There’s probably few people who haven’t heard of bundt cakes. The distinctive ring shaped bundt cake derives from a European brioche-like cake called Gugelhupf, which was particularly popular among Jewish communities in parts of Germany, Austria and Poland.
Bundt cakes are easy to make; they can be made with yeast or baking powder (yeast cakes are classic). In Hungary, contrary to the world trends, we usually don’t decorate bundt cakes with frosting, the pan takes care of making the cake look spectacular.
Today bundt cake with a wonderfully moist interior and a generous amount of plum jam differs from the regular recipes because it’s not simply put together, but the dough is filled and rolled up. You can replace plum jam with any kind of bake-proof jam, or you can fill the dough with ground walnuts, almonds, melted chocolate or anything you want. Make sure that you grease your pan extremely well so the cake slips right out.
Ingredients:
- 400 g (~3 1/4 cups) flour
- pinch of salt
- 200 ml (~3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) milk
- 20 g (~3/4 oz) fresh yeast (2 tsp dry yeast)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 1 egg
- 50 g (~1 3/4 oz) butter, melted
- 5-6 heaping tbsp plum jam
Size of the bundt pan: 24 cm / 10 inch
Combine yeast, sugar and lukewarm milk, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Make a hollow in the flour, add egg, activated yeast, and vanilla sugar. Knead until the dough just comes together. Pour in melted butter and keep kneading until butter is fully incorporated, dough is smooth and loses its stickiness. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size.
Butter a bundt cake pan extensively.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out into a 40×25 cm/16×10 inch rectangle. Spread it with plum jam evenly, then starting from a long side, roll up the dough, but not too tightly. Place it into the pan, poke it with a skewer, cover and let it double in size.
Preheat the oven to 170°C / 338°F. Bake the bundt cake for an hour. If its top browns too fast, cover it with a piece of parchment paper. Once the cake is done, remove it from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack.
