Brickle Bundt Cake

I try to bake every weekend, but A’s Orange-scented Bittersweet Chocolate Cake was a hard act to follow. Time to try something completely different. I dived into my collection of toffee bits collection and came up with a Brickle Bundt Cake. I liked that it used sour cream. My experience has been that cakes made with sour cream are very moist. There is nothing worse than a dry cake.

I didn’t use the walnuts as called for in the recipe because I am not fond of nuts in my cakes. But I have to admit that the nuts would have definitely added flavor and texture to the toffee bits.

The batter came out very thick and stiff. I was unable to spoon the batter into the pan in thirds. The best that I could do was to put half in the pan, sprinkle the toffee mixture over it and then add the other half. I sprinkled the remaining toffee mixture over the top and hoped for the best, i.e. that it wouldn’t burn in the oven. Not to worry, the cake batter baked over it.

Another challenge was getting the cake out of the pan. No matter how well you grease and flour a pan, melting sugar is going to fuse to it. The toffee mixture that I so carefully sprinkled in the batter, oozed out of it and stuck like glue, making it next to impossible to get the cake out of the pan in one piece.

The glaze had a weird taste to it. I’m chalking it up to the powdered sugar that I used. It’s leftover from the Christmas cookies and may have picked up some odors in the interim.

When all was said and done, this cake was very bland. Walnuts in the toffee mixture would have given it a little flavor but not enough to make a real difference. This was a huge disappointment.

Verdict: Too bland – I won’t be making this again

Brickle Bundt Cake(source: Hersheys.com )

1 1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) toffee bits, divided
1 ¼ cups sugar, divided
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 container (8 oz.) dairy sour cream
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
Powdered Sugar Glaze (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan. Set aside ¼ cup toffee bits for topping. Combine remaining toffee bits, ¼ cup sugar, walnuts and cinnamon; set aside.

Beat remaining 1 cup sugar and ½ cup butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir together four, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, alternately with sour cream, beating until blended. Beat 3 minutes. Spoon one-third of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of toffee mixture. Spoon half of remaining batter into pan. Top with remaining toffee mixture. Spoon remaining batter into pan. Pour melted butter over batter.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.
Prepare glaze; drizzle over cake. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup toffee bits over top.

12 to 14 servings.

Powdered Sugar Glaze: Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract. Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until of drizzling consistency.

About ½ cup glaze

Recycle: vanilla extract bottle, sour cream container, milk bottle

Compost: egg shells