Cake in our house is a Sunday morning treat. I find that between trying to find all the kids’ Sunday school folders, and getting everyone dressed and looking presentable for church, having something easy for breakfast is a big help. Enter the Bundt cake.
A Bundt cake is called so because it is made in a Bundt pan or a pan with a tube in the middle and fluted or decorated edges. The Bundt pan was originally made in response to a group of Jewish women who wanted an aluminum pan in which to bake kugel. The inventor, H. David Dalquist, used a similar design but added regular folds to make it a little easier to cut the cake. The women called the resulting pan a “bund” pan which in German means a “gathering”. Dalquist added the ‘t’ to make the word ‘bundt’ and the rest history. Dalquist, by the way, was the founder of Nordicware bake ware.
What’s great about serving a bundt cake for breakfast is that the cake keeps well and bundt cake recipes are very forgiving. You also generally don’t have to frost them but rather you can garnish with powdered sugar and/or fresh fruit. We always garnish ours with fresh fruit simply because I look for any excuse to put fresh fruit in front of my kids!
Citrus Breakfast Cake (from a Better Homes & Gardens special publication–slightly modified)
Before you being, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a bundt pan or 10 inch fluted baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl combine 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 3 tbsp of shredded orange peel, 4 tsp. of shredded lemon peel, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 eggs, 1 cup of buttermilk, and 3/4 cup of melted butter. Add this to the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. A wooden toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes before inverting the pan onto a serving platter.
Serving Suggestions: Combine 4 teaspoons of orange juice with 1 cup of powdered sugar and drizzle over the bundt cake or you can put fresh blueberries or strawberries in the middle for a nice twist.