Holiday Spice Bundt Cake
This spiced holiday cake with glossy cream cheese frosting is soft and fluffy, while rich with ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of one orange
- 11.25 oz all-purpose flour that’s 2 ½ cups of fluffed with a fork, then lightly spooned into a cup and leveled off
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp cloves
- ¾ cup buttermilk
For Frosting:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 4 oz softened cream cheese
- 6 tbsp whipping cream (plus more if needed)
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
For Decorating:
- Handful of fresh cranberries and rosemary
- Granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 10 or 12-cup bundt pan by greasing and flouring. (I find coconut oil or shortening and almond flour are the best for easy release).
- Use electric mixer on medium speed to beat together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl and fully incorporating each one before adding the next. Beat in vanilla and orange zest.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.
- Add ½ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated. Add ½ of the buttermilk and beat to combine. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk.
- Scrape cake batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 190ºF, tester inserted comes out clean, and sides are starting to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool 10 minutes in pan, then use a small soft spatula to gently go around inner edge of pan before placing a cooling rack on top and flipping the whole thing over. If cake does not immediately release, let cool another 5 minutes upside down before giving it a gentle wiggle (or see tip in above post)
- Beat together ingredients for frosting, starting on low speed and then increasing to high. Add more cream if needed to make it thick but pourable. Pour over cake once completely cooled.
- Top with sparkly sugared rosemary and sugared cranberries, and/or halved raspberries and pomegranate arils (if serving right away).