15 minutes to thicken the icing.
When the time is up, give the bowl a stir and remove your cake from the refrigerator. Frost your Ultimate Chocolate Butterscotch Bundt Cake with the frosting and don’t forget the sides of the crater in the middle. You don’t need to frost all the way down to the bottom of the crater. That’s almost impossible. Just frost an inch or so down the sides of the crater.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can decorate the top of your cake with chocolate drizzle. The recipe follows.
Return your cake to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cutting it and serving it to your guests.
CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (half of a 12-ounce bag)
1 Tablespoon salted butter (1/8 stick, half of an ounce)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Hannah’s Note: The easy way to measure a half-ounce of salted butter is to divide a stick of butter into 8 pieces and use only one piece. Put the rest back in your refrigerator.
Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. (I used a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout.)
Add the half-ounce of salted butter on top of the chocolate chips.
Add the vanilla extract on top of the butter.
Heat the contents for 1 minute on HIGH in the microwave.
Let the bowl or cup sit in the microwave for an additional minute.
Remove the bowl from the microwave and attempt to stir the contents smooth with a heat-resistant spatula.
If you cannot stir the contents smooth, heat the mixture for an additional minute on HIGH in the microwave.
Let the bowl sit in the microwave for another minute.
Take out the bowl and again, try to stir the contents smooth.
Repeat the above steps as many times as it takes to achieve a smooth mixture of chocolate chips, salted butter, and vanilla extract.
When the mixture is smooth, take the Ultimate Chocolate Butterscotch Bundt Cake out of the refrigerator and drizzle the liquid chocolate mixture over the top and down the sides of the cake.
Don’t forget to drizzle a bit of the chocolate mixture down the sides of the crater in the center of your cake.
Return the cake to the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes and then serve it to your guests.
PINK GRAPEFRUIT CAKE (This recipe is from Lois Brown.)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
½ cup (1 stick, ¼ pound, 4 ounces) salted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
8 ounces light cream cheese (Neufchâtel) softened to room temperature
3 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup whole milk
1 Tablespoon grated pink grapefruit zest (just use the colored part)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
Hannah’s 1st Note: You will be using pink grapefruit zest in the cake recipe and pink grapefruit juice in the glaze recipe. Zest the pink grapefruit first and juice it later, when it’s time to make the glaze.
Prepare a Bundt cake pan by spraying it with Pam, or another nonstick cooking spray, and then coating the insides with flour. To do this, sprinkle some flour in the bottom of the Bundt pan, stand over your kitchen wastebasket, and turn the cake pan so that the flour touches the sides and coats them. Don’t forget to coat the outside of the crater in the middle of the pan. When you’re through preparing your pan, hold it upside down over the wastebasket and shake out the excess flour.
Place the softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add the white sugar and the softened cream cheese. Beat everything together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Mix in the eggs. Beat until they are thoroughly incorporated.
Drizzle in the vegetable oil and continue to beat until the oil has been incorporated.
Add the milk and the pink grapefruit zest. Mix them in thoroughly.
Mix in the vanilla extract, the baking powder, and the salt. Mix well.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, beating after each addition. The object is to create a smooth, well-mixed cake batter.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan.
Bake at 325 degrees F. for 45 minutes or until the top surface of the cake does not indent when touched with a finger. Be very careful not to overbake this cake.
Let your Pink Grapefruit Cake cool for 15 minutes before taking it out of the pan. To do this, place a platter on top of the Bundt pan and turn the platter and the pan upside down on your kitchen counter. When the cake