Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

Posted by Kejia:

Before I start, let me just obsess about my newly bought Vanilla Bean Paste. It is AWESOME. I love it! I love how gooey and thick it is, I love the little vanilla beans in it, and I love how good it tastes. Like come on! It is SOOOO much better than vanilla essence and vanilla extract. It gave these best vanilla cupcakes a great, rich vanilla flavour(It is now my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe). Vanilla bean paste is costly(I bought mine at SGD$14.50), and can only be found in specialized baking stores, but the money and the trip to the store is completely worth it. I don't care - today I am going to persuade you to buy Vanilla Bean Paste.

Reasons why you should buy Vanilla Bean Paste:

• Your baked goods would have little specks of vanilla beans in it. Just imagine a vanilla buttercream icing, spotted with tiny vanilla beans....ahhh bliss...
• No more spillage of vanilla essence/extract! Those are way too liquid, and I don't know if this happens to you, but they ALWAYS spill and drip down the sides of the bottle for me, and it is ultra annoying! Vanilla bean paste just flows slowly and smoothly into your spoon, no mess, no fuss!
• Vanilla bean paste has a 100% FULL vanilla flavour. It is so much better than vanilla essence and vanilla extract. NEVER, EVER, EVER (getting back together~~) buy vanilla essence. It is made purely out of chemicals and unhealthy stuff - the entire vanilla flavour is ARTIFICIALLY made. Why would you even buy that! Ditch yours out now, and purchase VBP. :-) Vanilla extract ranks in the middle, but of course VBP is better due to the vanilla beans that give additional flavour. 
• Why not use the best of the best, the vanilla bean pod instead? Vanilla beans are soooo expensive(SGD$4.00 for one pod!), and much less convenient. And usually, 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract = 1 vanilla pod = SO NOT WORTH IT!

There you have it. Four very good reasons why you should buy Vanilla Bean Paste. For those of you in Singapore, you can find Vanilla Bean Paste in Phoon Huat. Those living in the States or UK, any specialized baking stores like Wilton would sell such VBP. :-) 

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Okay, moving on to the vanilla bean bundt cake. This cake is delicious. It is super moist, super fragrant, super springy and super fluffy. I know I know, I always describe my cakes as moist. But seriously, this bundt cake is SO amazingly moist(yet not too wet) it has now become my favorite recipe. Simple recipes are the best! This recipe requires only one bowl and one whisk, with common baking ingredients that are probably in your pantry right now. I am so happy I found this recipe! Nothing can beat such a simple yet ultra delish cake.

Adapted from Tartlet Sweets

Ingredients:

113(1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature

200g (1 cup) granulated sugar

3 eggs

125ml(1/2 cup) whole milk

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste(oh gloriousness~)

188g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Icing sugar for dusting 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 176ºC/350ºF. Grease and flour and regular bundt pan(mine was 10"). 

2. Beat butter and sugar together until smooth and light. Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix about a minute until super smooth. 

4. Pour into the prepared bundt pan and smooth out the top. Rap pan against a counter couple of times to get rid of air bubbles.

5. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then slide out of pan to cool completely. 

There you have it! An ultra simple vanilla bean cake. I am very satisfied with the end product. If you're a baking *noob*, this is a great recipe to get you going. Alterinatively, we have many simple recipes like some delicious coconut macroons, lemon drizzle cake, honeycomb and chocolate truffles. 

But in the meantime, let me take another slice of this cake, savour it, and continue to obsess about vanilla bean paste. Have fun! :-)

Love,

Kejia