Time for an upgrade

I keep forgetting that I need a Bundt pan.

Many years ago, when we were helping downsize somebody's kitchen on Will's side of the family, I acquired a nifty little springform pan with a Bundt insert. It was pretty cool. I could make cheesecakes, I could make Bundt cakes, and I could make a deadly flourless chocolate cake courtesy of Rose Levy Beranbaum. What else did I need?

As it turned out with my nifty little springform pan, the emphasis is on little: The pan in question is maybe 8 inches diameter and not particularly deep, either. I could make small cheesecakes. I could still make my flourless chocolate cake. And an occasional small Bundt cake.

Eventually, I realized I needed a larger springform pan and duly acquired one. But the Bundt pan keeps getting shoved to the back burner. Then things like apple spice cake with brown sugar glaze turn out to be a tasty mess.

Last weekend we made our annual trip to the pick-your-own apple orchard and loaded up on Jonagolds. Some years, this leads to debate about what to do with the fruit as Will and I usually have different ideas. This time, while he went straight to work on a crisp, I lazed around a bit before finally deciding to test out a cake recipe.

The recipe calls for Granny Smiths, but since that wasn't what we had, it wasn't what I used. I grated and drained three Jonagolds -- the boys sampled the resultant juice, and assured me it was a keeper recipe -- and had just a bit more than the 2 c. apple called for.

The cake batter beat up very thick, looking almost like a dough. At this point, I was supposed to transfer it to a greased 12-cup Bundt pan. Of course, what I had was a prepared 8-inch springform pan with a Bundt insert. My guess is it holds 8 or 9 cups. The batter filled the pan most of the way. I thought briefly about putting a cookie sheet on the baking rack under the cake pan, but decided I was OK and just popped the cake into the oven.

Twenty minutes later, I detected the distinctive scent of cake batter that had overflowed the pan and started burning on the bottom of the oven. I mentally kicked myself for not using the cookie sheet, and put one in to catch any other drips. And boy, were there more drips coming.


The cake also took about 10 minutes longer to bake than expected, and the sides of the pan were covered in drips. Once I removed the pan, however, it did look good, a nice even golden brown. While the cake cooled, we nibbled on the cooked drips, which tasted like a nice, slightly crunchy cookie.

The glaze presented no problems: Just melt some sugar, butter, cream and flavorings together and pour over the top of the cake. It was getting on toward dessert time, so we didn't wait too long to let the glaze set.

THE VERDICT: The cake was very moist and the glaze was pretty good. Will, Keith and I all liked the cake OK the first day, but preferred it the second day, after the glaze soaked in more and the flavor deepened. Alex liked it every day. The cake was sturdy enough to travel in lunchboxes. It also went well with coffee. A keeper, but I won't be making it again until I get a real Bundt pan.