naming any names) has to eat every few hours, so we need something on hand to nibble on.

Sticking with the Bundt cake concept, I baked an apple cake. There's a lot of sugar in it, but (maybe because it's big?) it's not overly sweet. It's just about right. The chopped apples keep it nicely moist.

I used both oil, which makes cake moister, and melted butter because butter adds a special flavor and crumb that oil just can't quite duplicate.

You can change around the spices to suit yourself, of course.

I dusted it with powdered sugar just before serving, but you could make a white lemon drizzle if you like that better.

Part of this is really sort of a dump cake. A lot of ingredients go into the mixer together. The time-consuming part is really just peeling and chopping the apples and other prep work.

Apple Spice Bundt Cake

2-3 tablepoons sugar
butter for greasing pan
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
3 cups chopped apples (about 2 1/4 average size apples)
2-3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup mild flavored cooking oil
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. 

Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Grease a Bundt pan with the butter and use 2-3 tablespoons of sugar (instead of flour) to dust it.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a bowl. Stir with a fork or a whisk to combine. Set aside.

Peel and core the apples. Chop them into chunks and place them in a bowl. Sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar and toss to combine. Add the lemon juice and toss again. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, 1 cup dark brown sugar, three eggs, oil, and melted butter. Beat for 3 minutes on medium speed.

On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until it is just combined. It will seem a little too thick. Pour in the apples and mix on lowest speed (stir).

Bake 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes before loosening the edges and flipping.

Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

Chop apples and mix with brown sugar and lemon.

Mix flour and spices.

Spoon into pan and smooth.

Fresh from the oven!