Coconut Tea Cake – Bundt Pan Giveaway

I believe most of us in Singapore are not exactly familiar with the Bundt cake. I myself, have only recently started to become a little familiar with it. Believed to have originated from Germany, the Bundt is usually based on pound cake or coffee/tea cake recipes baked in a special chimney mold known as the Bundt Pan. Good Bundt pans are not readily available in Singapore and the price of heavy cast aluminum pans by Nordic Ware starts from S$99.(US$70) I just couldn’t bear to part with a hundred dollars for a baking pan.  Thanks to on-line shopping – I now own 3 bundt pans all bought from on-line shops based in the US. I bought my first pan 3-4 years ago just before my business trip to US. I had it delivered to my colleague and picked it up when I was there(most stores would not deliver outside US). Nowadays, thanks to facilities like vPost Singapore, we can take advantage of the strong Singapore dollar and shop to our heart’s content on-line! (very dangerous!)

For avid bakers/cooks, baking/cooking utensils which are either unavailable or ridiculously expensive here are now within reach at good quality on-line stores such as the CSN stores where you can find everything from barstools to cookware.
Back to the Bundt pans. The Bundt pan is characterised by the chimney in the centre of the pan, not unlike the chiffon cake mold. However, unlike the plain chiffon molds, Bundt pans are available in a wide selection of whimsical styles and designs – I am especially partial to designs that allude to Scandinavian or Bavarian motifs e.g. castles, beautiful folds and pleats. With a good quality, beautiful bundt pan, your cake needs no further adornment – my breath is always taken away when I demould my cakes. I made the mistake of buying a silicone mold once and am now packing it away to be donated to The Salvation Army. Though cheaper than the cast aluminum version, the silicone molds just do not brown as beautifully and the motifs often become blurry. As such, I would strongly recommend that one invest in a good heavy cast aluminum pan by Nordic Ware. They are possibly the best Bundt pan specialist, offering the widest range of designs and material. See here to be impressed by the beautiful designs.

My favourite Bundt pan is a set of mini garland bundt pans. I love the folds and the medieval motifs. Placed directly on the oven rack when baking, the fluted hole allows for good heat circulation to ensure the cake to be evenly baked. I had no problem demoulding the cakes after greasing the molds with Crisco Spray with Pilbury flour. The details of the design was so sharp and prominent on the cake that it looked like a professionally baked gourmet cake… and with this particular pan, I get all my favourite designs with just one bake.

For readers residing in the US or Canada, this beautiful bundt pan can be yours for free, courtesy of CSN. Just leave a comment and I will randomly pick a winner. The giveaway will be opened for a week and will be closed on 1st May 2010 4th May 2010. I will publish the winner on 2nd  5th May.

The recipe I have used today is Dorie Greenspan’s Coconut Tea Cake recipe – possibly the most published bundt cake recipe in the blogosphere. Made with grated coconut and coconut milk, this is a soft and moist cake that bakes well and tastes great.

Recipe : (for more bundt cake inspiration for the Bundt pan, check out Carmen‘s site)

220g     all-purpose flour
1 tsp     baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup    unsweetened coconut milk (stir well before measuring)
113g     unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
4           large eggs, preferably at room temperature
400g     sugar
1 tsp     vanilla extract
2 tsp     dark rum (optional, but so good)
3/4 cup grated coconut (unsweetened or sweetened).

Method :

Preheat oven to 165C  Don’t place the pan on a baking sheet – you want the oven’s heat to circulate through the inner tube.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Remove from the heat, but keep warm.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum, if you’re using it. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears.

Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a rubber spatula, just to make certain that any dry ingredients that might have fallen to the bottom of the bowl are incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan and give the pan a few back-and-forth shakes to even the batter.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

The above portion will yield roughly 2 trays of bundt cake using this garland bundt mold.