Bundt Cakes are a timeless national treasure. One that I never truly was a fan of until more recently. I don’t know, they just often seemed boring. Gasp, I know. Luckily I’ve come to my senses over the years and have come to truly appreciate them in all forms. Plain, glazed, decorated- I get now that they all have a place. Though I’m pretty much team glazed or iced all the way. I just love that extra bit of something, particularly the creamy goodness, you get from powdered sugar paired with some kind of liquid element. Yum.
And today’s recipe is all that and more. It’s got the perfect seasonal topping with above mentioned powdered sugar paired with luscious eggnog, one of my favorite holiday treats. And the cake, while it would do just fine on it’s own with all that spiced chai and apple-y oomph, well, paired with the glaze, it’s a dessert that just begs to be a part of one holiday menu or another.
Fun little fact about the bundt cake, it was inspired by a ring-shaped Eastern European cake, the gugelhupf or kugelhopf. But the signature pan we’ve come to know today as the Bundt, was created by an American, H. David Dalquist, one of the owners of the Nordic Ware company. The name is taken from the German word, Bundkuchen, which is a pairing of bund meaning bond or bundle and kuchen, which means cake. It’s said he added the T to separate the product from the pro-Nazi group of the name Bund. But that’s up for speculation as it could also have just been about trademarking. And while the pan was liked, it wasn’t until 1966, 16 years after it’s creation, that it gained true popularity after a chocolate-fudge Bundt cake took second place in the 17th annual Pillsbury Bake-Off.
And now, there are so many versions of this cake in both form and flavor. And Nordic Ware is still making the classic pan in addition to so many more cool and modern looking designs and shapes with many other brands in on the fun too.
Now, back to this bundt. The put together of this cake is pretty straight-forward. First to get that nice chai flavor, some tea leaves are soaked with a little hot water. Then the wet ingredients- eggs, oil and vanilla get combined with light brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt and the chai tea mixture. Then the dry ingredients- flour and baking soda get folded in followed by all the chopped apples. And while it may seem like a lot of apples, trust me, get them all in there. And into the oven it goes in the prepped Bundt pan for about an hour.
And while it cools, is a good time to whip up that Eggnog Glaze by whisking together some eggnog with confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and a little salt and nutmeg until smooth. You can add a little more eggnog or confectioner’s sugar to get it as thin or thick as you’d like. And I recommend not pouring it on the hot cake as it will just drip off but rather pouring it on after the cake has had some time to cool out of the pan and is just ever-so-slightly warm. And if for some reason you’re not a fan of eggnog, this cake would still be really lovely with just a dusting of powdered sugar.
If you’re still searching for that perfect ending to your holiday meal, perhaps you’ll find this recipe to be a great compliment. I hope you’ll give it a try. And of course I’d be so grateful to hear how it goes.
Happy end to another week!
Chai Spiced Apple Bundt Cake with Eggnog Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp chai tea leaves
- 3 tbsps hot water
- 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsps ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 3 lg eggs, room temp
- 1 1/4 cups grapeseed, or other neutral, oil
- 2 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4-5 large (450g) apples, peeled, cored and finely diced
For the Eggnog Glaze
- 3 cups (420g) confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 5 tbsps (75g) eggnog (or a little more as needed)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F/ 180C. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan with cooking spray and then sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of flour into the pan, coating all the sides evenly and shaking out the excess. (For less ornate pans, you can usually skip the flour part.)
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In a small bowl, combine the chai tea leaves with the hot water and set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine both sugars, the cinnamon, salt and cloves. Then whisk in (or use the paddle attachment of a stand mixer,) the eggs and oil until completely combined.
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Gradually fold in the flour and baking soda just until combined (do not overmix). Then fold in the diced apples.
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Spoon the batter into the prepped pan, and smooth over the top. Bake until a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched, about 55 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 15 minutes, then invert onto the rack to cool completely.
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While the cake is cooling, make the eggnog glaze: Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, eggnog, vanilla, salt and nutmeg until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until desired thickness is reached. If glaze is too thick, add 1 teaspoon of eggnog until glaze is the consistency you want.
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Using a spoon, drizzle glaze on top of the cake. Allow the glaze 20 minutes to set before serving. Enjoy!
