Naked Bundts

In my family I'm known as the "Cake Guy". I decorate fancy cakes for everyone's special occasions. There's nothin I enjoy more than piping rich buttercream, spreading decadent cream cheese frosting or dolloping fluffy boozed-up whipped cream between layers of tender, flavorful cake layers, and on top too.

But there are a coupla folks I cook for who aren't sweets enthusiasts and they prefer their birthday cakes less sugary, and not as candy-like. For instance, Dad likes plain cupcakes (he likes the portion-control), and his wife enjoys berry shortcakes.

I've got a virtual library of naked bundt cakes that I've made over the years. Most are recipes I've stolen from co-workers, friends- or enemies, while a few are ones I've developed myself. Here is one of my favorties. (What are YOUR fav naked cakes?)



Bourbon-Banana Bundt

1 c. butter, softened

One 8oz. pkg. cream cheese

2 overly-ripe bananas (the blacker the banana- the better!)

1 t. vanilla

6 T. cocoa powder

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. sugar

½ t. salt

4 T. bourbon

5 eggs

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour one 10” Bundt or tube pan.

Cream together butter, cream cheese, bananas, vanilla, cocoa, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and bourbon.

Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each one.

Sift flour and baking powder together, then mix into batter. Beat on medium speed about 3 minutes.

Bake at 325 for 70 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool slightly on slightly-damp tea towel and then invert on to a plate. Cool completely. Serve at room-temp or chilled. (This cake is heavy, dense and so yummy by itself that frosting or glaze is just a complete waste of time!)

ahhhhhh - naked buns!

OOOPS! I mean - naked BUNDTS!

(bad mama.......LOL)

Gonna try this one!

mama, you're a devil-vixen-Jezabel!

A friend recently asked about "Hummingbird Cake". Although I've always heard of it- I have no personal first-hand experience w/ it... but I did find out it is a Southern Tradition, from what I understand, though I cannot recall ever having tasted one.

Along w/ Lady Baltimore Cake and Red Velvet Cake (which many argue has roots that even predate its Southern popularity- some even say it's from the Waldorf-Astoira in NYC- of all places!)

Has anyone ever gotten their hands on this book?

Amazon.com: Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations: Nancie McDermott: Books

I've come close to getting it more than once, but truth be told, I'm really hard on books and tend to require hard-covers for their durability. And this one's a soft-cover, which is the only thing that's held me back...

I have a fascination w/ Red Velvet Cake. Can't explain it, but the whole idea of it is just so sexy to me (for lack of a better word!). I'd love to know more about it, but there really doesn't seem to be as much info out there as my own brain thinks there oughtta be! A cake w/ a name like "Red Velvet" in my mind oughtta have a reputation that it worked hard to earn- though if there is one, I've been unable to uncover it!

Well Kevin now you got me wondering what in the heck is a hummingbird cake, and I bet I might like it, did you know a hummingbird is one of my favorite subjects to paint?!? YEP sure is! A little fact you really needed to know huh! LOL

Kevin I must sadly admit I abhor Red Velvet Cake , I think I would not hate it so much if you did not have to add mega amounts of red food coloring-I just despise anything edible with that much food coloring added and it is a real turn-off to me. Plus the cakes flavor is not anything spectacular (Just my opinion) So that Red-Velvet cake sexiness is a foreign thought to me (don't mean to sound like a Party-Pooper, but a Black-Velvet Cake would sound a whole lots sexier to me) It just tastes strange......then
These folks I know round these here parts that yammer on and on 'bout Red Velvet cake being so delicious can have the whole darn thang an eat it too!!! Just as long as they don't go 'spectin me to eat a piece with 'em

Here's me newest bumper sticker idea = "Red Velvet Cake you can have the whole cake and eat it too I DON'T Want NONE"

A Victorian cake recipe that is truly exceptional. The perfect cake to take to gatherings...it's easy, freezes well, serves many, and it doesn't actually contain any hummingbirds!

3 cups All-purpose flour
2 cups Sugar
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 8oz Can crushed pinapple with juice
1 cup Cooking oil
3 large Eggs well beaten
2 cups Bananas (3 bananas) chopped
1 cup Walnuts or pecans finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
Glaze:
1 tblspoon Butter or margarine melted
1 cup Sifted powdered sugar



Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a 10" tube or a fluted tube pan.
To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Next remove 2 Tablespoons of juice from the can of pinapple. Set this juice aside for the glaze
To the flour mixture, add the can of pinapple, the oil, eggs, banana, nuts, and vanilla. Stir until just blended. Do not beat.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the 325 degree oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the pan from the cake. Cool completely.
To make the glaze: In a small bowl combine the melted butter or margarine with the powdered sugar. Add enough of the reserved pinapple juice to make a glaze of drizzling consistancy. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. For a glaze with a whole new dimension, try substituting rum for the pinapple juice.


Red Velvet Cake

CAKE
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 oz red food coloring

ICING
1 stick butter (1/4 c)
8 oz cream cheese
1 box confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup very finely chopped toasted nuts

Preheat oven to 375°F. Blend eggs, sugar, and cooking oil until light and fluffy. Sift dry ingredients three times (important!). Add one teaspoon vinegar to the buttermilk. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately. Beat for 3 minutes, using electric mixer. Add red food coloring and vanilla.

Bake in two 8-inch or 9-inch pans at 375°F for about 35 minutes. Let cool until very cold.

Icing:
Cream butter and cream cheese; add sugar slowly and beat after each addition. Mix in vanilla and nuts. Spread on cooled cake.



Lady Baltimore Cake

1 cup butter
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3 1/2 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking owder
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup water


Use electric mixer, if possible, cream butter, add 2 cups sugar gradually
and beat until the consistency of whipped cream. Add eggs, one at a time,
and beat thoroughly.

Sift baking powder and flour three times and add alternately with milk,
using a wooden spoon for blending. Baked in two 11 inch greased cake pans in 350° oven 30 minutes.

Make a thick syrup of 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Flavor with
almond and vanilla. Spread this over your layers as soon as you remove them
from the pan.

Frosting
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
2 egg whites (beaten stiff)
2 teaspoons corn syrup
2 cups seeded raisins
2 cups pecans or walnuts
12 figs
Almond and vanilla extract


Mix sugar, water and syrup. Cook until it forms a firm ball in cold water.
Pour gradually into the stiff egg whites, beating constantly. Now add
raisins, pecan nuts, and figs cut fine. Raisins and figs may be soaked
overnight in small amount of sherry or brandy, if desired. Add almond and
vanilla extracts to taste. Spread between layers, on top and sides of cake.




Lord Baltimore Cake

3/4 c Butter; softened
1-1/4 c Sugar
8 Egg yolks
2-1/2 c Cake flour; sifted
1/4 ts Salt
1 tb Baking powder
3/4 c Milk
1/2 ts Almond extract
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
1/2 ts Lemon extract


Cream butter; gradually add sugar; beat until fluffy. Beat egg yolks until
thick and slowly add to the mixture.

Mix together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder and add alternately
with the milk. Add extracts. Pour mixture into 3 greased and floured 9-inch
layer pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Invert pans and continue cooling.
Frost with Lord Baltimore Frosting.

Lord Baltimore Frosting

Yield: 12 Servings

3 c Sugar
3/4 c Water
1/4 ts Cream of tartar
4 Egg whites
2 ts Vanilla extract
1/4 ts Lemon extract
2 ts Orange juice
1/4 c Candied fruits mixed fruits-chopped
1/4 c Toasted almonds; slice
1/4 c Pecans; chop
1/4 c Macaroon crumbs

Cook sugar, water and cream of tartar in a heavy saucepan to the soft ball
stage (238 degrees on a candy thermometer). Beat egg whites until still
peaks form. Slowly add sugar mixture to egg whites in a steady stream,
beating constantly. Mix in vanilla, lemon extract and orange juice. Divide
mixture in half. Add mixed candied fruits, toasted almonds, pecans and
macaroon to one half. Spread between the layers. Use remaining icing to
cover top and sides of cake.

NICE, mama! Thank you! Wow...

And Cath- I hear ya on the red velvet thang... it's just that I want to like it- or at least like the idea of it! A cake like that ought to have an interesting history- but I just don't think there is one. Why can't someone at least make one up and say they discovered it in some old wooden trunk up in their attic along w/ their great-great-grandma's recipes and Civil War era sewing thimble collection? Ha!

I have a co-worker who is marrying in Sept. Her colors are red & white. Her flowers are red roses, and her dress is a "different" but beautiful white gown w/ some red on the torso and veil (sounds whacko, but trust me, it's lovely!). I talked her into having a red velvet wedding cake. She is actually originally from Louisiana too so I thought it'd be perfect for her! She couldn't believe she'd not thought of that before- neither could I! The good part is, she actually likes red velvet cake too. So it's a perfect fit for her.

Here's a link to Alicia's dress!

David's Bridal - Satin A-line with scalloped sweetheart neckline and beaded lace.

Cathy - all that red food coloring is more than a turn-off - butyou can do it this way:

Red Velvet Cake - made with beets

1 1/4 cups oil
15 oz. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups beets, cooked, mashed and cooled
15 oz. flour, sifted
3 oz. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt

Cream oil, sugar and vanilla together; add in eggs. Add mashed beets; mix to blend. Set aside.

Sift together three times all dry ingredients; add to beet mixture. Mix for 2 minutes on med-high speed, scraping bowl from time-to-time.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool completely; frost with cream cheese icing.

There is a lot of controversy about the origins of the Red Velvet Cake - one being that back in the 1920's a woman started passing out a recipe for a cake she had enjoyed while dining at the Waldorf-Astoria during her travels. Upon returning home she wrote to the WA and requested the recipe which they politely sent her along with a bill for something like $250 or $350 - which she had to pay. So her way of "getting even" with the WA for this was to print out tons of the recipe and hand it out to everyone and anyone. It's also been dubbed the $100 cake, the $250 cake, etc.

Some feel that the Devil's Food Cake should look a bit more devilish and that is why all the red food coloring is added to the recipe.

The Devil's Food Cake is also known as Red Velvet Cake, Red Devil's Cake, Waldorf-Astoria Cake, $100 Cake, etc. Devil's Food Cakes were originally red. It's recipe started to circulate around the 1900's. It died down in the 70's because of the cancer thing and is now back inpopularity.

The Angel Food Cake came around in the late 19th century. Some say it was a spin off of the Sponge Cake, Silver Cake, Cornstarch Cake or Snow Drift Cake. No shortening and no leavening was used and many believe that it was most likely first baked by the African-american slaves from the South because it required a strong beating arm and tons of labor to whip the air into it. When rotary beaters came into being in the later 1800's, angel Food Cakes became more popular - light, white and food for the angels.

The Silver Cake required a dozen egg whites to be beaten very light, a pound of butter and a pound of confectioners' sugar - creamed very light - add the whites, yeast powder, flour, sweet milk, etc. and was usually flavored with almond or peach flavoring.

chubbyalaskagriz said:

NICE, mama! Thank you! Wow...

And Cath- I hear ya on the red velvet thang... it's just that I want to like it- or at least like the idea of it! A cake like that ought to have an interesting history- but I just don't think there is one. Why can't someone at least make one up and say they discovered it in some old wooden trunk up in their attic along w/ their great-great-grandma's recipes and Civil War era sewing thimble collection? Ha!

I have a co-worker who is marrying in Sept. Her colors are red & white. Her flowers are red roses, and her dress is a "different" but beautiful white gown w/ some red on the torso and veil (sounds whacko, but trust me, it's lovely!). I talked her into having a red velvet wedding cake. She is actually originally from Louisiana too so I thought it'd be perfect for her! She couldn't believe she'd not thought of that before- neither could I! The good part is, she actually likes red velvet cake too. So it's a perfect fit for her.

Here's a link to Alicia's dress!

David's Bridal - Satin A-line with scalloped sweetheart neckline and beaded lace.

Click to expand...

Oh my gosh that dress is absolutley beautiful, I love it!!!! Thanks for sharing with us Kevin. Do you remember a movie about a southern wedding called "Steel Magnolia's" I believe (my memory sucks) there was a red-velvet cake in that movie it was the grooms cake and was made in the shape of an Armadillo! I think you idea was great to add a Red-Velvet cake to her wedding!

I think that Mama's recipe would appeal to me more. And you know MamaM I couldn't think of anything more healthy to add than beets Yummy!!!!

I love beets! I prefer the beet recipe myself. If you make it, let me know how you like it.

fantastic info mama- thank ya!

and who said that cake can't be healthy for you???? LOL