The winner of the first Bundts Across America Contest was this Chocolate Cabernet Flavors Di ‘Vine’ Wine Cake. Will your cake be next?

MENU

Cakes Category Main Page Articles & Reviews     Cookies, Cakes & Pastries Category Main Page     Main Nibbles Main Page Articles & Reviews Of Foods From A To Z

June 2007

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Cookies, Cakes & Pastries

Bundts Across America Contest

Plus The First Year’s Winning Recipe: Chocolate Cabernet Flavors Di ‘Vine’ Wine Cake

CAPSULE REPORT: Bundt pans make it so easy to produce an impressive dessert. Their own line of cake mixes makes the process even easier. You can read our review of the Bundt cake pans and cake mixes, both of which can be used as a base to create your own award-winning cake in the company’s Bundts Across America contest. The deadline for the 2007 contest is September 1.

• Overview
• Bundts Across America Contest Rules
• 2006 Winning Bundt Recipe

Pre-heat the oven, bring out your favorite Bundt® pan and put that frosting away! Nordic Ware, maker of the Bundt pan, is hosting its second annual national recipe contest. Bakers are invited to submit their most creative, most delicious Bundt creations.

This year’s theme calls for recipes that celebrate 10 popular American holidays. Each recipe will be judged on originality, taste, texture, visual appearance, use of ingredients and an essay describing how the entry represents the holiday. Because there is a Bundt pan for every season, bakers will be encouraged to make good use of one of the many seasonal Bundt designs from Nordic Ware. You can see the full line of Bundt pans at Nordicware.com.

Last year’s theme called for recipes that were representative of the state the baker hailed from. Margo Murdock Murphy, a third grade teacher who is married to a grape grower in Stockton, California, evoked her region’s wine-growing heritage with Chocolate Cabernet Flavors Di ‘Vine’ Wine Cake. The recipe, below, features a creative combination of chocolate devil’s food cake, black cherry gelatin and California Cabernet Sauvignon, a rich and complex-flavored cake from a basic list of ingredients.

Contest Rules & Prizes

Read the full details on the Nordicware.com website.

• Recipes must be created for one of the following holidays: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother‘s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Christmas.
• Ten finalists will be invited to participate in the national bake-off contest, to be held in San Francisco in October. The finalists will also receive a $500 Nordic Ware gift certificate and the grand prize winner will receive $10,000 in cash.

2006 Winning Recipe

With all the “from scratch” entries, the winner started with a cake mix. “I’ve learned from scratch that things don’t always have to be made from scratch,” says Mary Murdock Murphy. “People have so much to do in their daily lives, it’s nice to be able to make something that’s quick, but still elegant and delicious. That’s why I used a cake mix as one of my key ingredients.

Married to a grape grower, she pulled out a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and studied the label. It spoke about the black cherry flavors in cabernet, which inspired her to add the black cherry gelatin. Vanilla is a flavor that often comes from the oak in which the wine is aged. And dark chocolate is an excellent pairing with cabernet, as opposed to a yellow cake.

Chocolate Cabernet Flavors Di ‘Vine’ Wine Cake Ingredients Cake 1 box of devil’s food cake mix 1 small box (6 ounce) black cherry gelatin or (.3 ounce) black cherry sugar-free gelatin 4 eggs at room temperature 1 cup California Cabernet Sauvignon wine 1/2 cup vegetable oil   Wine Glaze Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons room temperature butter
• 1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease the Fleur De Lis Bundt pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Be sure to grease the grooves of the pan well to prevent the cake from sticking.

2. In a large mixer, beat the cake mix, gelatin, eggs, wine and oil on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and continue to beat for 1 minute. Occasionally scrape the bowl to insure all ingredients are well mixed.

3. Slowly pour the cake batter into Fleur De Lis Bundt pan. Gently tap the cake filled bundt pan on the counter to release any air bubbles before baking. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes.

4. Remove the cake from the oven and set it aside to cool for 10 minutes. Carefully, use a plastic knife to loosen the sides of the Bundt pan and invert it onto a wire cooling rack.

5. While the cake cools, prepare a simple cabernet wine glaze. Combine the butter, wine and powdered sugar in a medium sized pan. Bring all ingredients to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Set aside to use for drizzling on individual slices of cake.

Serving Recommendations

1. Garnish cake lightly with sifted powdered sugar. Clusters of grapes (sugared, if you like) may be used as additional garnishes.
2. Cut and serve individual slices with the wine glaze. Vanilla ice cream makes a nice accompaniment.

Recipe © Copyright 2006 NordicWare®. All Rights Reserved. Other material © Copyright 2005- 2008 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.