Baked Bakery’s Root Beer Bundt Cake

Chloe’s birthday was earlier this month.  The cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito was hanging around on loan from Sharon and after thumbing through it, Chloe decided to try the Root Beer Bundt Cake for her cake.  Report:  E said, “OMG, the frosting is not only good, it’s stick your head in the bowl and lick the whole thing good.”  Round, big eyes on the girls after their first bite.  I think it was a hit.

Even though the recipe called for making the cake the night before, which required, of course, an individual trip to the store for root beer rather than waiting for the planned trip the following morning, it still didn’t have enough root beer flavor for me (after having sat overnight).  However, I think this is easily remedied by adding a teaspoon of root beer extract (concentrate is all that our local grocery store carries).  And while the cake is deep, dark chocolate terrific, an equally terrific find was the Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer I bought to go in it.  Made in Maine by Shipyard Brewing Company, it’s made with wintergreen oil, anise, vanilla and cane sugar (not corn syrup).  While I was making the cake and Jon and the girls were cleaning up the kitchen we all shared a bottle – just enough cold, sugary and dancing on the tongue to suffice as a mini dessert.

Another recipe I’m dying to try is Baked‘s Sweet and Salty Cake.  I’ll report on that in the near future.

Root Beer Bundt Cake
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Cake:
2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon root beer concentrate (my addition)

Frosting:
2 oz. dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup root beer (I ended up using more – maybe even another 1/4 to 1/2 cup more.  Perhaps this was because I mixed by hand rather than in the food processor.)
1 teaspoon root beer extract (my addition)
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

To Serve:
Vanilla ice cream

Cake:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cookng spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over mdium  heat until the butter is melted.  Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved.  Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cocoa mixture.  The batter will be slightly lumpy – do no overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for  35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

Frosting:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving, with the ice cream on the side.

Annie

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