My favorite among the round cakes is this really moist and refreshing orange bundt cake. But did you know that the ancient Romans already enjoyed the delights of a bundt cake?
Of, course, it wasn’t called “bundt” cake in those days. “Bundt” is a rather modern name. It was in the 1950s when a North American cookware manufacturer started to produce the typical pans or molds in which you bake these round cakes and trademarked it with the name “Bundt”. But let me get back to the ancient Romans. We know that they already baked round cakes because some baking pans were dug up in the Archaeological Park Carnuntum in Austria. So here we are, the ancient Roman soldiers loved them. And it seems, that up to this day the love for this cake has remained undiminished. In the 17th century, though, the cake was regarded as a “cake of the poor”, but in the 1st half of the 19th century these round cakes saw a real boost, as the richer and noble people started to like and love them. From then on it was the cake that everyone loved. Even the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph loved the round cake. And if he did … well, then it had to be good. 😉
It probably was its enormous popularity, which sparked the creation of all kinds of bundt cakes. Today we have cakes made with yeast dough (which actually is very typically Austrian), but we also have all kinds of sponge mixtures, marbled or plain, combined with different flavors and additional ingredients like spices, fruits, chocolate, etc.
I don’t feel an unconditional love towards bundt cakes. The cakes I adore must be soft and moist. I certainly don’t like dry cakes. Therefore I’ll present the most refreshing and moist bundt cake to you today, which gets drizzled with orange juice after baking. You’ll see, this orange bundt cake is simply irresistible. 😉
Orange Bundt Cake
200 g (1 cup) butter
8 eggs
150 g (2/3 cups) sugar
240 g (1 cup) flour, all-purpose
zest of 2 oranges (organic)
100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
for the syrup
100 ml (1/2 cup) orange juice (freshly squeezed)
25 g (1 tablespoon) icing sugar plus extra for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-oven (325°F, Gas Mark 3). Grease a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt pan with butter and dust it with flour.
Cream the butter and 150 g of sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the flour and zest of the oranges and combine well. Whisk the egg whites and the remaining 100 g of sugar till stiff. Carefully fold them into the batter and spoon everything into the greased and floured bundt pan.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
In the meantime, squeeze the oranges and stir the icing sugar into the juice until it dissolves.
When the cake is baked (a tester or a thick needle must come out clean), let it cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate. Use a brush to carefully drizzle the cake with the orange juice. Leave to cool completely, then sprinkle with icing sugar.
In case you want to print the recipe of the orange bundt cake:
- 200 g (1 cup) butter
- 8 eggs
- 150 g (2/3 cups) sugar
- 240 g (1 cup) flour, all-purpose
- zest of 2 oranges (organic)
- 100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-oven (325°F, Gas Mark 3). Grease a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt pan with butter and dust it with flour.
- Cream the butter and 150 g of sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the flour and zest of the oranges and combine well. Whisk the egg whites and the remaining 100 g of sugar till stiff. Carefully fold them into the batter and spoon everything into the greased and floured bundt pan.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
- In the meantime, squeeze the oranges and stir the icing sugar into the juice until it dissolves.
- When the cake is baked (a tester or a thick needle must come out clean), let it cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate. Use a brush to carefully drizzle the cake with the orange juice. Leave to cool completely, then sprinkle with icing sugar.
