Hot Cross Bundt Cake #SpringSweetsWeek

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine.

Hot Cross Bundt Cake is a new time-honored spring sweets tradition at my house. The cross-hatch pattern is beautiful and mesmorizing visually and I am a sucker for a good bundt cake.

A play off of the original Easter treat, hot cross buns, I decided to combine my love for cake with the flavors and textures of the yeast bun to create a whole new dessert and sweet treat. Orange zest, raisins and star anise are what make the Hot Cross Bundt cake taste like the buns we used to get from our hometown bakery, Dewey's Bakery. They are the gold standard. Operating since 1930, many families in the area remember a time when Dewey's was the only place you could order a wedding cake, pick out an individual lemon chess pie, walnut studded brownie with chocolate frosting or a cherry Danish to nibble on the way home.

What goes great with Hot Cross Bundt Cake? A cup of specialty coffee. The Door County Coffee & Tea Co. releases seasonal flavored coffees each season, almost like a line of designer clothes, and the array of flavors is astounding. 2021 flavors range from S'mores and Blackberry Shortcake to Frosted Cinnamon Buns and Orange Creme, which all blend and match the flavor intensity of this bundt cake. Click here to enter to win a $50 gift certificate so you can order your own spring line of specialty coffee.

Which Door County Coffee & Tea Co. flavor will you try first?

I grew up Catholic and we made sure to have hot cross buns on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday too. Always soft and very seasonal, this treat marks the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ in a special way. Easter is one of my favorite times of year. It marks the season of my birthday in April, the advent of warmer weather and the end of the school year as well as the most beautiful part of the liturgical year at church. The flowers, the stations of the cross, the new clothes and shoes, the beautiful hymns and of course, the food. Getting up super early to participate in egg hunts and finding baskets full of candy, spring-themed goodies and sharing my haul with my family really warms my soul. And hot cross buns and now the Hot Cross Bundt Cake are all a part of my childhood memories as serve as a reminder that I am making new ones as an adult. 

For those who don't observe Easter, the Hot Cross Bundt Cake is still a special way to usher in spring and vernal equinox with the promise of flowers, spring showers and the return of leaves budding on trees.

WHAT IS A HOT CROSS BUNDT CAKE?

A traditional hot cross bun is a spiced, sweet yeast bun made with raisins, currants, glaceed fruit and marked with a cross on the top (either with egg wash, tiny strips of dough or piped icing with red or pink dots at the crux of each arm of the cross) Traditionally eaten on Good Friday, the sales of the buns ramped up during the months of March and April and could be seen on buffets, luncheon menus and at fellowship halls on Sundays. A Hot Cross Bundt Cake is a cross between a spiced pound cake and a yeast roll with vanilla icing piped on top.

WHAT DOES HOT CROSS BUNDT CAKE TASTE LIKE?

The bundt is a spiced pound cake laced with yeasty biscuit dough pieces and dried fruits and decorated with a powdered sugar citrus icing in a cross hatched pattern across the top. The biscuit pieces serve as a reminder of the roots of the confection as a yeast bun. The pound cake serves as a vehicle for the warm spices of cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg and the raisins. Essentially, the Hot Cross Bundt Cake is a type of coffee cake best served at room temperature.

WHAT TYPE OF FLOUR SHOULD I USE?

This recipe calls for self-rising flour because baking powder and salt are already mixed in and that is one less step to add to the multilayered recipe. If you only have all-purpose flour, simply add ½ teaspoon salt and 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda per cup of all-purpose flour.

If using bread flour, add an extra ½ cup of milk when making this cake. The gluten of this kind of flour needs extra hydration so the cake is not dry as a bone.

WHAT SPICES CAN I USE?

Warm spices such a cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, star anise, mace, cloves and ginger are all interchangeable in this recipe.

WHAT SUGAR SHOULD I USE?

The recipe calls for both brown and granulated sugars. As for brown sugar, it does not matter if you use dark or light; it simply refers to the color which directly corresponds the amount of molasses in each one. Brown sugar will give your cake a deep bronze color after baking. If you decide to use 100% granulated sugar, this will not affect baking time nor the taste.

WHAT KIND OF FRUIT CAN I USE?

Raisins or currants (seedless raisins) are most traditional, but diced dried apricots, cherries or even pineapple can be used.

Monday #SpringSweetsWeek Recipes

• Carrot Pineapple Mini Loaves by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hot Cross Bundt Cake by Nik Snacks
• Instant Pot Lemon Lavender Cheesecake by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Key Lime Lavender Curd by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Kiwi Coconut Key Lime MIni Cheesecakes by The Spiffy Cookie
• Kumquat Pie by Eat Move Make
• Lavender Lemon Mini Loaves by Sweet Beginnings
• Lemon Lavender Macarons by Jen Around the World
• Lemon White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes by Art of Natural Living
• Mandarin Orange and Rhubarb Mini Loaves by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mandarin Orange Donuts with Ganache Glaze by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Mini Blueberry Bread by The Carefree Kitchen
• Mini Lemon Cakes with Lemon Glaze by Family Around the Table
• Mini Pound Cake by Cheese Curd In Paradise
• No Bake Chocolate Cheesecake by Pook's Pantry
• No Bake Lemon Cheesecake by Devour Dinner
• No-Churn Lemon Ice Cream by Kate's Recipe Box
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake by House of Nash Eats
• Raspberry Cheesecake Bars by Books n' Cooks
• Strawberry Rhubarb Breakfast Bread by For the Love of Food
• Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies by Palatable Pastime
• Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Crumb Topping by Blogghetti
• Vegan Chocolate Loaf Cake by Shockingly Delicious
• White Chocolate Latte Cupcakes by That Recipe

We share recipes from #SpringSweetsWeek on Pinterest! Make sure you follow the board to see all the delicious recipes shared this week.

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Hot Cross Bundt Cake

Yield: 12

Author: Nikki Miller-Ka of Nik Snacks

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

A new twist on the Easter tradition of hot cross buns, this bundt cake has all of the flavors and look of the traditional morning treat.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups self-rising flour
• ½ (1 stick) cup butter, room temperature
• 1½ cups Dixie Crystals granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice or ground star anise
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup packed Dixie Crystals light or dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon star anise extract or
• pure vanilla extract
• ½ Tablespoon orange zest
• 2 oz raisins or currants
• 1½ cups buttermilk 
• 1 can refrigerated biscuits (6 or 8-count), cut into 1-inch pieces

Icing

• 1 cup Dixie Crystals powdered sugar
• 3 Tablespoons orange juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Next, grease and flour a 9" or 10" tube or
2. bundt cake pan.
3. Measure 3 cups of flour by spooning lightly into a measuring cup and then leveling it off. Sift together with
4. cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, star anise and cardamom. Set aside.
5. Cream butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla, orange zest and beat mixture until just combined. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk to the egg mixture. Add raisins.
6. Gently shape refrigerated biscuit pieces into balls. Place half of the biscuit rolls in the lightly greased 9-inch cake pan first. Carefully pour half of the cake batter into prepared pan. Place remaining biscuit pieces on top and pour the remaining batter. Gently smooth the top surface of the batter with a rubber spatula.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. When the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, it is done.
8. Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to finish cooling. If the cake doesn't want to release completely from the pan, tap lightly on the top and sides of the upside-down pan with a spoon or carefully loosen the sides of the cake with a paring knife. Let cake cool completely before decorating.
9. Mix confectioners’ sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Spoon into a small resealable plastic bag. Cut a small piece from one of the bottom corners of the bag. Close bag tightly then pipe a cross-hatch pattern on the top of the entire cake.

Please consult a healthcare professional or dietician about nutritional needs for your diet. I am a communications professional, not a physician.

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