Aaron Hutcherson
THE WASHINGTON POST – This Bundt cake recipe comes from Vallery Lomas’ debut cookbook, Life Is What You Bake It, and “has a tight crumb, like a pound cake, but it’s moist and full of flavour from the pineapple and nuts,” she wrote.
Contributing to that flavour is the brown sugar – light or dark, allowing you to control the amount of molasses – that gets creamed with room temperature butter at the start of this recipe. What follows is a straightforward set of instructions that even the most novice baker
can follow.
Once baked and unmolded, the cake has an unassuming exterior, but upon slicing into it you see that it’s studded with toasted pecans, golden raisins and crushed pineapple, lending bits of crunch and chew to the tender cake.
PECAN BUNDT CAKE
Ingredients
– Non-stick baking spray with flour
– 240 grammes roughly chopped pecan pieces
– 375 grammes all-purpose flour
– One teaspoon baking powder
– Half teaspoon fine salt
– 339 grammes unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 300 grammes packed light or dark brown sugar
– Four large eggs
– One teaspoon vanilla extract
– 180 grammes canned crushed pineapple in juice
– 75 grammes golden raisins
Directions
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray.
In a dry medium skillet over medium heat, toast the pecans, tossing frequently, until fragrant, about three to five minutes. Transfer the nuts to a cutting board to cool, then finely chop.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and a handheld mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about four minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure the mixture is evenly creamed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next, about two minutes total. Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, and after the last egg is added, add the vanilla.
Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. (The batter will be quite thick). Stop the mixer and stir in the pecans, pineapple and raisins by hand until evenly distributed, making sure no streaks of flour remain. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake one hour to one hour 15 minutes, until a cake tester inserted deep into the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the pan to release the cake and let cool completely before slicing.
