Hi hi! I’m back with a wee variation on an old friend of mine - this Devil’s food Bundt Cake with a Bay Caramel. One of my very favourite chocolate cakes comes from my friend Stella’s book - it is rich, the most amazing texture, and comes together in one bowl. The layers bake beautifully flat, which makes it a dream to stack up into a layer cake.
After I made a bundt cake a few weeks back, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them - I love how easy they are, that they don’t need a frosting, and that the fancy pan does most of the work. I wanted to develop a go-to chocolate bundt cake, but thought maybe first I could try and see if this Devil’s food cake could be adapted for a bundt recipe. And not only did it turn out amazingly, but the quantity of batter required for the layer cake happened to also be the perfect amount needed for a bundt cake. I was expecting a huge amount of recipe testing, but since this worked, and it’s one of my faves, I figured I might as well stick with this!
This cake was originally going to have a tahini caramel on it, but my friend tagged me in a post recently that had doughnuts with a bay leaf caramel, so I figured I needed to give that a try. The bay gives a beautifully subtle flavour to the caramel - not too overpowering, but a slight variation on the traditional caramel taste. It goes perfectly with the not too sweet cake. The cake is amazing alone - perfectly dense, so if you don’t want to make the caramel to go alongside, a quick dust of icing sugar would be delicious too.
A few wee tips:
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If you need cup or oz measurements for this, you can see the original post. I adapted the method just slightly to make this done in one bowl rather than a pot. It’s super easy to just plonk the bowl down on the scale and add everything in!
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I used the Bavaria pan by Nordicware
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Bundt cakes can be a bit intimidating. You have to spray the shit out of with baking spray, then dust it with either flour or cocoa powder. Alternatively I like the baking spray with flour and then a little dust of cocoa. 10 minutes also seems to be the sweet spot in terms of cooling time to get the cake out of the pan - set a timer as soon as you take it out of the oven.
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I used a 10 cup bundt pan - the batter will all fit if you want it to, but I found it best to hold back just a little to make sure it won’t overflow in the oven (about 1/4 cup) - I baked it in a little ramekin and had a little snack!
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Ideally you want to give the caramel time to cool - if it is too thick to pour, you can quickly zap in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time.
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This cake is super moist, so keeps super well - just store in an airtight container at room temperature.
One Bowl Devil's Food Bundt Cake with Bay Leaf Caramel
- Makes one Bundt Cake, Serves about 14 -
Devil’s Food cake From Bravetart: Iconic American Desserts
Devil’s Food Bundt Cake
340g unsalted butter, cubed
340g hot coffee, or boiling water and 2 tsp instant coffee
85g Dutch Process Cocoa
170g finely chopped dark chocolate (I used 70%)
450g light brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
6 eggs, cold
40g egg yolks (about two large egg yolks)
255g All-purpose flour
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
Bay Leaf Caramel
180g heavy cream
8 bay leaves, roughly chopped, plus four more to infuse while cooling (I used fresh)
300g sugar
135g Butter, at room temperature
2 tsp flaky sea salt
- PROCESS -
DEVIL’S FOOD BUNDT CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350° / 180°c. Spray a 10 cup bundt pan with baking spray or baking spray with flour, and dust well with dutch process cocoa.
In a large bowl, combine the hot coffee and butter. Whisk until the hot liquid has melted the butter. Add in the cocoa and chopped chocolate, and whisk to combine until the chocolate is melted. Add the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt, and mix to combine.
Add the eggs and yolks, whisk well to combine, then sift in the flour and baking soda, and stir well until mixed.
Place the bundt pan onto a baking sheet. Add the batter to the bundt pan, reserving about a quarter of a cup to ensure it does not overflow (see notes). Tap the pan on the counter a few times to help remove any large bubbles.
Bake the cake for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake registers 210°f / 100°c on a thermometer.
Remove from the oven and allow to stand for exactly 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
BAY LEAF CARAMEL
Place the heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat, and bring to just shy of a simmer. Remove from the heat, add the roughly chopped bay leaves, cover the pan, and steep for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves, and re-weigh the cream. Top up to 180g if needed. Return the pan of cream to a low heat while you prepare the rest of the caramel.
In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, place the sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a whisk. The sugar will start to form clumps, then begin to melt. Cook until is it amber in colour, then remove from the heat and immediately add all of the butter. Be careful as the caramel will bubble rapidly. Once the butter is incorporated, add the cream and whisk until well incorporated. Whisk for a further minute to ensure it is emulsified. Stir in the salt, and pour into a glass jar. Add the four bay leaves. Allow to cool completely.
ASSEMBLY
Place the cooled cake onto a wire rack over a sheet pan. Remove the bay leaves from the caramel, and warm if needed until it is a pouring consistency.
Pour the caramel over the cake until it is coated. You may not need all of it. Allow to sit for a few minutes to settle.
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
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