The hills are alive with the smell of Christmas…
It is a week to Christmas. This time of the year I turn to my special bundt tin to make the Holiday Fir Tree Cake. I first came across the cake tin whilst watching Nigella Lawson use it over 10 years ago, and even before the show ended I had tried to order the cake tin online. It was so distressing as stocks had run out everywhere. I did manage to find one in time for that Christmas and have made a cake, or several, every year since.
The cake tin has been updated and is now called a Pine Forest Bundt Pan and is by Nordicware. I have several bundt cake tins and each time I make a cake in one of them I remember the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the American guests present a bundt to their Greek hosts. They cannot fathom why there is a hole in the cake…and possibly think that Americans do not know how to do things properly. Quite the contrary: when it comes to baking, Nordicware and USA Pan lead the way. My nightmare is that they stop manufacturing these superior bakeware.
Many years on I am still very fond of my Christmas bundt tin but am a bit tired of the original recipe. I have tried to spice it up previously but this time I adapted the fail-proof lemon drizzle cake, doubled the quantity of batter and used oranges instead of lemons. The triple orange flavour comes from grated orange zest, orange oil and orange juice.
I made two cakes over the weekend, one with regular flour and one with gluten-free flour. As usual for the oil I used my favourite Boyajian Oil. The first cake I made had dried cranberries placed at the bottom of the cake tin where the top of the fir tree would be, to resemble a star when the cake was turned out.
The second cake was a total disaster as the flour had super sticking qualities which made turning it out impossible. I made the gluten-free cake again, for a friend’s birthday, in three separate sandwich tins instead and then iced them with a cream cheese frosting. That cake was extremely successful so I will write it up later.
For the Cake:
350 g self-raising flour
175 g unsalted butter, softened
175 g half-fat creme fraiche
250 g unrefined caster sugar
6 large eggs
4 tablespoons orange juice
Zest of 3 oranges
1 teaspoons orange oil (Boyajian brand if possible)
2 tablespoons icing sugar for the dusting of snow
You will also need a Pine Forest Bundt Pan from Nordicware.
How to Make:
(For the Thermomix method, scroll to the bottom of the post)
Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325°F.
Grease the bundt tin well with melted butter.
Place the flour, butter, creme fraiche, sugar, eggs, orange juice, orange zest and orange oil into a large mixing bowl.
Beat on a medium speed until the ingredients are all thoroughly mixed together.
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared bundt tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the cake bounces back when touched. A metal skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
Cool the cake in its tin for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a metal cooling rack.
Dust the cake with icing sugar when it has fully cooled.
The cake will slice into 8 thick, 16 medium or 24 thin slices. I served it with creme fraiche and my Cranberry and Orange Cram which I now make in my Thermomix: simply place 600 g fresh cranberries, 200 g caster sugar, the grated zest of 3-4 oranges and 130 ml freshly-squeezed orange juice in the TM bowl and simmer for 20 minutes / 90 C / speed 2. This amount will yield enough to fill three Bon Maman jam bottles.
Thermomix Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325°F.
Grease the bundt tin well with melted butter.
Place the orange zest and 100 g of sugar in the TM bowl then grate 10 seconds/ speed 10. Scrape down the sides of mixing bowl with a silicon spatula then grate again 10 seconds/ speed 10. Scrape down the sides of mixing bowl again.
Add the remaining 150 g sugar, 175 g softened butter, 175 g creme fraiche and 6 eggs. Mix 20 seconds/ speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add 175 g flour and mix 15 seconds/ speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the remaining 175 g flour, orange oil and orange juice. Mix 15 seconds/ speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix one final time 5 seconds/ speed 5.
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared bundt tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the cake bounces back when touched. A metal skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
Cool the cake in its tin for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a metal cooling rack.
Dust the cake with icing sugar when it has fully cooled.
The cake will slice into 8, 16 medium or 24 thin slices. I served it with creme fraiche and my Cranberry and Orange Cram which I now make in my Thermomix: simply place 600 g fresh cranberries, 200 g caster sugar, the grated zest of 3-4 oranges and 130 ml freshly-squeezed orange juice in the TM bowl and simmer for 20 minutes / 90 C / speed 2. This amount will yield enough sauce to fill three Bon Maman jam bottles.
