Bundt Cake is a Slovak classic.

If it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon treat or busy weekday breakfast you can’t go wrong with a Bundt Cake. The beauty of this cake is that it can be as simple and plain, made with just a couple of basic ingredients, as it can be luxurious and decadent, topped with cream, frosting, fruits or chocolate.

Today, I would like to share with you my favorite recipe for a basic, yet very tender, soft, and moist Bundt cake. If you didn’t know about me yet, my preferred kind of treat is a plain, simple, no-frosting pastry or cake that I enjoy just by itself or with a cup of dark coffee. And this Bundt cake definitely belongs to the list of my top 5 simple, yet delicious, tender and rich-tasting cakes.

Why Bundt Cake and what Bundt actually means?

Simply, any cake baked in a traditional Bundt baking pan can be called a Bundt cake (there is no single recipe associated with a Bundt cake). If you don’t have a Bundt pan at home, you can bake it in any baking pan – preferably smaller and deeper one. A famous Bundt cake was inspired by a traditional Central European cake called Gugelhupf. If you’d like to order a piece of this delicacy in Slovakia, you’d ask for Bábovka. The popularity of the Bundt pan in the U.S. was very small at the beginning. It was not until 1966 when Bundt cake (called “Tunnel of Fudge”) gained real popularity thanks to a baker Ella Helfrich, who won with her Bundt a second-place at the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off competition.

Couple words to ingredients used: 

• Flour – I prefer using whole wheat or spelt flour to enhance the nutritional profile of the cake but plain white flour works as well
• Sugar – I usually use brown sugar in this recipe but both white and coconut sugar can be used interchangeably
• Oil – from my experience canola or mild-tasting vegetable oil tastes best and provides the best crumb. I don’t recommend using olive oil because of its distinctive taste (unless that’s what you’re going for) and neither the butter (cake will be less moist and tender when using butter)
• Coffee – provides an amazing richness and retains moistness in the cake. I recommend using an espresso shot. If you can’t an espresso shot then dissolve one teaspoon (5g) of instant coffee in 30g of boiling water

That was a short introduction, now let’s bake:

INGREDIENTS

3 Eggs, whole

170g Flour

80-100g Brown Sugar

100g Canola Oil 

70g Sour Cream

30g Coffee (stong, espresso)

5g Baking Powder

2g Baking Soda

Pinch of Cinnamon & Salt 

METHOD

1. Whisk whole eggs (ideally at room temperature) with sugar until frothy and pale
2. Add oil, sour cream, and coffee and mix until well incorporated
3. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and fold it gently just until well incorporated. It is very easy to overmix these kinds of batters and cakes will then turn dense and low in volume. Therefore mix just until incorporated and no longer
4. Pour the batter into lightly greased baking pan and bake on 180°C/350°F for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let it cool down in a pan, then take your Bundt cake carefully out and enjoy with a cup of coffee

Dobrú chuť,
Lenka