Blackberry Champagne Bundt Cake with Amaretto Glaze

Perhaps more commonly associated with 50’s housewives and wiggly jello molds, I spent far too many years thinking bundts were an outdated cake. However, while shopping in a high-end kitchen store last year, I stumbled across a collection of Nordic Ware bundt pans -beautiful gold and silver, shaped like crowns and wreaths and gingerbread towns - and I was so mesmerized, I stood there for a full 20 minutes, turning those heavy, beautiful pans around and around, trying to decide which shape I should take home.

Fifty minutes later, I had a bag full of five bundt pans. Like I said, once you decide to bake a bundt, prepare to have a passion.

Wickedly simple and absolutely gorgeous, bundt cakes are the perfect way to wow yourself, get your bake on, and create a genuinely stunning cake, all with just 15 minutes of prep time (and 50 minutes of waiting-for-it-to-come-out-of-the-oven wine time.)

For this version, I took a basic vanilla bundt, whisked in champagne and added fresh blackberries. Though you can prepare the recipe with a hand mixer, the batter is slightly thicker than traditional cakes, so a stand mixer comes in handy.

With batter well-beaten, simply pour into a well-greased Elegant Party Bundt Pan. Or any 10-cup capacity bundt. Bake for about 1 hour. And cool for at least 20-30 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.

Because the batter of this cake is heavy, and the sides of the cake bake high, allowing proper time for cooling is essential to having a pretty masterpiece. Remove it too soon, and the edges can collapse. So allowing the cake enough time to cool and settle is an important step.

Once turned onto a cooling rack, you’ll have a perfectly stunning cake, lightly sweet, dense and moist, with those fluted edges just begging to be frosted. I love the look of a pure white icing, so went with an amaretto-kissed version. If you’re steering clear of liqueur, feel free to swap milk or almond milk in for the amaretto.

If serving for a party, your bundt will just be begging to be the center of attention. With just a few sprigs of greenery and flowers, you can take your bundt over the top. I decorated mine with some pretty peonies and purple carnations which caught my eye at the grocery store, but any combination of flowers will look equally divine.

A quick trick here, for anyone new to decorating food with flours:

For safety sake, you’ll want to avoid touching the flowers to anything edible. And here’s where the bundt makes life once again easy. Simply wrap the stems with cling plastic wrap, then place a small piece of parchment or plastic wrap inside the bundt, to ensure the cake is fully edible.

With cake ready to rock, it’s time to pull together this party. With such an elegant cake, we added gold-inspired accents. An enamelware cake stand and festive napkins lend approachable elegance to the serving table. And when it’s time to store any extras, the Typhoon Vintage Copper Cake Storage looks just as good on your countertop as the cake looked on the party table.

From the first stir to the first bite, this cake is so pretty, it deserves a spot at your next brunch or birthday blow-out. Just batter, bake and prepare to win the party.

“OMG, Becky, Look at that Bundt!”

Looking for more tasty brunch recipes?

• You NEED to try these nutella stuffed pancakes with Irish whipped cream.
• These pumpkin cinnamon rolls with vanilla spice cream cheese frosting are a delicious twist on the traditional homemade cinnamon rolls we all love!
• This hearty chorizo quiche is the perfect savory dish to add to your brunch lineup.