Bundts & Nigella Christmas

The cubs baking session is this coming Tuesday and we have one cub that bakes a lot at home and is very good (his millionaire shortbread is amazing). So to give him a bit of a challenge and a chance to make something more impressive I’ve bought a fleur de lis Nordicware bundt tin. I’ve been looking through my nordicware bundt cookbook and I have to say I’ve not found any inspiring recipes. It may be partly because they are all in American measurements and the thought of converting is a bit off putting but I’m not sure that’s the only reason.

Anyway in the absence of anything inspiring me in the bundt book I’ve decided to get him to use the recipe in Nigella’s Christmas book for the vanilla spruce cake. I’d bought the nordicware spruce tin and made this cake a number of times in previous years and it’s the tin shape that’s christmassy rather than the cake flavour. This cake uses a lot of eggs and since his family keep a lot of chickens this may well be a cake that he’ll want to make again at home. Since this needs to cook for a while and we’ll be opening and closing the scout hut oven with the other cubs cakes I’m hoping we can use the brownie hut oven for this cake.

Ingredients

• 225g soft butter, plus more for greasing (or use flavourless oil)
• 300g caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 350g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 250ml (250g) plain fat-free yogurt
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1–2 x 15ml tablespoons icing sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and put a baking sheet in at the same time. Butter or oil your bundt tin (2.5 litres capacity) very, very thoroughly. (I use oil-sodden kitchen paper.)
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking each one in with a tablespoon of flour.
4. Fold in the rest of the flour together with the bicarbonate of soda,
5. Fold in the yogurt and vanilla extract.
6. Pour and spoon the mixture into your greased tin and spread about evenly.
7. Place the tin on the preheated baking sheet in the oven and cook for 45–60 minutes until well risen and golden.
8. After 45 minutes, push a skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Let it sit out of the oven for 15 minutes.
9. Gently pull away the edges of the cake from the tin with your fingers, then turn out the cake, hoping for the best.
10. Once cool, dust with the icing sugar pushed through a small sieve,

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