And if you’re an Everyday Food Magazine fan (you should be!) you will find the recipe on page 116 of the May issue.  The May issue, by the way, is one of the best ones this year.  Lots of good simple stuff in there this month.

I tried this recipe over the weekend, the chocolate variation.  I’ll be honest in saying that the icing recipe did not thrill me at first glance. However, I decided to make the recipe just as written so that I could present a good review.  And I am soooo glad I did.  The frosting was REALLY good.

Chocolate Cake Review:  The chocolate cake was similar in weight to a pound cake – lots of eggs help there I guess.  It was pretty dense.  It sliced up very well and hardly shed a crumb.  The chocolate taste was very slight but the cake was very good.

Icing Review:  I would highly recommend the frosting if you are going to make this cake but plan to eat it the same day.  The frosting was not one that I would make for a wedding cake.  It held its consistency well (which surprised me), even after the cake sat for a few hours.  It kind of reminds me of marshmallows in taste.  Very different and very good.  The frosting in the center really deflated so put lots in the middle.

And don’t cover this cake if you make the frosting recipe.  The icing will sink a bit and collects moisture.  It’s a tough call – uncovered and your cake dries out; covered and your icing suffers.  That’s why I recommend making this the day it’s to be eaten.

The recipe for the cake and varations can be found here:  Martha’s Versatile Vanilla Cake Recipe and Video

(photo courtesy of Southern Accents, Becky Luigart-Stayner)

The gorgeous arrangement above features a variety of cupcake wedding cakes and other small desserts.  The wedding cupcakes are placed on tiered cupcake stands (which can be used again after the wedding).  Bouquets of flowers and colored napkins help fill out the table.

This table arrangement can be recreated for the wedding cake table…

or you could place one a tiered cupcake stands in the center of each table, allowing your dessert to serve as the table decoration.   This could be a true budget-saver as it would cut back the cost of your table arrangements and you may save on the catering bill as the staff would not have to serve dessert!

I made the recipe just as listed with the exception of using 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. almond extracts (no orange as called for).  The batter was rather thick going into the pan.  It REALLY filled up my 12 cup Bundt pan.  Here’s how it looked after baking (the timing within the recipe was exactly how long it took to bake for me by the way).  You can see that the pan is very full.

When it was done baking and I took it out of the pan, I immediately declared this to be the prettiest cake I have ever made.  The recipe called for buttering the pan but I sprayed the pan with Baker’s Joy (a spray which contains both oil and flour) which worked just fine.  The cake popped right out, and as you can see it did not stick in one single spot.  Gorgeous!

I did not see any reason to slather this with icing and decided to make a chocolate glaze instead.

I found the cutest vintage cake plate at an antique mall.  Here’s a pic which really shows off my new plate.

And I have saved the best for last… this cake is unbelievably good!  The outside has a slight crunch to it, almost a very thin sugary crust.  It is really thick, dense, and soooo good.  The glaze was a great alternative to icing the cake and I am glad I did that.  The chocolate was a great pairing.  If you used the orange extract, an orange or lemon glaze would also be fabulous.

If you’re looking for some extra special ways to decorate a bundt cake, look no further than “Nothing Bundt Cake“. They are a bundt cake bakery, so to speak, and are very creative with their decorations.  The almond bundt cake above is really strong and would hold up to anything you would want to fill the center with.

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