Mini Christmas Bundt Cakes

MAKES 6 MINIATURE BUNDT CAKES

For the dough: 1/3 cup (70 ml) lukewarm milk, ¾ oz (20 g) yeast, 1½ cups + 5 tsp (200 g) flour, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp (100 g) butter, ¼ cup + 2½ tsp (60 g) sugar, 1 pinch salt, zest from ½ organic lemon, 2½ oz (75 g) chocolate chips and/or raisins

Additional: a little bit of soft butter for the pan, breadcrumbs for the pan, wooden skewers, powdered sugar for sprinkling

For the pre-ferment, put milk into a bowl, crumble in the yeast, dissolve it, and fold in 1 tbsp of flour. Now cover the pre-ferment with a kitchen towel, and let sit in a warm, draft-free place until it has doubled in size.

Place the leftover flour in a mixing bowl and make a deep trough in the middle. Carefully crack open an egg and separate the egg white from the yolk. Place the egg yolk, another egg, pre-ferment, butter, sugar, salt, and lemon peel into the flour trough and knead thoroughly into a sticky dough. Place this dough in a bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place until it has doubled in size. Then knead in the chocolate chips and/or raisins.

Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C), unless you have a convection oven, in which case preheat to 320°F (160°C), or a gas oven, in which case preheat to level 3. Butter the molds of the mini Bundt pan, sprinkle in the breadcrumbs, and shake out those that don’t stick. Evenly distribute the dough amongst the molds.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake the mini Bundt cakes for 35-40 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the middle of a little cake. If the dough doesn’t stick to it, take the pan carefully out of the oven. Otherwise let the cakes bake for another 5 minutes. After taking the mini Bundt cakes out of the oven, let them sit for 5 minutes, turn them upside-down onto a cooling rack, and let them cool completely. As a final touch, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

 

It is a quote. Christmas Cookies Dozens of Classic Yuletide Treats for the Whole Family 2015