Bundt Cake

Readers, please take another look at last week's blog on "More is Not Always Better", the Macaroni and Cheese recipe. I have posted a photo of the finished product by one of my readers of the blog. If any of you would like to see a photo of yourself and/or your finished recipe posted, please email them to me at DoriBasaraba@hotmail.com and I will happily upload them. Your name will not be included unless you specifically request it.

Several weeks ago I posted a blog on Angel Food cakes, and briefly mentioned decorating them. Check out the magazine stands for the July issue of Woman's Day; in it are recipes and photos of uniquely decorated angel food cakes.

I will not be posting next weekend because I will be recuperating from eye surgery, which I will be having tomorrow. I will resume posting in two weeks. There are plenty of recipes within this baking blog to try (previous posts) that should keep you busy until then. In the meantime, here is my discussion/recipe on Bundt Cakes.

One of the purposes of my DoriPieCafe blog is to get more people to bake. As a store clerk once told me, "No one ever bakes anymore.". Well, I aim to change that. Baking can be a great hobby, certainly satisfying to one's taste buds, and doesn't have to be complicated or difficult. With that in mind you will not see time consuming and great talent requiring recipes for elaborate pastries that a professional baker would prepare for a 5-star restaurant. I will include a few recipes that are more involved than others, but also some that show you one can have great results as a beginner or even advanced home baker.

The bundt cake recipe I am including is designed for the beginner in mind as it is one of the few times I utilize a cake mix as part of the ingredients. However, this cake is so easy to make, and so tasty, that I want everyone to try it. It is actually a recipe I got from my Aunt Tess, who was instrumental in inspiring me to bake years ago. She is an excellent baker (and cook too!). I do not believe this is actually a recipe she created, but not sure of the source either as I have seen this recipe in circulation by many people for years now.

Bundt cakes are baked in a specially molded pan, usually Teflon coated for non-sticking. The molds come in numerous different shapes and themes, from simple fluted rings to elaborate castles. There are so many shapes and designs of bundt pans that some people make a hobby of collecting them.

"Aunt Tess's" Bundt Cake

• 1 package of cake mix (any flavor, but do NOT use one with pudding in the mix)
• 1 package Jello instant pudding (any flavor that goes well with the flavor of cake mix you are using)
• 1/2 cup of Crisco or Wesson vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Grease (with butter) and flour a large bundt pan.
3. Beat in, one at a time, the oil, milk, vanilla extract, pudding mix, and cake mix.
4. Pour into the prepared bundt pan.
5. Bake 1 hour, then let cool 10 minutes and invert pan to remove cake.
6. May dress up or decorate cake by dusting top with powdered sugar or drizzle with glaze. Putting shredded coconut, maraschino cherry halves, or shelled pecan halves on top of the glaze is a nice touch too.

In two weeks: Baba Au Rhum (French Rum Cake)