Fresh fruit, lemon juice and rosemary flavor this homey, comforting bundt cake. Recipe below.
EVERYBODY, EVERYBODY LOVES CAKE. When you want to celebrate, when you need to celebrate, when you’re feeling festive or dejected or delighted, the answer is cake. When you need excitement and soothing: cake. When your spirits need lifting: cake.
What does every wedding have? Cake. What does every birthday have? Cake, yes, cake! When you are feeling low, or when you are feeling better and more confident and righter than ever, or when you want to give yourself a deserving gift, the answer is cake. The answer is not carrot sticks or lowfat yogurt or whole-grain crackers. You don’t want a goddamn cracker. Cake. Cake is the answer.
This homey bundt cake is something you can easily knock together and it has a certain amount of flexibility and will still hit the cake target nice and square. I made it with blueberries and some raspberries, because that is what we had on hand, but you can make it with other berries or even apples or pears—see Kitchen Notes for how to use them. Fresh rosemary adds its own layer of flavor to the sweet/tart taste of the cake, making it press even more comfort buttons.
Blueberry Lemon Rosemary Bundt Cake
Equipment
- A 12-cup bundt pan and a hand mixer (see Kitchen Notes)
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups blueberries (or other fruit—see Kitchen Notes)
- 2-3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon unbleached white flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter (or a mix of butter, plant butter and a neutral oil—see Kitchen notes)
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken well
For the glaze, optional
- 1-1/4 cup confectioners sugar (see Kitchen Notes)
- 6-8 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Put the blueberries in the small bowl and toss with the 1 tablespoon of flour. If you are using a mix of fruits and they vary in degree of softness, separate them for this step.
- Spoon the remaining flour into the first large bowl. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt, and gently stir together with a fork.
- In the other large bowl, beat the butter (or butter/plant butter mixture) with a hand mixer until it is smooth, then add the sugar and beat until it becomes fluffy (this is where you see how the plant butter acts the same as regular butter—it’s pretty cool to see).
- If your mix includes vegetable oil, add it now; then beat in the eggs, one by one, mixing well between each one. Then add the lemon juice and the vanilla and combine. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. When that step is complete, mix in the fresh rosemary.
- Finally, carefully fold in the berries, by hand.
- Lightly oil the bundt pan, then spoon the batter into it.
- Bake the cake at 350ºF for 45 to 50 minutes—in our oven, this was done at about 45 minutes. A tester slid into the center should come out clean.
- Cool the cake for 20 to 30 minutes on a rack. Loosen the edges carefully with a thin knife, then turn it out of the mold onto a sizable plate.
- Glazing the cake. If you intend to glaze this, wait until it is completely cool. Stir the confectioners sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl until the sugar completely dissolves and there are no lumps. Spoon the glaze over the cake.
- I used my usual glaze recipe, and waited for several hours before glazing, but for some reason the glaze refused to be visible. The photo you see here does show this cake with glaze on it—it is apparently my famous invisible glaze—who even knows any more? Honestly, this cake is so sweet and likeable that I don’t think it really needs a glaze. But adding the glaze ramps things up a notch and keeps it moist and tender for an extra day.
Mmm, cake! And you’ve combined lemon with blueberries — such an awesome combo of flavors. Love the touch of rosemary too — nice underflavor. I always love the look of a bundt cake, too — such an interesting shape. Really nice recipe — thanks.
Well, now I need to buy a bundt pan.
Can we please get a companion blog wherein you detail the provenance of your various, sundry, and lovely dishes?
I agree with Liz, you’ve got some lovely dishes.
And this is a lovely recipe ~ I love the addition of the rosemary.
It sounds like it would be a good breakfast cake, too. A great way to start the day.
Thanks, Marion.
John, that bundt cake shape is definitely part of the appeal—we eat with our eyes.
Liz, that is an interesting side blog idea—for in our spare time. But maybe we can start calling them out on occasion in new posts here. Our shelves are full (overflowing, really) of things we’ve picked up everywhere from flea markets to antique shops, yard sales, online and even esoteric places like Crate & Barrel. We’ve always both had a natural inclination to collect this stuff, and once the food blog got started, we had an actual excuse to seek things out.
The plate in this post is something Marion picked up somewhere in Michigan back before we met. It’s an example of Gaudy Welsh china, some of the first mass-produced china, made to sell inexpensively to working class families. Despite Welsh being in the name, it was produced across much of the middle of England in addition to Wales. The site Interpreting Ceramics says “Gaudy Welsh china is a cottage ware; a product that was made for sale in Britain (1820 -1860).” The name was apparently created by American collectors, probably playing off disparaging remarks made when it first started appearing here with immigrant families. But we think the bright colors and lively designs are beautiful.
Dani, we did indeed start a couple of days with this cake!
these sound like great flavours. nothing nicer than a bundt cake. for some reason, they always taste better than a round cake, i think:-)