Citrus Champagne Bundt Cake

In December my mom went on a Christmas market cruise all throughout France and parts of Europe. In addition to cute and quirky Christmas ornaments, she also brought me this BEAUTIFUL bundt cake mold. The story goes that Marie Antoinette ran into one of these shops because of the rain and used the bundt cake pan as a hat to shield her hair! How true that is, we can speculate but I think it’s such a cute story & you can definitely tell why she chose that shop!

To break in the mold, I wanted to showcase the lovely winter citrus that we have! I followed Tutti-Dolci’s guide for the cake, the only thing I changed was making an orange frosting to drizzle over top. Take note from me and fill your pan only about 3/4 the way full, I went a little overboard and I had some spillage. It’s all good though, it was a delicious mistake!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 Cups Flour
  • 3/4 TSP Baking Powder
  • 1/4 TSP Baking Soda
  • 1/2 TSP Salt
  • 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
  • 3 TBSP Fresh Citrus Zest, I used oranges but you could use oranges, lemons, grapefruits
  • 10 TBSP Unsalted butter, room temp
  • 2 Eggs, room temp
  • 1 Cup Champagne/Prosecco
  • 1/4 Cup Citrus juice, again your choice
  • 1 TSP Vanilla Extract

Frosting

  • 5 TBSP Orange Juice [use whatever citrus you’re using]
  • 5 TBSP Powdered Sugar

Let’s Get Baking

Preheat your oven to 350F and butter or spray your bundt pan

Combine the flour + baking powder + baking soda + salt in a medium bowl

In a food processor, pulse together sugar + citrus zest and place in a large mixing bowl with butter. Mix together until pale and fluffy. Reduce the speed to slow and add in the eggs one at a time.

Slowly add in the flour until almost incorporated. Add in the champagne + citrus juice + vanilla and mix until combined.

Spoon the batter into the bundt pan and tap the pan sharply to reduce trapped air bubbles.

Bake for 40-44 minutes or until a tester comes back clean. This part absolutely depends on your pan and your oven, since my pan was ceramic, it took closer to 65 minutes.

While baking, combine the frosting ingredients, adding more if needed, and mix well. After allowing the cake to cool, drizzle the cake with frosting and enjoy!

Made with Love,

Hannah

Champagne and Lemon Risotto

While creating the future lesson plans for my dream counseling approach, Culinary Art Therapy, I am making sure that while touching on the topic of patience we will be making risotto. Patience is absolutely key when making risotto so make sure you know that going into this process or you are going to absolutely hate it. This is one of Antoni’s recipe… again. I’ve made this multiple times and it is always amazing.

Ingredients

  • 7 Cups of Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
  • 4 TBSP Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Cup Finely Chopped Onion
  • Kosher Salt
  • 1 1/2 Cup Arborio/Carnaroli Rice
  • 1 1/2 Cup Champagne or Dry White Wine
  • 3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan
  • 1 TBSP Grated Lemon Zest
  • 1 1/2 TBSP Lemon Juice
  • Fresh Ground Pepper

Let’s Get Cooking

Bring the chicken broth to a simmer over a medium heat, once hot reduce heat to low

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in onion + 1/2 TSP salt. Stir the onions until they have softened and become almost translucent, about 8-10 min. Add in the rice and stir constantly until the rice starts to lighten in color, about 4 min. Add in the Champagne/Wine and increase heat to med-high heat, stir constantly until all the liquid has evaporated.

Once all the liquid is gone, add in 3/4 cup of the hot broth and stir gently, scrapping down the the edges of the pot as well, until all the liquid is absorbed. You’ll continue to add 3/4 cup at at time, allowing it to get absorbed each time until the rice becomes tender and slightly creamy. Keep a fork close by for taste testing but this is where the patience comes in.

Once the rice is at the proper texture, remove from heat. Add in cheese + lemon zest + lemon juice. Stir to make sure all the cheese is melted. Then add in salt and pepper.

To serve: place in small bowls & top with more cheese & pepper.

Made with Love,

Hannah