Whole Wheat Spice Bundt Cake

The teen requested a spice cake for his birthday cake (which is almost the default cake for him - but sometimes he surprises me).  His birthday was earlier this week but since his Dad wasn't home, we opted to wait for him so we could celebrate together.  We went to a movie and shopped on his birthday and he said he had a good day...but it was a bit strange not to have a cake or presents that day.  He's 19 now, so I guess it was more my issue than his.  He wanted to wait.

The expected return for Mr. Flip Flop was the 10th...on Friday I got a text saying "Lucy, I'm Home!" and I threw on my flip flops and flew down the stairs nearly barreling us both down a flight of stairs when I pounced on him!  I'd talked to him earlier that day and he let me believe he was on his way to work when, in actuality, he was on the 350 mile drive home.  He doesn't manage to surprise me often, but when he does, it's a biggie!  Ian was so happy he gave him a big hug and smile (which is not the norm for him either)!  All-in-all, an excellent turn of events.  EXCEPT, I hadn't planned a cake, wrapped the gifts, nor spiffed up the house as I am wont to do when Papi comes home.  I always like things to look "nice".  I doubt he even notices.  So, since I could do nothing about the cleaning portion of the deficit, I focused on birthday preparations this morning when I got up.  We were going out to dinner, on the island I imagined, and we'd have cake and gifts when we get back.

I decided to go with a recipe that I've made before as mini bundts, but in a full-size bundt pan.  I made one boo boo and used baking powder instead of baking soda, so it was even more dense than expected.  I was freaking out a bit because it wasn't rising as much as I anticipated, but it all came out okay in the end.  This is a very dense cake anyway... it uses 100% whole wheat flour...but the white whole wheat, which is slightly lighter.  I also didn't have regular yogurt, so I used 1/2 fat free yogurt and 1/2 ricotta cheese.  I hate being risky when baking a birthday cake...but I knew if it just absolutely flopped, I had a chance to go to the store and start over.

So, here's the recipe... my husband loved it - ate several pieces.  Ian and I both would have preferred a less dense cake.  The flavor was excellent though!  I particularly liked adding some cinnamon to the vanilla bean glaze I used - perfect for the cake.  If you like a super dense cake - this is a good one.  I would, however, likely use baking soda next time, and not a fat-free yogurt!

WW SPICE BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated vanilla sugar
1 cup turbinado sugar
1 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon) - room temp
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese - room temperature
3 large eggs - room temperature
1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
2 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (I use King Arthur)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (not powder like I used)

Method:

Prepare a bundt pan with Baker's Joy or grease/flour preparation.  Make sure to get all the crevices and go all the way to the edge of the pan and the cone in the middle.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In bowl of a stand mixer, cream both sugars and the butter until fluffy (I let it go about 3 minutes).

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add the vanilla bean paste and beat until incorporated.

In a bowl or large mixing cup, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and ricotta cheese until smooth.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl with the mixer running on low.
Add 1/2 of the yogurt/ricotta mixture
Add 2nd 3rd of the dry ingredients followed by the remaining yogurt/ricotta mixture.
Add the final 3rd of the dry ingredients.

Scrape the bowl and beat on medium high for 60-90 seconds until smooth and fluffy batter.

Use a large spoon to place the batter evenly around the bundt pan.  Smooth it with the back of the spoon.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 50-60 minutes.  Use a cake tester for doneness.  The cake was not ready at 50 minutes but 5 minutes later it had cracked (which was fine - it's the bottom) and became perfectly done with a cake tester.

Remove from oven to a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.  Turn onto a cake plate and allow to cool completely before frosting or glazing.

Ian elected a glaze since it was a bundt cake.

I made a Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon Glaze... very tasty with this cake!

VANILLA BEAN CINNAMON GLAZE

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Method:

In the small bowl of a food processor, with the small blade, pulse the sugar, butter, vanilla bean paste and cinnamon to mix.  Begin by adding 2 tablespoon of heavy cream to the mixture and pulse.  Carefully scrape the bowl, avoiding cutting your spatula on the blade, to ensure all of the sugar is off the sides and bottom.  Pulse again and add more cream to get it to the proper consistence you desire.  I wanted a thick enough glaze that it would drip down the side but not so loose that it would pool under the cake.  I wanted it on top of the cake!

The thickish glaze worked beautifully!

Admittedly, not my favorite cake - but it is definitely something I'd make again with a few tweaks (which actually go back to my original recipe!)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!