The fall colors have mostly disappeared here in Colorado. The trees are now bare and a few leaves remain scattered on the lawns and sidewalks, reminders of how glorious the trees looked. It seems to be an in-between season, not fall anymore and not yet winter.
Since I am not ready to let go of the season I brought some fall back into my kitchen by baking this cake. This delicious cake is butter rich and brown sugar saturated. The combination of brown sugar, maple yogurt, and whole wheat flour makes for a marvelous caramel flavor. This hearty cake more like a pound cake in taste and texture.
Because this cake is close to a pound cake in nature it is important to beat the butter and sugar together very well. This will insure a lighter textured cake. This was a challenge in my chilly kitchen the morning I made this cake! I wasn’t able to beat the butter and sugar the the degree of fluffiness I would have liked. My cake was a bit on the dense side which was alright with me, I ate it up anyway.
I am not sure where I might have seen this, but long ago I read somewhere the baking advice that you should place your buttered and floured bundt pan in the freezer in order to set the coating. This is supposed to further prevent the cake from sticking to the pan. I am not sure if this is just superstition or not, but I have done this ever since. I have to say that my cakes do not stick. Has anyone else heard of this? Let me know if you try this and find it to be helpful.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup wheat germ
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus another 2 teaspoons for the pan
- 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup maple yogurt, room temperature
- 1/2 cup maple granola
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use the 2 teaspoons of butter to generously grease a bundt pan. Sprinkle some flour over the butter, turning to coat the pan with the flour and then tap the side of the pan to knock out the excess flour. Put the pan in the freezer to set the coating.
- Whisk together the flour, wheat germ, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until light in color and texture. Beat in the brown sugar, a quarter cup at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Using a wide spatula fold in 1/3 of the flour, then half of the yogurt, repeating these additions and ending with the flour.
- Remove the pan from the freezer, and sprinkle the granola in the bottom of the pan. Spoon the batter into the bundt pan and smooth the top.
- Bake the cake for about 40 to 45 minutes until it springs back when touched lightly. Let the cake sit for about ten minutes on a wire rack before turning it out onto the wire rack to cool completely. The cake will keep well for about 5 days on the counter as long as it is tightly wrapped.
Leave a Reply