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I’m nutty for nutmeg, an intoxicating, warm spice with a complex flavor that is assertively fall and the holiday season. Nutmeg just owns November and December, doesn’t it?
Although I used pre-ground nutmeg in my early baking years, for the past couple of decades I have been buying the actual nutmegs from Penzeys Spices and grinding them myself. I’m not one to shy away from a labor-saving product like a pre-ground spice, but ground nutmeg that has been sitting on the shelf, to me, loses flavor and pungency. If I may urge, there is one spice you should grind yourself: nutmeg.
I have a cute little nutmeg grinder that must be 20 years old, but you could use an electric spice grinder, or a hand-held microplane grater if you like. And if all you have is pre-ground nutmeg, by all means use it. My mantra is “use what you have.”
I made this cake as part of the #BundtaMonth November party, hosted by Lora from Cake Duchess and Anuradha from Baker Street. This month our #Bundtamonth party bakers are:
Apple Bundt Cake with an Attitude by Deb | Knitstamatic Blueberry Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Anuradha | Baker Street Cardamom Bundt Cake with Rosewater Glaze by Paula | Vintage Kitchen Cinnamon Crown Bundt Cake by Renee | Magnolia Days Ginger Pear Bundt Cake by Holly | A Baker’s House Gingerbread Apple Cake by Lora | Cake Duchess Gram’s Fig Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Glaze by Stacy | Food Lust People Love Italian Anise Bundt Cake by Karen | In The Kitchen with KP Maple Pecan Bundt with Maple Glaze by Jennie | The Messy Baker Blog Mexican Chocolate Bundt Cake by Alice Choi | Hip Foodie Mom Moroccan Inspired Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Ras El Hanout by Laura | The Spiced Life Nutmeg Bundt Cake by Dorothy | Shockingly Delicious Peach and Roasted Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Sugar by Kim | Cravings Of A Lunatic Spiced Dark Chocolate with Cinnamon Glaze by Kate | Food Babbles Spicy Chocolate Bourbon Bundt Cake by Carrie | Poet In The PantryIf you would like to join the #BundtaMonth party this month:
- Bake your Bundt for November following the theme: Spice.
- Post it before Nov. 30, 2012.
- Use the #BundtaMonth hashtag in your title. (Ex: title might be #BundtaMonth: Spiced Chocolate Bundt)
- Add your entry to the Linky tool below.
- Link back to both Lora and Anuradha’s announcement posts.
That’s it! Fire up your oven and get baking!
Recipe: Nutmeg Bundt Cake
Summary: Fragrant with the intoxicating smell of fresh nutmeg, this dense, moist cake shouts November, December and Fall. It is a perfectly easy holiday-time dessert.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 5 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes*
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional; I omitted for child request)
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream (I used low-fat)
- 1 cup milk (I used 1% milk)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Decoration: Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F°. Mist a standard Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Set pan aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together flour, nutmeg, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add cubed butter to the dry mixture and mix on low until the butter is cut into the flour mixture, and is about the size of peas or even smaller. Mix in the brown sugar and walnuts (if using).
- In a 4-cup measuring cup, add sour cream and milk (it should be at the 2 ½ cup mark). Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
- Add the wet mixture to the flour/butter mixture, and mix gently, being sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Batter will be thick. Scrape batter into prepared Bundt pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick or cake pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 20-30 minutes. Slide a knife around the outside edge just to loosen it, and invert the cake onto a cooling rack. Allow cake to cool completely and place on a serving platter.
- Just before cutting to serve, dust top of cake with confectioner’s sugar (aka powdered sugar), for pretty! (An easy way to do this is to put the confectioner’s sugar in a small strainer and shake the strainer overtop the cake, and the sugar will drift down like snow.)
- Serves 12-16.
Quick notes
*You must use the butter chilled. If it is at room temperature, you won’t be able to “cut” it into the flour mixture and make crumbs.
Source
Slightly adapted from Saveur issue #134, and they based it on a recipe in “A World of Cake,” by Krystina Castella (Storey Publishing, 2010).
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 12-16
More nutmeg?
Want another great use for freshly-grated nutmeg, to justify buying the whole nutmegs? Try my fave Heirloom Cottage Cheese Pie! It can be dessert, and I have also eaten it for breakfast the next day. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Bundt cakes I have baked for #Bundtamonth:
Nov. 2012: Nutmeg Bundt Cake
Oct. 2012: Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
Sept. 2012: Zucchini Cookie Butter Bundt Cake
You can see a wonderful gallery of our #Bundtamonth cakes here.
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At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
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I love the look and sound of this. 5 teaspoons of nutmeg – wow! I love it!
Valentina,
Yep, 5! You can do 4, but if you taste the batter, you will put in the 5th.
Nutmeg is my second fave, it comes in so close to cinnamon on my list. I love the two together. They seem to heighten the flavour spectrum when combined. Anyhow I adore you do pure nutmeg. Love it. Also love this cake. I would be hunkered down not sharing if this was in front of me. It’s too good to share.
Woah! 5 teaspoons of nutmeg? I’ve never used any spice in that quantity but I’m totally giving it a try soon! Your cake looks exquisite, Dorothy! Thank you for baking along this month. 🙂
Baker Street, yep, 5 teaspoons! This is a big cake, and it is fragrant with nutmeg!
Love this! What a beautiful bundt!!! and I completely agree re: grinding your own spices. . I hear that’s the only way to go and I love Paula’s idea of using a coffee grinder! 🙂
I have only used nutmeg in small quantities and have loved the result — the thought of 5 teaspoons of ground nutmeg never occurred to me and I look forward to trying it!
I am also nutty for nutmeg and agree that freshly ground is so much better:) Your delicious spicy bundt is perfect for November #Bundtamonth. Thanks for baking with us again, Dorothy:)
I’ve never ground my own nutmeg before but what you said about it being ground and then sitting on a shelf for a while, makes complete sense. I think I’ll need to invest in a spice grinder and try freshly ground nutmeg. It is one of my favorite spices and this cake is lovely!
Your cake looks so good, and I love that you chose to use nutmeg. I don’t think nutmeg gets the credit it deserves. I buy my nutmeg whole, too. It’s so much better. The aroma alone is worth every penny.
Amazing! I love that you ground up your own nutmeg!
I love nutmeg and I am with you – that is one spice I never buy pre-ground! Great Bundt 🙂
Nutmeg is a great spice especially freshly ground. Here it´s used a lot in mashed potatoes so they sell the whole nut with the disposable grinder. I would love to make this bundt! Filing it right now!
I have recently discover whole nutmeg and do use my microplane to grate it finely. I completely agree that it is soooo much better than the nutmeg I have been using from the jar, already ground. Wish I could have smelled this in the oven baking! It’s beautiful!
YUM!! I can smell the deliciousness!!
I also loooove nutmeg! And I almost always use it together with cinnamon. 🙂 So cool that you grind your own!!
I love nutmeg too and always use the whole ones and grate them. The flavor is just so much better. I’m thinking this cake would be awesome to go with coffee for a wonderful mid-afternoon treat.
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