I’ve got bundt anxiety. I'm not sure it’s medically recognized yet, so I'm self-diagnosed. But it's quite real. Bunt removal issues race through my mind. It just seems like, the cake would naturally get stuck in an intricate pan like that, with extra edges and crannies, to catch the cake and tear it. I’m not crazy about nonstick pans, so I have a couple bundt pans in other materials, but I was nervous about their stickiness. Was I setting myself up for a failure?
And should I use butter, oil, cooking spray or shortening to grease the pan? And should I dust with flour? Should I remove the cake from the pan while it’s still hot? Or wait until it’s entirely cooled? Or remove when it's sort of in between?
I have indulged and fed my anxiety by spending time on a number of bunt removal forums, just like a hypochondriac googling their symptoms. The debates are heated between the pro-butter camp, the anti-butter camp, the baking spray enthusiasts. I’m would rather not buy any special things when I don’t have to, and I don’t usually use baking spray so I settled on melted butter and flour. And it worked brilliantly! The bundt popped right out with no hesitation at all. I waited about ten minutes after I pulled it out of the oven, and flipped it out onto a cooling rack.
For this bundt, I adapted a streusel-y, cinnamony, tender New York coffee cake, flipped so the crumb topping sits on the bottom of the bundt and I added a ribbon of brown sugar and cinnamon through the middle of everything. A drizzle of vanilla glaze is optional, but lovely.
cinnamon swirl bundt cake
adapted from bon appetit
cake
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ cup + 2 tbs sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbs butter, melted and 2 tbs flour, for pan
Thoroughly butter your bundt pan, using a pastry brush. Shake flour in pan, making sure to cover all surfaces. Tip out any excess flour.
Heat oven to 350F. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat butter on medium speed in the bowl of a stand mixer 2-3 minutes. Add sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 more minutes. Add egg, beat until well incorporated and then add sour cream and vanilla. Scrape bowl and beat briefly to incorporate everything. Add flour mixture and beat again on low speed until just incorporated. Scrape bowl and beat again very briefly.
Spread a little less than half into prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle cinnamon swirl over batter and add remaining batter on top (cake will rise substantially - do not fill it more than ⅔ full). Smooth with a small offset spatula. Sprinkle crumbs over the top.
Bake for 30-45 minutes, rotating cake halfway through. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
cinnamon swirl
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
crumbs
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup + 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
Mix together in a medium bowl until evenly combined. Clump mixture together by pressing with a fork. Break into small crumbs.
vanilla glaze
about 1 cup powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine everything in a medium bowl, mix until evenly combined. Adjust with more milk or sugar to get a runny, but not thin consistency. It will be slightly thinner on the cake than it looks in the bowl. Drizzle over cake once completely cooled and let set about ⅓ hour.
