It's a Bunnndt Cake!!!!!

Yesterday, it snowed here to beat the band. It was beautiful to look at, but not to head outside in. I was looking out the window and for some reason thought about my mother. When I was a child, she was a stay-at-home mother, not going back to work until I was in Junior High School.

She was a great cook, and we rarely went out to eat because why bother, the food was always better at home. My father was a barber and she was always on a tight budget...in those days a haircut was $1.25. My mother could make a meal that would feed 10 people out of nothing, and always did. Our house was known as "Mission House" because she never turned anyone away, and there wasn't a weekend that there weren't 25 people at the dinner table.

When I would arrive home from school, the house ALWAYS smelled good. There was always the aroma of meatballs frying, gravy simmering, cookies baking, something that made you feel warm and cozy, and very much loved. I tried to carry that on with my children too, and in fact, when they are about to come home, the orders start pouring in. Can you make cookies? Are we going to have meatballs? The list is endless...

Now that it's just the two of us, it's harder to make things as, I don't want to eat them forever. Luckily, my new housekeeper has two growing boys, who love the "care" packages I send her home with.

So, to get back to the point, I was thinking that there was no aroma in the house yesterday. I wanted Marc to smell something when he walked in the door, (mostly, because I think he thinks I sit at the computer all day!!! Okay so maybe he's right) I decided to bake something that would be ready pretty quickly, and actually cook a nice dinner.

I was thumbing through some recipes and came across one for a Bundt Cake...

Italians don't make Bundt cakes, we make cassata cakes, cannoli filling cakes, cheesecakes, but not Bundt cakes. I started to laugh to myself thinking about the line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when Toula's fiance Ian Miller's parents come to visit and Harriet Miller brings a Bundt Cake.

Toula's mother Maria says, "What is it?"

Harriet replies, "It's a Bundt."

Maria says, "A bun?"

Harriet Answers, "A bundT "

Maria says, "A BondT?

Harriet says"BUNDT BUUNDT!!

Maria says" I know, it's a cake-y! and looks at her friend and says "there's a hole in this cake."

Later, Maria serves the cake with a plant in the middle!

Here is a fun link to show where the movie was filmed in Toronto - if you are ever in Toronto you can go visit the sites!

There is actually a store what sells only bundt cakes called Nothing Bundt Cakes

Interesting fact; according to Wikipedia, the Bundt Pan was developed for a group of Hadassah women from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who approached H. David Dalquist, the owner of Nordic Ware. The women wanted to replicate the cakes (Bundkuchen) of Germany and Austria that they had grown up on. He created the mold, but the cakes did not become popular until a Bundt Cake won second place in a Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1966. The rest is history as they say.

Today, Pillsbury, has a line of cakes designed just for the Bundt pan, there are numerous cookbooks dedicated just to Bundt cakes, and Williams-Sonoma carries several Bundt type pans of different designs. The Bundt Pan is a registerd trade mark.

National Bundt Day is November 15th - enough with the trivia, let get to the cake!

I, every now and then, actually enjoy a Bundt cake and this recipe looked quick and easy, and it was. So if you are bored one day, looking out the window and needing something to do, try it...you'll like it.

The recipe was given to me by my dear friend Barbara Schwartz. It was her mother-in-law
Ruth's recipe. I am giving you the recipe as it was given to me, but I used a yellow cake mix with vanilla pudding because that was what I had in the house, and didn't feel like harnessing up the deer to my sled to go to the store! The cake was delicious, so you could try it both ways.

CHOCOLATE COFFEE CAKE
Ruth Schwartz

1 package yellow cake mix
1 (4 serving size) package Jell-O ® Brand Chocolate Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
4 eggs
½ cup oil
½ pint sour cream
1 (6 ounce) bag chocolate chips
¼ cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon, combined

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour and Angel food cake pan. Blend cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil and sour cream in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer for 10 minutes. Pour two thirds of the batter into the pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mix and half of the chocolate chips over the batter. Put the rest of the batter in the pan and top with remaining cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips. Bake 350° for about 1 hour.

Here is what you will need for the recipe:

This is so easy...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Mix the sugar


together with the cinnamon

Blend well


and set aside



Put the mix into a bowl (I used my Kitchen Aide)

Add the pudding mix


the eggs


the oil


and the sour cream


Beat on medium speed
for 10 minutes
(I only did 7 as I think the mixers
today are much more powerful)


The mixture will become think, creamy and fluffy!


Spray a Bundt Pan or Angel Food Pan
with Baker's Joy or Crisco Baking Spray
or butter and flour it if that's what you have



Pour 2/3's of the batter into the pan


Sprinkle with 1/2 the cinnamon sugar


Sprinkle with half the chocolate chips


Spoon on the remainer of the batter


Sprinkle with the remainder of the cinnamon sugar


and the rest of the chocolate chips


Bake for 45 minutes -1 hour


Test with a cake tester (I use a bamboo skewer)
to see if it is dry and done

Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes

Place on a rack to cool, when cool
invert it on to a cake plate


Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired



Eat and enjoy!