I’d like to point out the obvious… I’m slightly obsessed with my Dorie cookbook. I can’t stop baking things from it’s beautiful pages. I bring it to work and browse through during lunch planning what I’ll make next. Fortunately, I’ve been able to give away a majority of the things I make or I’d probably have gained 20 pounds by now. I do try just about everything I make from her cookbook but I’ve learned to stop after a bite or two.
I really don’t have too much to say about this recipe. It’s pretty straight-forward and didn’t present many problems. I did have a little trouble incorporating the second half of the swirl mixture at the end but I don’t think it made a difference in the end. I had a few bites of the cake once it had cooled some and I can safely say I thought this was one of the most tasty Dorie recipes I’ve tried. I could have eaten much, much more!
By Tracey
Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Ingredients:
For the Swirl
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup plump, moist raisins (dark or golden) or dried currants
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch of salt
For the Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
Directions:
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-to-10 inch Bundt pan, dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess. Do not place the Bundt pan on a baking sheet – you want the oven’s heat to circulate freely through the Bundt’s inner tube
To make the swirl: Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.
To make the cake: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter. With the paddle or whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream. Still working on low, add the dry ingredients and mix only until they disappear into the batter.
Give the batter a last stir or two with a rubber spatula (just to make sure all the dry ingredients are properly incorporated), then scoop about one third of the batter into the Bundt pan. Evenly sprinkle on half of the swirl mixture, then spoon in the rest of the batter. Make a shallow indentation with the back of the spoon in the center of the ring of batter and fill it with the remaining swirl mixture, then cover the mixture lightly with the batter on the sides of the indentation – the batter probably won’t cover the mixture completely, and that’s fine.
Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake rest for 10 minutes before unmolding it onto the rack to cool to room temperature.
Just before serving, dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
