Tiramisu Bundt Cake

I’ve mentioned before that I take dance class and I love this part of my life. I started dancing as an adult, which is a pretty scary thing to do. I danced for about 6 years at one studio, took a couple of years off and I’ve been at my current studio about 4 years now. Time flies because I have such a good time there. I dance with adults, with maybe the occasional teenager thrown in, and they are a great group of ladies. My teacher is great too, just enough technique in class but a whole lot of fun. My last studio was much more formal, which I like, but there were a lot more teens there. It’s hard to keep up with teens sometimes!

My dance teacher’s birthday is today and at our last class we decided to surprise her with a cake and flowers. I volunteered to make the cake. I’ve brought my dance teacher cookies and she loves my baking, so I was really happy to be able to make her birthday cake. My teacher loves coffee, and is a great patron of the Starbucks that’s across the street from the studio. I figured a Tiramisu cake, with espresso and Kahlua flavors would be perfect. I love Bundt cakes: they travel well and serve a lot of people.

I’ve had this cake bookmarked since last November and I was so happy to make it. It was easy to put together (although I had to run to the store to get eggs in the middle of it since my eggs were past their date). I used instant espresso powder to make the espresso and in the icing I just used a tablespoon of Kahlua and then milk to make ¼ cup. I knew there might be young ones at the party so I didn’t want this to be too boozy. This cake was great and was a bit hit at the party! It didn’t look at all like the photo on the Baking Bites website, but no worries. The Kahlua and coffee flavors shine through and the cake was wonderfully moist. This was a great recipe and I’m glad I tried it after such a long wait.

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup espresso
1/4 cup Kahlua

Icing
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking power and salt. In a large mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture alternatively with the milk, beginning and ending with an addition of flour, and mixing just until everything is incorporated.

Remove 1 cup of the batter and place in a small bowl, add the espresso to this and whisk to combine. Remove another 1 cup of batter into a second small bowl; add the Kahlua to that bowl and whisk to combine.

Pour half of the plain batter into the Bundt pan and spread into an even layer. Pour the Kahlua batter into an even layer on top of the plain batter. Pour espresso batter on top of Kahlua batter. These batters maybe slightly thinner, but do not mix or stir them. Carefully spread all remaining plan batter into the Bundt pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 15-20 minutes, then turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the icing, combine all ingredients in a large mixer bowl and beat at medium-high speed until very smooth and fluffy. Drizzle the icing over the cooled Bundt cake.

Recipe from Baking Bites