Amaretto Tea and Marzipan Bundt Cake

It was European Bake night on the Bake Off this week and to celebrate I made a fabulous and utter fantastic Amaretto Tea and Marzipan Bundt/kugelhopf. It was a very special cake and is easy to make too. The almond taste makes this cake more like a pudding than a cake.

How gorgeous is this cake!

For the amaretto flavour I used the lovely Amaretto tea from Whittard.
The smell of this tea, as well as the taste, is so strong and calming but also makes you hungry.
www.whittard.co.uk/tea/type/fruit-herbal-tea/amaretto-caffeine-free-fruit-infusion.htm

Ingredients:

-220g butter
-450g white caster sugar
-4 medium eggs
-350g plain flour
-½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
-tiny pinch of salt
-350g vanilla yoghurt
-60g Amaretto tea from Whittard
-50g Marzipan cut into little chunks (I tried grating it but it was too soft)

Decoration
-200g icing sugar
-a few drops of water
-purple food colouring paste
– a few teaspoons of the Amaretto tea from Whittard

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 150 degrees.
2. Grease the tin well. I use melted butter and paint it on with a pastry brush and when that has cooled a dusting of flour which helps to find any places on the tin I’ve missed to grease. A good tip especially if  you’re using a more decorative and ornate tin.
   
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time until added in, try not to over mix.
   
5. In a separate bowl measure out and sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
6. Add the yoghurt to the butter/egg mix.
   
7. Sift in the flour, bicarb and tea and mix slowly until all the flour has disappeared. If you using a mixer make sure you scrape the bowl to make sure everything is mixed in.
   
8. Add the Amaretto tea and marzipan and mix in well.
9. Add the mixture to the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. When the cake pulls away from the edge of the tin the cake is ready.
10. Allow the cake to cool in the tin before turning out.
    
11. Make the icing by adding a few drops of water at a time to the icing sugar to make a thick icing.
12. Add a little food colouring. I chose a light purple to compliment the amaretto tea.
13. When the cake is cooled dribble the icing over and decorate with the tea. A strong thick icing won’t run off the cake too much. Thick icing on a cake is always good.
14. Sprinkle the tea on so it sticks as the icing dries.
15. Enjoy!

Happy Baking x

I used the stained glass bundt tin from Nordic Ware for the cake. It is a gorgeous cake tin and produces wonderful results.

I hope you like it.