Nutty Bundt Cake with Raisins

Now that summer is definitely over, I’m starting to crave those typically autumnal/wintery bakes again: cinnamon infused, aromatic cakes filled with plenty of nuts. Oh, who am I kidding, I crave those flavours all throughout the year. But now I have a good excuse to actually act on them again!

This weekend I baked this beautiful bundt cake, and let me tell you, it’s delicious. I didn’t expect it to turn out this amazing, but I’m pretty sure it’s a new favourite. The cinnamon and nutmeg provide the autumnal aroma I was looking for, and the abundance of nuts (hazelnuts and pecans) give it that great crunch as well as an amazing flavour. Add a bunch of raisins, and the texture and taste are complete winners! But wait, there’s more (I’m sorry…)! The very simple glaze adds yet another layer of deliciousness (icing sugar + orange juice = success).

Oh, and one more thing: aren’t bundt cakes the prettiest things you’ve ever seen?

You’ll need…

For the cake

– 250 g butter

– 200 g light brown sugar

– 4 eggs

– 2 teaspoons vanilla flavouring

– pinch of salt

– 250 g plain flour

– 2 teaspoons baking powder

– 2 teaspoons cinnamon

– ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

– 100 g raisins

– 100 g pecans (roasted and chopped)

– 100 g hazelnuts (roasted and chopped)

For the glaze

– 170 g icing sugar

– 2 tablespoons lukewarm water

– 1 tablespoon orange juice

– a few extra chopped hazelnuts for decoration (optional)

The rest

– bundt cake tin

– and an oven, of course! This cake needs to be baked at 170 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)

So, let’s get baking!

1. Mix together butter and sugar As always, the first step is to mix together the sugar and the butter in a large bowl. The butter needs to be softened at least, but you can also just melt it altogether, if you prefer. Mine was softened, and I used a handheld electric mixer to mix it together.

2. Add eggs and vanilla flavouring Once your butter and sugar are evenly mixed, add the eggs one by one, while mixing in between. Also add your vanilla flavouring at this point, and mix everything together again.

3. Add flour, baking powder, salt and spices Now it’s time for the dry ingredients! Sieve the flour and baking powder above your bowl, and mix them through. Add the salt, cinnamon and nutmeg as well, and mix again. It’ll most likely start smelling pretty good right about now!

4. Add raisins and nuts Add your pecans, hazelnuts and raisins to the batter. At this point it’s best to start mixing with a (wooden) spoon instead of an electric mixer or a whisk, since all them nuts and raisins will just get stuck in it. Spoon all of the nuts and raisins through the batter, until they’re nice and evenly mixed through.

5. Pour batter in tin and bake! Grease and flour your cake tin properly. You’re going to regret it if you don’t, because if your cake is even slightly stuck you’re going to have a bad time. Anyway, once you’re done with the greasing and the flouring, pour the cake batter into the tin, and divide it evenly. Then put it in your preheated oven and bake the cake for about 55 minutes at 170 °C. Check if it’s done by inserting a skewer into the cake (it’s done when it comes out clean). Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack. After about ten minutes, you can (gently!) take your cake out of the tin and put it on a plate to let it cool completely.

6. Prepare the glaze When your cake is almost completely cooled, you can start preparing the glaze. Sieve the icing sugar above a bowl, add two tablespoons of lukewarm water and mix it together with a spoon. Then sieve a tablespoon of orange juice above the bowl (you don’t want pulp in your glaze!) and mix it all together until you’ve got a smooth glaze.

7. Glaze the cake Now it’s time for the finishing touch. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake — gravity will take care of the rest, as you can see in the pictures. Sprinkle some extra chopped hazelnuts on top of the cake for decoration.

And that’s it! Your nutty bundt cake with raisins is done! Enjoy!