Monday, 6 May 2013

Yoghurt, lemon and lime bundt

It's a sad evening when only half of your bundt comes out of the tin.



My gut instinct was to leave it in the tin until completely cold, but the recipe said to leave for 15-20 minutes before turning out. Hmmmm.

I assumed I had to turn it out sooner due to the sugar syrup being poured over the top while the cake was still hot. Perhaps the sugar would have stuck to the tin if I left it to cool? Only thing is, the syrup never really soaked in through the sponge, and left the top (or bottom? since it's a bundt) a bit soggy.


Flavour and texture-wise, this is not a bad cake. The yoghurt gives the cake a soft, mooth texture and cool, creamy flavour, and although it is a shame the syrup didn't soak through the whole cake, the (soggy) crust is full of citrus tang.

Personally I like when a cake really packs a citrus punch, so I'm not sure I fully love the yoghurt addition as I feel it almost dulls the lemon/lime flavour. However this really is a personal preference; some may really enjoy the yoghurt addition and it certainly hasn't stopped me from eating a lot of this cake.

Yoghurt, lemon and lime bundt cake
Recipe from Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook by Lynn Hill

375g self-raising flour
500g caster sugar
grated zest of 2 lemons
grated zest of 1 lime
250ml natural yoghurt
250ml sunflower oil
2 large eggs

syrup:
juice of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5 (I must admit I thought that sounded to high a heat for a large bundt and actually turned it down to Gas 4.) Thoroughly grease and flour a 2.5-3 litre bundt tin, tapping out any excess flour over the sink.

Sift together the flour, sugar and citrus zests in one bowl. In a different bowl beat together the yoghurt, oil and eggs before adding to the other bowl and mixing everything together. Spoon the mixture into your bundt tin, spreading it out evenly, then bake in the centre of the oven for 45-50 minutes (although mine took an extra 15-20 minutes, probably because I had it baking at a lower temperature) until well risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

To make the syrup, put the lemon and lime juice into a small saucepan along with the sugar. Stir together over a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. The recipe states to spoon the syrup over the cake when the cake is fresh out of the oven, leaving it to soak into the cake between additions and to remove from the tin after 15-20 minutes. However I would perhaps only pour half of the syrup over the cake whilst hot, wait half an hour or so until the cake is warm to turn it out and brush the remaining syrup over the cake so that it gets an even coating/soaking.

21 comments:

  1. Oh no, so sad! The flavour combo sounded delicious though! I recently saw a really great post on how to line a bundt tin, maybe it can help for next time: http://www.dollybakes.co.uk/2013/04/HowtoPrepareaBundtTin.html

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  2. Thanks for sharing this - I find that that the blog posts that are of the most interest are often the one where something goes wrong (so I can understand why the same happened to me) or the really simpole ones that are a bit "obvious" (eg. Turquoise Lemon's latest one) so thanks!

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    1. Definitely, I'm all for "failure" posts if it helps someone else avoid the same mistakes! It's important to show that not everything is "perfect". We all have bad bakes!

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  3. I think it's every time exciting when you bake a cake.. I think the bundt cakes are the most exciting ones and I'm nearly jumping up and down when it works how I wanted it to be ;)

    Two weeks ago I wanted to bake muffins which should rise high.. instead they rose wide.. but nobody recognized that :)

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    1. Yes bundts are exciting and terrifying at the same time! I'm not letting this put me off though.

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  4. It's a shame it didn't turn out of the tin properly, but it certainly sounds an intriguing cake with great flavour combinations. I can see why you wanted to try it.

    I'm in the 'reveal all even your mistakes' camp, as I definitely think you can learn more from puzzling through something that's gone wrong. And it happens to me all the time. ;)

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    1. It's always comforting to know other bakers have "bad" days. I have a feeling my bundt was just too hot to take out the tin, as the other half, which "stuck", actually came out the tin really easily.

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  5. Hey Jo, I just recently purchased my first bundt tin and I have to admit, I am a touch nervous about my first 'turning out'. Thanks for sharing your experience, I have also read somewhere else that leaving it to cool completely is the way to go so will try that.

    I agree with you, a big citrus punch is great.

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    1. Don't let my dodgy bundt put you off. I've actually used this tin before, at the beginning of this year, and it turned out beautifully. Will definitely be baking with it again.

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  6. I don't have a bundt tin yet and its on my wishlist, but I'm slightly scared of this happening. I guess the benefit is that you could use lots of extra icing to cover the gaps!

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    1. Don't be scared, just don't turn it out while it's still hot like I did! ;) If you are worried though, I suggest a bundt tin with a less intricate design so that there's less to "stick".

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  7. What a sad photo at the top :( It's always annoying when you ignore your gut instinct aswell. But I'm glad it still tasted great! Bundts are strange and scary creatures at the best of times!

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    1. I know, always listen to your gut! Never mind, next time...

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  8. I have found the only thing that guarantees a good turn out from a bundt tin is cake release spray - I use the Dr Oetker one. When I used to butter the tin it was tricky getting into all the nooks and crannies, and sometimes I found I lost definition.

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    1. Thanks CC, I've also heard cake release spray is a good investment. Will look into it.

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  9. A sad day indeed...it still looks like it tastes good though! I was going to suggest cake release spray too...sometimes helps! :-)

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    1. Yes, and probably less time consuming than applying butter into all the nooks and crannies with a pastry brush which is what I did!

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  10. Aww this sounds lovely, it's a shame it didn't work :(

    Maria xxx

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    1. Thanks Maria, I will persevere though!

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  11. Shame about the cake but at least you got to eat it! I love the flavour combination and often use yoghurt in bakes. Perhaps a citrus flavoured yoghurt to add a bit more punch? I use cake release spray too - I often butter and flour my bundt tins as I always worry they won't come out properly and it can't really be saved with icing as in a sponge cake. I'm all for blogging about failures and success - sometimes I seems to have more failures than successes!!

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