Need help designing your dream home?
Book ConsultationLooking for expert guidance to design your
Leave your information and we will call you to book your preferred consultation slot
A Christmas bundt cake recipe for those who don't like fruit cake
Fruit-free, simple and delicious, try this festive caramel bundt cake that smells and tastes of Christmas
On the subject of Christmas cakes, the world is distinctly and irrevocably divided into two: those who like fruit cakes and those who don’t. Thirty-five-year-old Lisa Mathew is firmly in the ‘don’t like fruitcakes’ camp. “We’ve always preferred a chocolate cake or something simple like a bundt cake for the season,” she says. And so, Lisa has been making a Christmassy bundt cake for years now. The NID-graduated textile designer is now based in Kochi with her husband and two boys, aged 7 and 8. Baking and sharing the output is a tradition Lisa has grown up watching around her in Kerala, where her mother and grandmothers were all masterful cooks. Now back in the city where she grew up, Lisa is continuing the tradition, and in a true 21st-century way, chronicling the output of her culinary and design adventures on the Instagram feed @lisa.mathew1985.
Now, about bundt cakes. As with many things related to Christmas in Kerala, there is a lot of European influence on popular dishes and recipes. The bundt cake, which is said to be of German origin, distinct in the volcanic shape of its pan, has been very popular here since the 60s and 70s. There’s no particular recipe to partner the shape; the bundt pan can be used for any recipe. This is Lisa’s aunt’s recipe, tried and tested many times. It is simple, and it tastes of Christmas.
A Festive Caramel Bundt Cake
Ingredients:
- 250 grams powdered sugar
- 220 grams all-purpose flour
- 250 grams butter
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tbsp brandy
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp vanilla essence
For caramelising
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
Method:
- Separate egg yolks and white. Beat the egg white with 4 tbsp of sugar out of the 250 grams.
- Add 1 tsp vanilla essence and keep aside.
- Beat the rest of the wet ingredients.
- Fold in the dry ingredients.
- Add the egg white at the end. Separating the egg white, beating it stiff and adding it to the batter in the end ensures you’ll have a fluffy cake.
- Butter the baking dish well (to enable smooth de-moulding later), and pour the batter in.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and bake for 45 minutes. To check if the cake is done, poke a toothpick into it. If it comes out clean, then the cake is ready.
Textile designer Lisa Mathew shares her family recipe that looks traditional but is perfectly contemporary in spirit.
