Bundt Marble Cake

Hello all. Happy teachers day to all my teachers and mentors and to all those who call me their mentor 🙂
Nehas DAV board exams are going on and today was a holiday for her. So she was suggesting since morning that we bake a cake.  I was yet to use my Nordic ware Bundt pan, which is a huge 12 cups volume pan. I was wondering what will I do with such a big cake. Will an eggless cake come off easily from the pan? Which recipe should I try? And so on…

Now hubby suggested yesterday that we might have a small get together with 4 other families (his office colleagues) this weekend. Last year when we had met ( I had recently joined a baking group on Facebook called HBG then), one of his friend had suggested that he thought I might bring a cake with me 🙂 So this time I had to bake a cake for them.

So finally decided to inaugurate my Bundt pan today. Akshatha, an awedome baker friend of mine had already helped me on the measurements for this pan and due thanks to her. It was decided to make an eggless choco vanilla marble cake after a lot of brain storming. But at that time, I had no idea that the evening had lot of adventures in store for me 🙂

4 pm Me and Neha in kitchen, measured the flour, sugar, cocoa powder etc. Made the butter milk ready. Preheated the oven at 170 degree celsius for 10 minutes, ( the oven bulb had fused few days back ) so I couldn’t see inside of the oven. 

4:15 pm I kept the cake inside the oven and set the timer for 40 minutes. 

Instead of simply waiting for the cake to. Be ready, I decided to knead dough for a whole wheat bread. Finished kneading and kept the dough for first proofing at around 4:50 pm.

Neha was constantly pestering me to have a look inside the oven. I opened my oven to see the cake top still wet and the inside of my oven is not very hot…. Just warm.. I wondered what could have gone wrong?

I panicked…. has my oven conked off? What do I do now? I felt as if the switch on the electric board has gone bad. I then decided to connect my oven ( it’s a Glen cooking range) to my refrigerator’s plug point.

Now I can’t drag my cooking range without removing the lpg connection. Somehow I removed the tube and connected it to other point. The small red light near the timer blinked for a minute and then the mains tripped. My fridge point couldn’t take that my load. So what do I do now? 

As Sonal, a good friend and others had suggested last time ( when there was a power failure while baking a bread ) I thought of finishing the cake on stove. But I have to fix the lpg tube back, right? 

Fixed it at the back of the range and to the regulator. As I switched on the regulator…. Ssshhhh….. I was shocked to see the tube had come out of the cooking range.

I thought let me cut the end of the lpg tube ( like we used to do with the old green tube) but God….  This won’t cut so easily…. So now I ended up with a tube with a nice crack… Panicked again …

5:18 pm I called up our lpg distributer and asked if they have stock of tube? They said yes. I asked till what time are you open? 5:30 pm was the answer.

5:21 pm I just put a clip on my hair and ran to the lpg office on other side of the road with some money and finally got the tube before they closed the office.

5:37 pm. Reached home. Fixed the tube on the ends of the cooking range and regulator.

Again the tin was too big for my cooker. So baking in cooker was ruled  out. I heated the biggest kadhai I had with me and I inserted the tin into it. Though it didnt touch the bottom of the kadhai, I prayed hopefully it will work, also did I have any other option left with me?  No, right. I closed the kadhai with the lid of my pressure cooker without the gasket and the whistle.

I kept the cake in the kadhai for I don’t even know how long… But when I inserted a toothpick after some time, it came out clean 🙂 I removed the Bundt pan from the gas and kept it to cool for 20-25 minutes. Neha was really running out of patience, poor my baby 🙁 

Meanwhile at 5:50 pm I had kept my bread dough in the refrigerator.

Finally, when I inverted the Bundt pan into a plate,  my heart was literally in my mouth. All I was expecting was a crumbled mass… But No. This cake is a real fighter 🙂 It came out beautifully, inspite of all the adversities. 

Btw, Sanjeev came from office and checked the switch board and got a new one and fixed it for me 🙂 and my bread dough is still in the fridge 🙂

After all the adventure, here is the recipe of the cake. I should pat myself at the back. My proportions were not so bad. This cake is soft, very porous, moist and at the same time firm enough to slice neatly. I prefer cakes with buttermilk. The best part is the marble effect looks perfect too 🙂 wish I could have clicked a better picture. Maybe next time. Anyways, full marks to the bundt pan for being a real fighter. 

I have used a 240 ml cup here.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 300 gm
• Salt a pinch
• Sugar 1 cup 
• Baking powder 1 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda 1 tsp
• Brown sugar 2 tbsp
• Cocoa powder 2 1/2 tbsp
• Vanilla extract 1 tsp
• Oil 1/2 cup
• Butter 1/4 cup
• Apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp
• Milk 1 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven at 170 degree celsius for atleast 10 minutes.
• Take the Bundt pan and grease it thoroughly with butter. Do not miss any groove. Dust it with flour and coat evenly. Invert and remove the excess flour. The pan is ready to be used now.
• Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda 2-3 times.
• Measure milk and add apple cider vinegar to it and keep aside for it to curdle. Your buttermilk is ready to use.
• Mix oil, sugar, butter and the buttermilk till the sugar is fully dissolved in it. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
• Now add the liquid ingredients to the dry flour mixture and fold it gently till there are no lumps.
• Pour around 1/4 th of the mixure into another bowl and add cocoa powder, cane sugar and 1-2 tablespoon of milk. Mix well.
• Now pour around half of the vanilla mixture into the Bundt pan and then add the cocoa mixture to it. Now pour the remaining vanilla mixture.
• Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles if any.
• Place the tin in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or more or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Remove the pan from the oven and keep it on a cooling rack for 20-25 minutes.
• Try to release the edges with a soft plastic knife ( you would not want to damage your Bundt pan, isn’t it? ) Or a plastic spatula.
• Brace yourself and invert it gently onto a plate with a good prayer in your mind 🙂
• Your pretty looking Bundt cake is ready.
• Slice it neatly and serve it with lots of love.
• If you want you can pour some hot ganache or Chocolate syrup or sprinkle some icing sugar on top before serving.