RECIPE: Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Sweet Basil Drizzle

Written by Flora Caputo

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June 18, 2014

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I made up this cake. Yup. All me.

I had a teeny bit of ricotta left from one recipe, I had a handful of sour cream left over from another. I had left over lemon juice and zest from another recipe. I had jarred lemon curd that was about to expire (my hubby saw it on sale and bought me..like..four jars of it! Still trying to figure out what to do with the rest! Poor hubster…trying to be helpful. Now I have to bake my tushie off to use up lemon curd so I don’t feel guilty.)

Anyway.

I also had a box of plain yellow cake getting close to expiration date as well. So I decided to use all this stuff up on a magical concoction. I was curious how the lemon curd would hold up while baking. It actually works really well. I also got to use some of my newly bottled basil extract for the drizzle. It’s ever so subtle but works well with the tart lemon flavor. If you don’t have basil extract handy, you can just sub. in lemon juice, or maybe make some strong basil tea my steeping some leaves in some hot water for a bit.

If you wish to learn how to make some basil extract to keep in your cupboard, here is a how to video on my youtube channel. It’s part of a series I made about using herbs and florals in ways to make adding them to sweets easier. It was also to help launch my ebook, Savoring Sweet, available on all ereaders imaginable (shameless plug, I know).

Lemon Bundt Cake Filled with Lemon Curd and Sweet Basil Drizzle

Ingredients:
1 yellow box cake (we prefer Betty Crocker)
1/4 cup of whole milk ricotta
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/3 cup of Canola oil
3 eggs
nonstick cooking spray and plain breadcrumbs for the pan
Jarred lemon Curd


Drizzle:
2 Tsp. basil extract (see note below)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. milk


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚.


Pour your cake mix in a giant bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk together the ricotta, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, oil and eggs until smooth and combined. Pour the wet mixture into the dry cake mix. Whisk until combined and whipped. Set aside.

Spray your bunt pan with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle breadcrumbs inside. Tilt and tap to coat all sides and center tube so that it’s all lightly coated with bread crumbs. This is a trick that I’ve been using to get my Bundt cakes out of pans and it works like a charm. I’ve never had a cake get stuck since and you can’t tell that there were breadcrumbs on the pan.


Pour half your batter into the pan. Lay a track of lemon curd along the center of the batter. I used about 1/2 -3/4 cup of lemon curd. You can ladle more in there if you wish for more filling. Then gently spoon the rest of the batter over it. Tap the sides and gently use a spatula to make the batter is even and to completely cover the lemon curd filling.


Bake for 40 minutes until puffy and golden. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Make the basil drizzle. 
In a small bowl melt the butter in the microwave. Then combine 1 to 2 teaspoons of basil extract (see post) and a tablespoon of milk and half a cup of confectioners sugar. Combine until able to be drizzled- adjust wet or dry ingredients to accommodate for the drizzle factor. Drizzle the top of your cake on a serving platter. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream

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