Jam and custard bundt cake

I’ve had this gorgeous bundt cake for a while but not used it.  I wanted to save it for a special cake and this is it!  It was important that the outside of the cake was left simple and not over-iced so as to hide the intricacy of the mould.  Therefore, all the goodies are stashed away inside the cake and only revealed on cutting.

I hummed and hawed for a while over whether to put some glace icing over the top.  I do love glace icing but didn’t want to cover the cake, so I compromised – I went for a slightly thinner consistency of icing so it would cover but not hide the pattern.  Yes, I know it looked better without the icing but in my defence I truly love white icing! 

To stop the custard or jam seeping to the edge of the batter and possibly burning during baking I came up with a method to make channels in the batter and spoon the fillings into it.  Use a spoon or knife to make a channel like this:

Take care to spoon the custard and jam into the channel, making sure there is batter protecting it from the edges of the tin:

Cover with batter and spread carefully so as not to squidge the custard and jam out to the edge.

You get a lovely big slice from a bundt cake like this; the batter was the perfect quantity to fill the tin and, when baked, the cake only needed a thin trim to cut off the crust and make it stand nicely on a plate.

The sponge is lovely – soft and springy, and would be nice on its own with a buttercream or full covering of icing.  Definitely a keeper!

Ingredients:

For the custard:
2 tablespoons custard powder
1 tablespoon caster sugar
280ml milk

For the cake batter:
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
450g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract
350g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250ml natural/Greek style  yogurt
4-5 teaspoons jam – I used strawberry

For the glaze:
150g icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons warm water

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ fan oven 160°C/ 350°F/gas mark 4.

Spray the bundt tin with cake release spray – my bundt tin was a N0rdicware 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch.

Make up the custard according to the instructions on the packet and leave to set.  You want the custard cold before you add it to the batter.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy; don’t skimp on this stage.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, add a little of the flour if it looks like the batter might curdle.

Beat in the vanilla.

Weigh out the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

Measure out the yoghurt.

Stir in a third of the flour mixture followed by half the yogurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. Don’t over-beat the batter at this stage.

Spoon about a third of the batter into the prepared tin and ensure it is evenly spread out.   (NB.  I did this and my jam and custard sank during baking, so I think next time I’d put half the batter in first, then a layer of jam/custard, then half the remaining batter, layer of jam/custard, final bit of batter)

Take a blunt knife or teaspoon and bank the batter up the sides of the tin a little, to make a channel for the custard and jam.

Spread out half the custard onto the batter, taking care that it doesn’t reach the edges – you want it enclosed in the cake batter.

Dot some jam on top.

Spoon a further third of batter over the jam and custard, taking care not to squidge it out to the edges.

Bank the sponge again to make a channel.

Repeat the process with the remaining custard, jam and cake batter.  The final layer of cake batter should be spread smooth – no need to make a channel.

Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes, then de-tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Now make the glace icing:  mix the icing sugar with a little warm water until you have a thick, glossy icing that’s runny but not watery.   If in doubt, keep the icing on the thick side.

Spoon it over the cake and allow to drizzle down the sides.

Leave to set.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.