Melissa's Bundt Cake

So, there will be no picture which brings me to my first thought on the recipe. Generally when I make a cake I use the approach of butter and flour to keep it from sticking. Well, this time since the recipe recommended and it is easier I "generously" sprayed it with nonstick cooking spray, and the result was half the cake in the pan and half on the cooling rack. Not a great picture, but when I close my eyes I imagine it looks like Danielle's. Anyway, I recommend using the butter, flour approach.

Once we tasted it Ned declared it was the best cake he had ever tasted and it was the kind of cake you get in the bakery. He is an easy audience, but I thought it was pretty tasty too. The first bite I could taste the root beer, but after that I felt like it had a bit of a salty taste and not so much root beer. I probably would have liked it to have more of a root beer taste given the explanation at the beginning of the recipe. I really liked the frosting, and agree that it made quite a bit. We are eating the left over on graham crackers one of my favorite snacks.

I am not sure if I will make it again probably only if Ned wants me to.

Hyeyoung's Root Beer Bundt Cake

I have to admit that I was not a big fan of this cake. Not that it was bad, but I didn't think it was as good as other chocolate cakes I have made in the past. I liked the idea of using root beer in the batter and had high expectations for it (and so did my children), but in the end, it was a little disappointing. My three-year old who helped me make it said, "it doesn't take like root beer, but it's still good." But then again, I noticed later that she just ate the parts with the icing and left the middle of the cake on her plate--this from a little girl who usually devours all things chocolate. The recipe cautions against over-mixing the batter, and despite my best efforts not to overmix, the cake was dry and I had little lumpy flour bites in the finished cake.

However, I thought the icing was great (not too gooey or sweet) and I liked the idea of making it in a food processor. I normally have powdered sugar flying all over the place when making icing and this way, everything was nicely contained. And since the recipe makes a ton and I didn't end up using it all on the cake, the leftover icing was fabulous as a dip for fresh strawberries.

Overall, I don't think I would make the cake again--but I will definitely file away the icing for some other tasty concoction.

Cami's Root Beer Bundt Cake

I'm so glad Danielle chose this recipe. It seems like a weird concept but it is so good! I took Danielle's advice and used a little extra flavoring. We used to make root beer and so I had some flavoring in the cupboard. I used one teaspoon because I wasn't sure what it would do. I think if I were to do it again I would add two or three. You can definitely taste a root beer aftertaste, in a pleasant way.

I didn't add any extra flavoring to the frosting but wish I would have. I can't taste root beer in the frosting at all. It is really good though!

I highly recommend serving this cake with ice cream. It is a bit rich without it. I don't have a food processor, so I just used my KitchenAid with a whisk attachment. It turned out great. And as Danielle said, it makes tons of frosting! Lather it on thick.

Root Beer Bundt Cake

This week's recipe is Root Beer Bundt Cake on page 87 of the "Baked" cookbook. I made it over the weekend and I have a few comments.

First, I was disappointed that the cake didn't taste like root beer at all. We used Mug brand root beer, so I don't know if using a different root beer makes a difference (maybe Barq's or IBC would be better?). But my husband and I couldn't taste the root beer, and the flavor didn't "intensify" by the next day. You might want to try adding a little bit of root beer extract or making it with root beer schnapps. Second, go easy on the salt in the frosting. And the frosting makes a ton so lay it on thick!

Overall, the cake tastes great as just a chocolate cake, but the root beer flavor was lacking.


And now for Cami's questionnaire:

Q: When did you start baking / cooking?
A: I've been baking and cooking since I was a kid, and I've always liked it. Although, I've been much more excited about cooking since a couple of years ago when I got a cookbook that I love. I never used to use cookbooks, but now I love a good cookbook (good = hard back, lots of full-page pictures, and healthy-ish) I also wasn't much of a baker (beyond cookies) until recently.

Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?
A: I'm not sentimental about my kitchen stuff, but I like my metal measuring cups, my bamboo spatula, and my large Cutco knife.

Q: Do you have a favorite spice? If so, what is it?
A: Black pepper. Makes just about everything taste better.

Q: What is your favorite book?
A: Recent favorite - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
A: We want our next big vacation to be to Hawaii. I recently watched a special about the history of the Polynesian Cultural Center, and now I really want to go see it. Also, I hear Hawaii is amazing. :)

Q: If you had to change your first name right now, what would you change it to?
A: It's never occurred to me to want a different name. But if I HAD to change my name... I'd change it to Nelly since Max calls me that already anyway.

Q: Where do you currently live?
A: Chicago

Q: Where are you from?
A: Las Vegas

Q: If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: I'd get sick of anything I'd have to eat for every meal. But if I had to eat the same thing for every meal, I'd probably pick black beans and brown rice. Cause it's filling and healthy.