Every time I make (or eat) a bundt cake, I can’t help but think of the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. If you’ve seen it, then you’ll probably have some clue as to where I’m going with this.
In the movie, a Greek woman (Toula) is about to marry an American man, Ian. Before the wedding, Toula’s very Greek family throw the happy couple a party at their home, and they invite the groom’s parents as well. Well his parents can’t show up empty-handed, now can they? That would be rude! So as a gift, they bring a cake. But not just any cake, a bundt cake.
Since Toula’s family is very traditional Greek, they have never seen a bundt cake. Upon receiving the cake, Toula’s mom (Maria) asks, “what is it?” The groom’s mother proceeds to tell her that it’s a bundt, but Maria has absolutely no clue what that is. After a few seconds of her trying to pronounce “bundt”, Maria’s sister finally whispers in her ear that it is a cake, and a big smile breaks out on Maria’s face. She thanks the groom’s mom again, and as she is walking away with her sister, Maria whispers, “there’s a hole in it!”
To make things even better, a few scenes later, Maria brings out the bundt cake for everyone to enjoy. But she hasn’t left it as is. Nope, she stuck a flower in the middle of it to fill the hole. I guess she just couldn’t grasp the fact that bundt cakes are supposed to have a hole in the center! To this day, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that movie scene when I see a bundt cake. But hey, at least it gives me a good laugh!
Anyways, moving on from the movies and back into real life. I’ve been on a huge apple kick lately, and I’ve been going through them like crazy! Unfortunately, the last bag I purchased contained apples that didn’t taste so great, so I didn’t want to eat them plain. However, I also didn’t want to let them go to waste, so I did the next best thing besides eating them – I used them to bake!
I personally love adding cream cheese layers into the desserts I make because it makes the dessert so rich and creamy and gives it a lot of extra flavor. So that’s what I decided to do with this cake. Instead of using just plain cream cheese, though, I took it up a notch and added Raisin, Apple, & Cinnamon flavored cream cheese from Melanie’s Medleys.
This flavor of cream cheese is hands-down my favorite, mainly because it has huge chunks of apples and raisins. It also has a very mild cinnamon flavor without it being too powerful like some cinnamon-flavored things can be. It would be the perfect touch on this cake to give it just a bit more texture and a little extra flavor.
The only bad thing about making this cake was waiting for it to bake. I was so impatient and just wanted it to be done already, and I was thrilled when 65 minutes had passed and it was completely baked.
However, I quickly realized that I was going to have to wait even longer, because the cake still had to cool completely before I iced it. Ugh!! After a while I started to get impatient, so I stuck the cake in the fridge and let it finish cooling as I prepared the icing.
When it was all said and done, this cake was totally worth the wait. It was creamy, full of texture, and bursting with flavor. The cream cheese “layer” didn’t really come out as a layer like I had hoped, but rather, it all just mixed in with the cake batter, resulting in a smooth, dense cake. Just look at how good it looks!
Since it made such a big cake and we couldn’t eat it all in my house, my mom took a few slices to work with her to share with co-workers. One of her co-workers said it was “the best cake I’ve ever had!” and actually liked it so much that my mom gave the rest of the cake to him to enjoy!
I was sad to see it go, but I was very happy to be able to share it with someone who enjoyed it so much. After all, I can always make another one; no big deal! And here’s some more good news: you can make this cake, too! You can always use plain cream cheese instead of the flavored version, but if you really want to add some more flavor, head over to the Melanie’s Medleys website and purchase some raisin, apple, cinnamon cream cheese for yourself! If you use my code (MARISAU18) at discount, you get $15 off your order!
- CAKE:
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
- 3 apples, peeled and diced
- CHEESECAKE FILLING:
- 1 (8-ounce) package Raisin, Apple, Cinnamon flavor cream cheese, softened (or just plain)
- 4 TBSP unsalted butter, very soft
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 TBSP flour
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- FROSTING:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 TBSP unsalted butter, very soft
- 3 TBSP almond milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Filling: With an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to mix until well-incorporated.
- Add the egg, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon, and continue to mix until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Cake: In a large bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, oil, and extracts. Mix well.
- Add the sugars and continue to mix until everything is smooth. Add the dry ingredients, mix well, and then fold in the chopped walnuts and diced apples.
- Pour about ⅓ of the cake batter into the greased bundt pan. Pour all of the cheesecake filling on top, spreading it evenly across the cake. Top with the remaining cake batter.
- Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake will get to be a dark brown color, but don’t worry - it is not burning!
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Then flip the bundt pan over onto a plate and let the cake completely cool – about 1 hour or so.
- When cake is completely cooled, make the frosting: Combine the brown sugar, butter, and almond milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the almond/vanilla extracts, then slowly fold in the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Add additional powdered sugar if frosting seems to thin and runny. Mix until the frosting starts to thicken.
- Spread the icing on top of the cooled cake. Keep cake refrigerated.
