My Orange Glazed Citrus Bundt Cake recipe is the perfect blend of sweet and tangy, and it’s guaranteed to satisfy your cravings.
I’m ashamed to say that it took a worldwide pandemic to get me baking again. Ralph and I have been social distancing going into our third week. Like all of you, we’re starting to go bat shit crazy! I’ve cleaned every closet, drawer and room in the house. I’ve reorganized my pantry, cooking equipment, cookbooks, china, glassware and groceries. Poor Ralph can’t find anything! Now comes the discipline.
To ensure that I don’t slip into some kind of mental breakdown, I have to commit to creating some kind of meaningful schedule to my day. Two days ago, I jumped off a cliff and posted my first live cooking video on Facebook. My business partner Elizabeth Rowe and I had talked about doing something together before we realized that we would not be seeing each other for an indefinite amount of time. I started sharing recipes from the restaurant via Instagram and Facebook. The response was unbelievably heartwarming.
We all love to eat. Some of us love to cook. Together we can pass a bit of our day connecting with each other by discussing food. For me, to hear from you in any way is fuel for my heart. Any question, photos of your creations or just, ‘hello’ means more than I can explain.
It’s been ages since I’ve baked at home. In fact, it’s been ages since I’ve baked anything because I have two bakers at the restaurant. When I was reorganizing my bakeware, I came across my beautiful kugelhopf mold. I bought it 35 years ago. When I saw it I was inspired to bake this cake. While the cake was cooling on the kitchen counter, Ralph walked in and said, “you made a bundt cake”. Later in the afternoon, I was facetiming with Liz. I showed her the finished cake and she said, “you made a bundt cake.” Unbeknownst to me, my kugelhopf is a bundt.
As cakes go, this is an easy recipe. I use buttermilk in most of my baking because I love the tangy flavour. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, place 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in the bottom of a one cup liquid measure then fill the cup with whole milk. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Have fun with this cake and shoot me a photo so I can see your finished product.
Orange Glazed Citrus Bundt Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened – in a pinch you can use salted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups unbleached, all purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt – if you used salted butter decrease this amount to 1/2 teaspoon
- 1 cup buttermilk
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- grated zest of 1 large orange – I use navel oranges
- Juice of 1 lemon
THE STEPS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 10 inch tube pan
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. You want the mixture to be light and fluffy.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with buttermilk. Add lemon and orange zest and lemon juice.
4. Pour batter into prepared tube pan. Set on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until cake pulls away from sides of pan and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. I check my cake at 1 hour. You want the crust to be tender so don’t over bake your cake.
5. Place the cake pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully run a butter knife around the cake anywhere the cake is touching the pan to ensure that its loose. Remove cake from pan and place it upside down to cool an additional 45 minutes.
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup icing/confection sugar
- enough orange juice to make a thick but still runny glaze – about 1/4 cup
THE STEPS:
- Place ingredients in a small bowl and mix well
- Pour glaze over cake and let it run down the sides.
- Allow cake to cool completely before serving.
THE LOVE: The secret to all cakes is to not over bake. I think a lot of cooks fear their cake will be under done so they give it extra time in the oven. When your bundt cake is close to the recommended time, test it. Use a wooden skewer. If the skewer comes out dry your cake is done. Tender cake is the bomb!
Stay safe.
xo
