Walnut Maple Spice Bundt Cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups plus 2 Tbs. cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 18 Tbs. (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup finely ground walnuts
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Procedure

Have all ingredients at room temperature.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325ºF. Grease and flour a 10-cup charlotte cake pan or Bundt® pan.

Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, salt, ginger and cinnamon; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, 35 to 45 seconds. Add the sugar and continue beating, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl, until blended. Reduce the speed to low, and fold in the ground walnuts and vanilla until blended. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream and ending with the flour. Blend each addition until just incorporated and continue scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so the sides are higher than the center. Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 50 minutes.

Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool upright in the pan 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a rack and cool 1 hour.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the maple syrup to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the syrup is reduced to 1/4 cup, 10 to 12 minutes.

Set the cooling rack and the cake over a sheet of waxed paper and generously brush the cake with the syrup. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Serves 16.

Flo Braker, Author, Sweet Miniatures (Chronicle Books, 2000).