Budapest Bundlettes
Among Maida Heatter’s many contributions to the American dessert repertoire was her recipe for Budapest Coffee Cake. It appeared in her first book in 1974, and by the late 1970’s and early 1980’s it was on the counter, under many different names, in specialty food stores across the country.
The original Budapest was baked in a 12-cup standard Bundt or tube pan. In this version, we take half the recipe to make scrumptious small cakes in the six-well Bundlette (love that name) pan from Nordic Ware. Finished with a light drizzle of confectioners’ icing, these mini-Bundts have a special visual appeal. While tempting to eat these cakes by taking a fork to the whole, I suggest you slice them first – which provides the optimum flavor and mouthfeel.
Placed in a nice box with tissue paper and a ribbon these make lovely gifts. Just remember to save one or two for yourself!
If you prefer to make a large coffee cake in the classic 12-cup Bundt pan or a tube pan, the original recipe and directions are available here: Budapest Coffee Cake. Note – The new elaborately designed Bundt pans are 10-cup capacity, which may not be large enough for this recipe. If you wish to use one, I suggest experimenting by holding back a little of the batter.
The Bundlette pan may be purchased directly from Nordic Ware. A link to the pan is provided following the recipe.
Whichever pan you bake this in, you will love it. Budapest may very well be the quintessential coffee cake.
Budapest Bundlettes
Yield: 6 bundlette cakes | # of servings: 6 | Method: Creaming |
Ingredients
Nut filling:
¼ cup + 2 tbl (5.25 oz / 149 g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp (.15 oz / 4 g) ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp (.1 oz / 3 g) cocoa powder
1 ½ tbl (.6 oz / 17 g) currants
½ cup (2 oz / 58 g) chopped walnuts
Cake batter:
1 ½ cup less 2 tbl (6.4 oz / 181 g) all-purpose flour
¾ tsp (.1 oz / 3 g) baking powder
¾ tsp (.15 oz / 4 g) baking soda
¼ tsp salt
6 tbl (3 oz / 85 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (5.33 oz / 150 g) sugar
1 ½ eggs (â…“ cup (2.7 oz / 77 g) large eggs1, room temperature (read important note)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Confectioners’ Icing:
1 cup (3.8 oz / 108 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ tbl warm water
Baker’s spray such as Baker’s Joy or Pam for Baking2, or soft butter
Special tools and equipment:
- One 6-well, 1 cup each, Bundlette pan (see source following recipe)
- 21†pastry bag with a ½â€œ plain tip (Ateco #806)
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Preheat oven to 375 °F
- If using butter, butter each individual Bundtlette.
- Measure the eggs as described in note 1 below.
Directions
Nut filling:
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, and combine well. Set aside. This can be done several days ahead and kept in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator.
Mixing and baking: (Preheat oven to 375 °F)
- Stir dry ingredients together in mixing bowl. Set aside.
- On medium speed, cream butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
- Add vanilla to the eggs and beat to combine.
- Slowly add the eggs, beating until thoroughly incorporated. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with plastic spatula and beat until smooth.
- On lowest speed, add the dry ingredients in three stages, alternately with the sour cream in two stages, beginning and ending with the dry. Use a plastic spatula to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl and mix. Note – this is a fairly stiff batter.
- If Bundlettes haven’t been buttered, spray with a baking spray with flour.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with the round pastry tip with the batter. Pipe a thin layer of the batter on the bottom of each well.
- Mix the dry filling to distribute the walnut pieces. Spread about 1 ½ tbl of the filling over the batter in each well. You want some of the filling to touch the sides of each well, as this is part of the look when baked.
- Pipe, or spread the remaining batter over the filling in each well.
- Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, about 15 to 18 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Cover with a rack and turn over the release the cakes. Let cool on the rack.
Finishing:
- Place confectioners’ sugar in medium mixing bowl. Whisk in the water. The icing should be thick, but still be able to fall from a spoon. If too thick, add a few additional drops of water. If too thin, add more sugar at tablespoon at a time.
- The icing can be drizzled over the cakes with a teaspoon, or piped over using a small pastry bag.
- Alternative finishing – dust the cakes with confectioners’ sugar.
- Store at room temperature. Cakes may be frozen.
Notes:
1 The original recipe called for 3 eggs. To measure out 1 ½ eggs – beat two eggs together in 1-cup liquid measuring cup. Pour enough egg out so you have 2.7 oz by weight or volume remaining.
2 Only use a release spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy or Pam for Baking. Do not use regular cooking spray, as it will form a nasty film in the inside of the baking pan.
Baking Tips:
- 21†clear plastic disposable pastry bags are very good for this, and many other pastry baking tasks. DayMark brand, available on Amazon are high quality. I presume Ateco’s are good as well.
- To fill a large pastry bag with batter, roll the bag over a large measuring cup, or plastic quart container. Fill the bag ½ to ¾ fill, and twist at the top to form a seal.
- 6-well, 1-cup each Bundlette Pan Classic Bundtlette ® Cake Pan – Nordic Ware