Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake

Here's another recipe from one of my new favourite cookbooks, The Cake Book. I've only made bundt cakes once and those were mini bundts and I got it stuck in my head that I wanted to make a regular size bundt. I just bought a pan from the grocery store since I wasn't sure how often I'd end up using it anyway and came home to make this yummy cake!

The cake was very moist and perfectly dense. The orange was a nice addition but you could definitely omit it if you want it to be all about the cinnamon (yes I'm thinking of you Grace). I loved the streusel and think it's the best I've found but I'm not sure it's right for this cake as it seemed to be too "wet" in the final cake if that makes sense. Maybe the streusel should have less flour. Anyway, this cake is supremely addictive and I know I'll be making more bundt cakes!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Mom's Banana Apple Bread
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake

Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake
Adapted from The Cake Book

I only made one small adaptation, to use cinnamon in the pound cake instead of cardamom. I also didn't sprinkle on confectioner's sugar before serving it. I'm also thinking the cake in the pan on a wire rack to cool needs to sit longer than 15 minutes so it doesn't stick - or maybe I need to butter and flour my pan better!

Makes one 10 inch bundt cake, serving 12

Cinnamon Streusel Swirl
1/2 cup (60 g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (72 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 tbsp (1.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted

Buttermilk Pound Cake
2 cups (242 g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (57 g) cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup (227 g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 cup (240 mL) buttermilk

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Grease the inside of a 10 inch Bundt pan. Dust the pan with flour.

Make the Cinnamon Swirl
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, breaking up any large lumps of brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until blended and crumbly.

Make the Pound Cake
3. Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 4 minutes. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract and orange zest. At low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions and mixing just until combined.

5. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter. Scrape the remaining batter on top and smooth it into an even layer.

6. Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes (note: I baked mine for 60), until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

7. Invert the cake onto the rack and cool completely.