Soft and delicious, this bundt cake has a subtle almond flavor, a gorgeous glaze, and a tender crumb. Beautiful for a brunch table, it can be made in advance and frozen!
I love bundt cakes and this blog prides itself on posting bundt recipes that are completely worth it.
We all know about that moment when you removed the cake from the pan only to find yourself with a half cake on the serving platter. Attempted to remove is better wording.
That said, this is a great recipe both in flavor and logistics, haha!
We do have a no-fail way of preparing the bundt cake pan, so you'll get that info too.
How to prepare the bundt cake pan
Making a bundt cake batter is easy because, in theory, any cake recipe works.
I say in theory because bundt pans can be tricky with all those intricate patterns, nooks, crannies and sharp angles.
A lot of cakes can stick to them easily after baking making it a nightmare to remove it or just plain not being able to remove it without half the cake sticking to the top.
My 3 tips:
- Butter: I use soft butter (NOT melted) to patiently cover the whole pan, every nook and cranny, every sharp angle, every single bit of space available. I use a brush or my fingers. I then flour the pan and REFRIGERATE IT while putting together the batter. I take it out at the last moment when I need to fill it (image above) and it goes like that into the oven. It will unmold like a dream!
- Baking spray: I use a spray that is marked as having flour in it, or being specifically made for baking. It has to have flour in it, otherwise, you have high chances of the cake sticking when removing it. That is my experience at least.
- Recipe: whenever I find a great recipe that can be easily removed from an intricate bundt pan, even though I didn’t follow step 1 above, I cling to it like life itself! Case in point is the fabulous Cardamom Bundt Cake.
One thing is certain: they look gorgeous when a powdered sugar glaze is used and it drips down the sides of the bundt cake. So I highly recommend this type of icing which is super easy to make, delicious and very versatile!
Vintage Kitchen Tip
Glazing bundt cakes
There are several recipes for glazes or icings for this type of cakes.
How to make a simple powdered sugar glaze
I use this glaze a lot and for a good reason: it delivers big time. It’s the easiest two-ingredient glaze EVER.
Just mix powdered sugar with your liquid of choice, anything from milk, cream, citrus juice (olive oil apple cake), liquor (lemon cream cake), wine (wine chocolate cake), honey, olive oil… and make it as thick or as runny as you want to.
Yes, it’s that versatile.
- For this recipe, I use milk with drops of almond extract. It enhances the almond flavor without overpowering the cake as a whole.
Can you freeze sour cream cakes?
Yes, by all means!
I even think they sometimes benefit from a stay in the freezer.
This almond pound cake can be frozen up to a month, always well wrapped. Defrost at room t°.
What pan sizes can I use for this recipe?
This is a large bundt cake and I love to make it but sometimes use a tube pan.
But the recipe makes: 2 loaf pans, 1 large sheet cake, 3 layers (8-inch). So pick your favorite.
Related recipes you might like:
Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it and if you had issues so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here. It's much appreciated.
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Glazed Almond Vanilla Bundt Cake
Soft and delicious, this bundt cake has a subtle almond flavor, a gorgeous glaze, and a tender crumb. Beautiful for a brunch table, it can be made in advance and frozen!
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups (340g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 6 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure almond extract
- Zest of 1 orange or lemon
- ½ cup (50g) ground almonds or almond flour
- 3 cups (420g) all-purpose or cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (240g) sour cream, at room temperature
For the glaze:
- 1 ½ cups (240g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- A few drops pure almond extract
- Sliced toasted almonds for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350°F/180°C.
- Butter (with soft butter) and flour a 10-inch bundt pan and refrigerate while making the batter.
For the cake:
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer (or the bowl of a stand mixer) beat butter until creamy.
- Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy and light in color, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add extracts, zest, and almond flour and mix without beating much.
- Sift flour with baking powder and soda and add in 3 parts to the butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts.
- That means you begin and end with flour.
- Beat until well mixed and smooth but don’t overbeat at this point.
- Pour the batter into the cold pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, shake the pan to make sure the cake is loose and unmold carefully.
- Let cool completely on the wire rack before glazing.
For the glaze:
- In a small bowl mix powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons milk and extract until very creamy.
- If needed add more milk until you have the desired consistency.
- Pour over cold cake and sprinkle with almonds before it sets.
Notes
- Pan: this is a large recipe for a 10-inch (10 cup) bundt pan. Make sure it's well buttered (soft butter with a brush or your fingers), floured and refrigerated while you make the batter. This is the way to remove it with ease.
- Almonds: finely ground almonds work as well as almond flour
- Make-ahead: you can freeze this cake (well wrapped) for up to a month. Defrost at room tº.
- Glaze: you can add lemon or orange juice for a sharper flavor. The flavor will not be so almondy.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 60
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10
- Calories: 744
- Sugar: 58.4 g
- Sodium: 128.1 mg
- Fat: 36.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 90.6 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 192.9 mg
Keywords: almond bundt cake,
Eliane says
Hi, just wanted to make sure it is really 420g of flour, not 375g. I usually do 1 cup = 125g.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Eliane! I don't live in the US so I always measured my own cups. For me it's always 140g, maybe 135g on occasions. But I know google gives a range of 120g-145g. So it's confusing because the difference between them is a lot. If you are used to baking with flour that weighs 125g per cup, go ahead and use that number.
Anya says
I made some changes - yogurt instead of sour cream, coconut instead of almond meal, and I had no zest. It was wonderful. I brought it to work to share with my peeps and it was a hit. Thanks, it's a great recipe and I'll make it again.
★★★★★
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to hear that Anya!
Lia says
Thank you so much for this recipe. It restored my faith in bundt cakes. This one is a keeper. The only thing I added was 1/2 cup buttermilk (for added moistness) and then, before I poured on the glaze, I poked holes all over top of cake to allow a little to filter on through.Maybe it didn't need any of that, but it really came out so moist and satisfying! Thank you
★★★★★
Paula Montenegro says
Happy to hear it turned out well Lia, and love how you enhanced it! Have a great week.